Erik Altmann

287 West Johnson Street #7
River Falls, WI 54022
612-219-3005
Erik.J.Altmann@gmail.com

Education:

Bachelor of Science in Journalism & Political Science
University of Wisconsin-River Falls, December 2010
GPA 3.405/4.0, Dean’s List, Senior Merit

I have also been fluent in Spanish since elementary school

Work Experience

WRFW Falcon News-Assignment Editor, UW-RF, September 2010-December 2010

Assigned 9 journalism students weekly stories for Thursday news broadcast
Produced 15 minute local news broadcasts on Thursdays
Edited copies for news broadcast to ensure that they are in the right format
Also provided journalism students with feedback on stories and helped with any multimedia problems they were encountering
Reported on local stories, using different techniques including wrap-arounds, actualities, readers and person-on-the-street stories

Census Bureau-Group Homes Enumerator & Non-Response Follow Up Enumerator, April 2010-July 2010

Enumerated large group living quarters for the 2010 Census, such as retirement homes, group homes, and the dorms on campus
Visited households of citizens who had not returned their Census forms to count that living quarters for the 2010 Census
Participated in a 3rd Phase, Non-Response Follow Up-Vacancy/Delete Check, in which my duties entailed verifying the Census Day status of homes that were initially marked as vacant or non-existent

Senior Counselor, YMCA Camp Daycroix, Hudson, WI, Summer 2008 & 2009

Senior Counselor, YMCA Camp Christmas Tree, Minnetrista, MN, Summer 2006 & 2007

Specialized in working with groups of 4-8 pre-school aged campers, through the Wee Backpacker program (ages 4-6)
Occasionally worked with older groups of 10-12 older campers, usually between the ages of 8-12
When working with older campers, I would escort the group to an off-site location once a week for a field trip
Utilized the YMCA’s four core values (honesty, caring, respect and responsibility) to help teach kids life skills
Discussed any disciplinary related issues with children

School Aged Care Counselor, YMCA Camp St. Croix/River Crest Elementary School, Hudson, WI. Fall 2008-Spring 2009

Planned after-school activities for a group of 10-15 kindergarten students three days a week
Led games and activities that emphasized the YMCA’s four core values (honesty, caring, respect and responsibility)
Developed leadership skills in organizing and executing large group activities

Volunteer Experience
Volunteer DJ, WRFW-FM radio, UW-RF, Spring 2009-Present
Volunteer camp counselor, YMCA Camp Wintercroix, December 2008 & 2009

30th DISTRICT 5:30 PM 10/28/10 E. ALTMANN

Midterm elections are next Tuesday, and two Hudson citizens are squaring off for the open seat in the 30th District Assembly. W-R-F-W’s Erik Altmann has the story.

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MP3 R/T: Q:“….news, I’m Erik Altmann.”

Erik Altmann- “Hudson, Wisconsin has the been the central battleground of a heated race between locals Matt Borup and Dean Knudson. At the center of this race lies one major issue, the local economy. GOP candidate Knudson is the current mayor of Hudson, and has previously served on the city council. Knudson believes his experience in local politics will help him in working within the state budget.”
Dean Knudson- “Theres an equation here you have to understand, it is possible to spend less and still provide good service. And it can be done, but you need to think out of the box.”
Erik Altmann- “Knudson says that his main priorities will be to better budget state spending while lowering taxes to stimulate economic growth. His opponent, Democratic candidate Matt Borup, doesn’t believe that Knudson’s plan to lower taxes will help the local economy.”
Matt Borup- “The other side is really talking about wanting to cut taxes for big corporations, they talk a lot about tax cuts, but I don’t think those tax are gonna come back to us, there gonna be there for the big companies, that are quite frankly on the other side of the state.
Erik Altmann- “While Knudson and Borup may not agree on what the best approach is to help boost the local economy, they did agree that the economy seems to be the big issue on everyones mind.
Dean Knudson- “That is not only the top issue, it’s almost the only issue that’s on the mind of voters this year.”
Erik Altmann- “For Falcon News, I’m Erik Altmann.”

Students living on campus can vote in the University Center on November 2nd, same-day voter registration is allowed in the state of Wisconsin.
EJA

MEDICAL MARIJUANA 5:30 9/23/10 E. ALTMANN

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River Falls voters may have the chance to vote on a medical marijuana referendum this November. City Council Member Bob Hughes filed a petition with the city clerk in late August, bearing over 800 signatures from local citizens. Although the referendum does not actually hold the power to create medical marijuana laws, Hughes hopes it will get the attention of state-level politicians in Madison.

“What I was hoping to accomplish with the referendum in this city, as well as the one that has been put on Dane county, is to put more pressure on state legislatures to bring the Jackie Richert medical marijuana act to a vote.”

If approved by the city clerk and city attorney, the referendum will be on the ballot for November 2nd.

EJA

STOUT HOCKEY 5:30 10/14/10 E. ALTMANN

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A total of ten players on the U-W Stout hockey team were suspended for the season yesterday, following the arrest of two of the hockey players on pending felony murder charges. The two players, Jedidiah McGlasson and Jared Britton, have been charged with felony murder and assault, both as a party to the crime, in the death of twenty-two year old Stout student Brad Simon. According to the Wisconsin Radio Network, police stated that the three individuals were seen fighting at the Log Jam bar in Menomonie. After employees separated the three, Simon was later confronted by McGlasson and Britton when riding his bike home. Police stated that McGlasson and Britton assaulted Simon, causing his bike to crash into a concrete wall and Simon to smash his head. Simon was hospitalized, and later passed away as a result of injuries sustained by the assault. In a press conference last night, U-W Stout Chancellor Charles Sorenson explained why the ten hockey players were suspended for the season.

“Well this action that we took is based on the code of ethics that all athletes sign. And based on the behavior in the bar that night, they in violation of that code of ethics.”

McGlasson and Britton will not be eligible for reinstatement to the team. However, the other eight suspended players will be eligible for reinstatement at the end of the season, if approved by Athletics Department and the Dean of Students.

The U-W-R-F hockey team is scheduled to play U-W Stout in Menomonie on December 11th and 12th.

The future of journalism promises to be more informative and engaging than we could have ever imagined. With the advent of the Internet, citizens can become informed on breaking news in an instant, and can obtain news from multiple sources.

I believe that the future of media will rely much more heavily on the World Wide Web for the dissemination of information to its readers and viewers. Also, I believe that “backpack journalism” will become much more common than ever before. With newspapers continuing to cut budgets on a regular basis, journalist will have to be familiar with all forms of media, whether it’s video, audio or print. Although newspapers will never completely die out, as the have a very niche market of readers, more and more people will turn to the Internet as their primary source of news.

A 21st century journalist will have to be prolific in producing content across mediums. I know that I will contribute great things to journalism, as I have been thoroughly trained in multimedia journalism, and am familiar with producing content for all forms of media. I see myself reporting on state and local government and politics, and all the news that comes with it. Informing citizens on the actions of government is key towards having an informed and educated electorate, and I believe that this should be the primary role of the news media.

This semester I was fortunate enough to cover many campus and local community stories that I felt were extremely relevant to the student body at UW-RF. I had the opportunity to provide election previews on local races of which the outcome could directly impact the University, such as the 30th district assembly race or the Pierce County sheriffs elections, as well as the local referendum calling for congress in Wisconsin to bring the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana act to a vote.

In addition to reporting community news for River Falls and the surrounding area, I also ran stories giving advice to future graduates on job hunting techniques; I reported on the fraudulent Student Senate elections results, and broke the news on campus of the UW-Stout hockey players who were suspended following the arrest of two team members on pending murder charges.

While I encountered many roadblocks in my reporting, such as sources who were slow to respond to requests, or technical problems with the H2 recording equipment (at one point, both my batteries and my spare batteries died during an interview), I have learned from these experiences, and it has helped me sharpen my skills as a writer, and become a better prepared journalist. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to bring these different stories to the attention of the student body, and I believe that students benefited from being informed on these various issues.

The most enjoyable story that I worked on this semester was the preview of the Pierce County sheriffs election. I had the opportunity to interview the current sheriff as well as the two challengers for the position, and was able to put together a great wrap-around showcasing what each candidate felt were the most important issues law enforcement faced in the area. In addition, I learned and sharpened my skills as a journalist.

My interview with Nancy Hove (the incumbent and eventually re-elected sheriff of the county) was conducted at a location of her choice, which ended up being a public parking lot on the other side of town. I learned that I should have suggested a more formidable location, such as a library or coffee shop (or even the sheriffs department) as this location had a lot of background noise going on. While the interview itself went quite smoothly, the audio recordings were not up to par with the quality I had hoped for, and I ended up having to do some serious editing with audacity to improve the quality of the sound bite I used. Also, working on this story helped me improve my skills in finding the peg, or newsworthiness, of a story.

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The three candidates I interviewed had similar views on most issues, and the three only differed slightly in their approaches towards handling such issues. I really enjoyed working on this story, as it both informed the student body on the three candidates and encouraged students to be engaged in local politics.