'THE JAMBAR' AT 70 Ink's in their blood

Alumni who worked for 'The Jambar' remember how it helped shape their futures.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Writers click away at computer keyboards to produce stories for the biweekly Jambar newspaper at Youngstown State University.
Staffers cut and paste stories for the next day's news pages electronically on computer screens.
The scene in the basement of Fedor Hall is a far cry from 1931 when the Jambar was founded by R. Burke Lyden.
Typewriters have been silenced by technology.
Long gone are the days when the words on the pages were built by hand.
Hand-held razor blade knives no longer cut copy.
Cutting and pasting are done by clicking a mouse.
And the student-operated paper has transitioned from a single page of news about who's dating whom to a multipage paper with headlines about student trends and world events.
70th anniversary: As the Jambar celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, Editor in Chief Valerie Banner of Liberty recognizes how the paper served as a stepping stone for many journalists and successful community members.
"It's fun to learn how everything's changed in the last 70 years," said Banner, a junior majoring in journalism. Banner was a reporting intern at The Vindicator during the summer of 2000.
"It changes every year," she said. "Every staff comes in and brings in something new. ... This year we added color. That's how we left our mark on the paper."
The paper's alumni have left their mark as journalists, politicians, community activists, attorneys and educators.
Founder Lyden was a mechanical engineer who retired as chief of the Youngstown city water department. He visited Jambar staffs for years until his death in February.
Georgia publisher: John F. Greenman is president and publisher of the Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus, Ga., and oversees operations at two other Knight-Ridder publications in Georgia. His journalism history includes work at the Akron Beacon Journal, where he was part of a team that won a Pulitzer prize, the Warren Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator.
"I never anticipated I'd become a journalist until I volunteered as a student to work for the Jambar," said Greenman, who gave up ambitions to go into politics in favor of his current career.
Greenman said the Jambar was one of the most cohesive elements of a college community, especially at YSU, where many students commute.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the paper offered students an independent voice and an opportunity to cover issues such as the Vietnam War and Kent State shootings, he said.
"A lot of public issues were being settled on college campuses, or at least being debated on college campuses," Greenman said.
Doctor: Dr. Benjamin M. Hayek, who specializes in geriatric care in Youngstown, had a tough experience at the Jambar during the mid-1960s.
Following a conflict over editorial content between Hayek and the university's director of publications, a group of students rioted on Hayek's behalf.
He was blamed, suspended and asked to leave the university. The expulsion resulted in a course failure, and Hayek's dreams of attending medical school here were dashed.
But he studied overseas, came back to the Mahoning Valley, and now serves as a medical director at Humility of Mary Health Partners.
"The experiences at the time were very trying; they were very difficult," Hayek said. "But I think they were a blessing. I think they helped me to grow. ... It was the silver lining we never expect."
He said he feels his experience also helped future Jambar journalists by securing the right to publish the truth.
"I think it's important ... for journalists to say what needs to be said and to have that freedom," he said.
Hayek used the Jambar to make a mark on YSU in another way: One of his columns created the tradition of painting "The Rock."
The first students to paint a message on this campus monument were inspired by Hayek's suggestion that students express themselves more openly. As he wrote, he looked out the window and saw a construction crew unearthing the rock. The next day, the tradition began.
Editor: Dennis Mangan, editorial page editor of The Vindicator, recalls his work at the Jambar in the 1960s as a turning point in his career.
"At that point, I was kind of between teaching English or becoming a writer," he said. "That clearly tipped the scale."
Mangan was on staff when the paper moved to "cold type" technology, using an IBM system for typesetting rather than relying on old presses that used hot lead to create the news pages.
He said the paper provided "a complete experience," especially at a time when YSU did not offer students the opportunity to major in journalism. Staffers learned writing, photography, business practices, teamwork and ethics. In Mangan's time, they also faced a libel lawsuit that stemmed from an article in an April Fools' Day edition.
"It's the best laboratory," he said. "It's really the only way to learn. ... It gave you the whole gamut. ... You just don't get that in a classroom."