Central Student Press, 1972-1973
Doris Davis Southern, a 24 year-old native of Winston Salem North Carolina , was in her 2nd year in the Jackson City School system when the crew above came together in her Journalism class in late August, 1972 to produce the Central Student Press (CSP). (Gwen, we miss you).
Volume III, No.1
The first edition of Volume III (3rd year of JCM) was released on 9/15/72. It was a single-page front and back and was mostly about Cougar football. Ms. Southern promised expanded editions to follow, according Kathy Naylor’s article in the Jackson Sun (“Our Schools and Colleges”, Wednesday, 9/20/1972). I wrote an article on one of the football games. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of this edition.
Volume III, No. 2
Our signature, booklet style edition debuts. I think of Kitty Bruce with this edition and her boa constrictors. It marks the beginning of the “Dear C.A.T.” advice column. Steve Dubner of the CSP staff starred as “Dracula”, in a role he was born to play. 🙂 I think Steve Ellis wrote the Cougar football articles. I wrote the”Kitty Bruce Befriends Boa Constrictor” and “Sand, Surf, Sun,” articles. I don’t think Ms. Southern was impressed and pretty much banished me to the light table afterwards. I can still her rollout my name : “RRRRaaaay….(pause)…paste up.”
CSP-Vol.-III-No.-II-October-1972-compressedVolume III, No. 3
A colorless cover but technically a very good edition in terms of layout and articles. Homecoming queen Lucinda Maxwell and her court on page 3 (great photo for a night shot, by Michael Bray or Dale Roberts), the Record Review page was an A+ ( Steve Dubner), and the birth of the legendary “Flea Market” column by Steve Ellis. No edition was complete without a word from Sargeant Barney…(sigh).
CSP-Vol.-III-No.-III-November-1972-compressedVolume III, No. 4
Our Christmas edition was in red, nice to look at but the print and photos on the red covers did not reproduce well. The editorial page was a full-court press by Kathy Naylor AND Mary Barbour….sure was a lot of words. Teacher Wanda Rogers was mentioned a few times, she would figure prominently in the CSP’s future in 1973. “Dear Santa” consisted of our mild pot-shots at the teachers. I believe Kitty Bruce took over “Dear C.A.T.” with this edition.
CSP-Vol.-III-No.-IV-December-1972-compressedVolume III, No. V
This was an odd, 9″x 14.5″ bi-fold edition.
CSP-Jan-73Volume III, No. VI
It was back to our traditional booklet style with this issue and another attempt at a red cover. The inside page with Gwen’s editorial and our masthead reproduced well, the same cannot be said of the back cover. The photography, layout and graphics were ok. We opened with solid reporting and student success cameos but the edition quickly morphed into a boring curriculum issue, our fun columns were nowhere to be seen. A crossword puzzle over a photo of the National Merit Scholarship finalists and a completely illegible article on the back cover? We slipped, but I think the school administration had a heavy hand in the messaging for this issue.
CSP-Vol.-III-No.-VI-February-1973-compressedVolume III, No. VII
I don’t think there was a March edition. On Feb 23rd, Ms. Southern left the Jackson City School system. She was replaced by Wanda Taylor Rogers as the Journalism teacher and sponsor of the CSP. ( Sadly, Ms. Southern passed away in 2009 at age 60 and is buried in her native Winston Salem, NC). We did produce this edition in April and I will call it No. VII, though the numbering system ended with the February issue. Speaking of numbering, look at the page numbers here. No one proofed this. I guess we were in a hurry to get paper out. Also, look at the Record Review for “Tommy” on page 10 : “This is one of the most depressingly putrid albums I have had the misfortune of hearing in a long time….”. Um….ok.
CSP-Vol.-III-No.-Not-Certain-April-1973-compressedVolume III, No. VII
We limped into the final turn with this one. John Petty wrote 4, full column pages which spread across pages 2, 8 and 10. And I thought Mary Barbour’s editorial was long. But, the student body owned this issue, as we should have. Steve Ellis, Pat Currie and I went on to UT-Martin and were all in the same dorm, same floor, freshman year. I saw Mary Barbour once more, on the UTM campus. Late one night in huge crowd , she came over to me. Gwen Green Anthony went on to write for the Jackson Sun. What would the CSP be like without a final word from Sargeant Barney…. thanking us for the crimes we did not commit.
CSP-Vol.-III-Senior-Edition-May1973-compressedCommencement Program
1973-JCM-Commencement-programCommencement photo
