San Jose Mercury News

Geri Migielicz is the Director of Photography at the San Jose Mercury News, a newspaper with a national reputation for its innovation and excellence in photojournalism, photo editing and multimedia. She was a 2004-05 Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford, where she studied multimedia narratives. She is a founding board member of Associated Press Photo Managers, an organization committed to the sharing of best practices and the professional development of photo editors and managers. She has been visiting faculty at the Poynter Institute for Journalism Studies, the Missouri Photo Workshop, the Stan Kalish Picture Editing Workshop and a lecturer at Society for Newspaper Design and National Press Photographers Association workshops. She has also taught multimedia to communication graduate students at Stanford University. Geri has been an annual winner of awards for photo editing in the Pictures of the Year International, NPPA's Best of Photojournalism and Society for News Design annual contests. Under her direction, the San Jose Mercury News has won POYi's Angus McDougall Award for Excellence in Picture Editing and its coverage of the California recall election was a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in feature photography.

Michael Jung, director of national advertising for the San Jose Mercury News and the Contra Costa Times, agrees. He says that the skills gained in advertising are compatible with advancing to highest levels of newspaper management.

Camille Mojica Rey, PhD has a B.A. in biology from the University of Texas at Austin and a doctorate in integrative biology from the University of California Berkeley. She also completed the science communication program at the University of California Santa Cruz. Since then, she has worked as a reporter for the Monterey County Herald and the San Jose Mercury News. She is the former health editor for New York-based Latina Magazine and is the senior women's health editor for AlSofa.com, a bilingual mental health website for Latinos. She currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is working as a freelance health and science writer.

Her grandmother, Constance Vassalo, gave her a copy of "Atlas'' when she was only 15, a year before Vassalo passed away. She didn't have any preconditions. She didn't tell me to get anything specific from it,'' Hansson said. "I think she knew I would read it when I was ready.'' She got around to reading "Atlas" at Sonoma State University, where Hansson read all of Rand's books and eventually earned a degree in political science. She is now a second-year law student at Santa Clara University.

To the north, Eileen Hassi, owner of Ritual Coffee Roasters in San Francisco's Mission District, has also pulled the plug on customers. Five years ago, when she opened, it was clear she had to offer free Wi-Fi. But a couple years later, when Ritual became known as a hot spot for Web 2.0 workers, Hassi said her shop became overwhelmed and she decided to cut off the outlets. Her power bill dropped by $500 a month. Overall, she thinks it's worth it to provide Wi-Fi, which costs her $140 a month. But the power issue still rankles some. Recently, a woman came in and ordered a $3 latte. But when she discovered there were no outlets, she insisted Hassi refund her money. When Hassi refused, the woman sold the latte to another customer coming in and then stormed out.

Emanuele "Midge" Damonte, a 1944 alumnus of South San Francisco High School, will be honored for his devotion to SSF schools and the community Nov. 7 at the 15th-annual Principal's Blue & White Ball. The fundraiser, sponsored by the Friends of SSF High School for the school's educational programs, will be held at the SSF Conference Center at 255 S. Airport Blvd. Over the past 14 years, the gala has raised $369,609 for the school.

Jeff Faerber is a freelance illustrator whose work has appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, the Progressive and other publications. He has a BFA in Graphic Design from San Jose State University. He started working for Youth Communication in 2000.

Just call him the Man from Rescue. New Prosper Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Young comes to the post with a resume a mile long, bringing global experience in editorial and creative management. Stints as Forbes Silicon Valley editor, reporter for the San Jose Mercury News and correspondent for the Hollywood Reporter stand alongside his best-selling book on Steve Jobs: "iCon." When it comes to enhancing Prosper's online presence, it's a match made in heaven. Young co-founded Forbes.com in 1997, earning himself a solid reputation as a pioneer in online media. He's charged with defining the next generation of design and content for all Prosper Media properties and expanding Prosper's presence in the community and beyond. Young currently hails from Rescue, California, where he makes a mean Cabernet Sauvignon on his five foothill acres.

Utilizing her experience in business development, public relations, marketing, Web site content, and journalism, Joanne manages and contributes to all communications and business development projects for TriActive America. In addition, she is the creator and director for TriActive Kids. Joanne writes and edits the Web site content and related materials, manages advertising and public relations, and develops partnership and business development opportunities. After earning her B.A. in English literature at the University of Calif. At Los Angeles (UCLA), Joanne worked as a writer and an editor for a daily entertainment newspaper (the Hollywood Reporter). She subsequently managed public relations and marketing for a real estate and finance firm in the Los Angeles area before moving to the Silicon Valley. In that then-booming region, Joanne worked as a corporate communications and business development specialist. She also has worked as a freelance writer, editor, and ghostwriter for many years. Her publication credits include ediets.com, KidsHealth.org, Shape magazine, Energy for Women magazine, the San Luis Obispo County magazine, San Jose Mercury News, Fit Pregnancy magazine, Entrepreneur.com, the Vegetarian Times magazine, Human Resources Executive magazine, Working Mother magazine, Dance Retailer magazine, Netsurfer Digest, Toastmasters Magazine, efitness.com, Tribune Media, California CEO magazine, Tech Week, Devx.com, Silicon 2.0, and the Christian Science Monitor. She is the author of How to Write A .com Business Plan: The Entrepreneur's Guide, published by McGraw-Hill.

Juan Ramirez earned Adult School Employee of the Year for his many contributions, including helping to improve the school's intake process for English learners and general educational development students.

Karen T. Borchers has been a photojournalist at the San Jose Mercury News for 22 years. She has also worked at the West Palm Beach Post and the Dayton Journal Herald. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Photojournalism from Bowling Green State University and a Master of Arts Degree from Ohio University.

Meri Simon has been making news pictures for 25 years. For the last seven years, she has been a staff photographer for the San Jose Mercury News, where she has won acclaim for her work documenting domestic violence and for her studies of life in the intellectual treadmills of Silicon Valley. She is the only woman to twice be named San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographer of the Year.

OK, Nolan is also sort of McCarthy's Norv Turner hire get a seasoned guy in here to fix a bad unit, and a guy who used to be my boss (Turner was Nolan's HC in Washington). But, like Martz and Norv, you've got to believe that Nolan will be doing everything possible to make himself a prospective head-coaching candidate in the future. He believes he's a head coach, a great one, and he won't be happy as a coordinator for any sustained length of time. I don't mind that kind of thinking. You want ambition, as long as the head coach knows it and the head coach is strong enough to deal with it. This is one I want to see. We kept hearing national reporters tell us that Nolan was a great coach, great coach, wonderful coach, greatness of what he did in Baltimore, the unfairness of what happened to him in Washington.

N. Xuan Hoang - Staff Writer Xuan Hoang is a gifted writer whose credits includes novels and dozens of articles. VOVN provides new avenues for his creative words and ideas. He is currently Chief staff writer of the Vietnamese section of the San Jose Mercury News.