Community Darkroom’s book Sharper Image was just recently completed and distributed among its contributors in the past weeks. Community Darkroom is an organization through Genesee Center for the Arts and Education, in which inner city students (7th-9th) learn about black and white photography. Wilson Foundation Academy Photo Club hosts the program to allow students to explore the wonders of photography and be apart of a larger project. The students learn how to composite, shoot, and mate photos over sixteen weeks through field trips around the city.

PUB has been working with Community Darkroom for several years now, providing workshops on scanning, InDesign and Photoshop. They show the students how to layout their images and add text. Several PUB members work with the project each year and fulfill the demands of project manager and production manager. Along with offering workshops, PUB also oversees the printing of the book with the help of Xerox. Xerox donates all the press time for the body of the book to be printed. This was the first year the book was created as a case bound book, a large leap for the organization.

The book was given out to all the students and volunteers on April 4 at the award ceremony. Students also received a camera for their participation in the program. The students find the experience extremely awarding and having a positive impact in all aspects. The book reflects the student’s lives and tell a story about each individual one, an aspiring accomplishment. PUB annually contributes to this rewarding program, hoping to bring inspiration to the teenagers’ lives.

Both RIT Alumni Christina Hui (05’ and 06’ Bachelor of Science in Applied Arts and Sciences, with Professional Concentration in Graphic Media Publishing) and Jennifer Bodine (2005 graduate of the School of Print Media) are currently working for the local company Tucker Printers, a Consolidated Graphics Company in Rochester, NY.

While attending RIT, Christina obtained a co-op with Mercury Print as an On Demand Production Assistant for digital workflow. “My co-op is where it all began for me,” says Christina. “It made me realize me career choice as a Digital Production Manager.” She is also self-published author of “College for Me: A College Guide for Students with Attention Deficit Disorder” and is currently working as an Associate at Tucker Printers. She enjoys working in a printing environment and looks forward to challenges that lie ahead.

Jennifer started in Chesapeake, Virginia where she worked as the Digital Prepress Advisor at Professional Printing Center. Jen spent her days creating and perfecting the digital print workflow. Along with digital printing, Jen had a multitude of other tasks that included implementing the OSHA standard operating procedures and managing the ever-growing bulk mailing department. As time passed, Jen made the choice to return home to Rochester, New York. She now is currently an Account Service Representative at Tucker Printers. Jen enjoys seeing the print workflow in action from a different point of view as the job is tracked from conception until delivery. It is the necessary next step in the progression of growth that started with the education she received from RIT’s School of Print Media.

During PUB Access Week, Bill Towler, from Rochester’s fast-growing City
Newspaper, spoke about City and how the paper came to be. Towler discussed City’s history and how RIT played a pivotal role in the paper’s development. He explained that City works toward putting out the best possible Rochester newspaper that will focus on specific issues, while covering the local arts. Towler predicted that many papers will eventually grow to be free dailies or free Sunday issues.

In response to questions from PUB members, Towler answered that the City staff currently uses PageMaker to design the paper, but will move to using InDesign this spring. City Newspaper is located on Goodman Street near the Village Gate. To learn more about City or the possibility of an internship, contact Bill Towler at btowler@rochester-citynews.com.