SevenQuestions: Steven Cook, student journalist

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Seven Questions

Steven Cook is a second-year journalism student at the University of Iowa. 1 September 1998

1 With all the youth culture on the Internet and all the opportunities available to people with advanced tech skills, why should a guy like yourself go into journalism? Back to the 7Q index

The reason I'm going into journalism is because it's just interesting.

In the year and a half since graduating high school and starting at my first daily, the Daily Iowan, there's been something new every day. I've talked to so many interesting people in just a short time.

It also didn't hurt to have a cool high school journalism advisor, ole Ben Van Zante, or just Ben as everyone called him. I was news editor of my high school paper my junior and senior years. Anything I wanted to do, Ben was right there supporting it.

One time, in January 1996, the Des Moines Register held a Republican Candidates Forum, gearing up for the next month's Iowa caucuses with all nine Republican candidates for president. I heard about it, and since it was only 100 miles away I sent for credentials for my high school paper and I got them.

So, there I was -- a 17-year-old junior at Iowa City West High -- at this big stop on the way to the presidency. This high school paper was sitting along side 60 of the biggest papers in the country, including the New York Times, Baltimore Sun and Dallas Morning News. It was great!

So, after graduating as part of the West High Class of 1997, I started at the University of Iowa's Daily Iowan and interned this summer at the Cedar Rapids Gazette. I have had nothing but success.

2 Name a band you're into and tell why you like them.

I'm sort of partial to bands with names that make absolutely no sense. A good song helps a little, too.

Right now, I would have to say my favorite band is that new ska-sensation Barenaked Ladies. First of all, I am not aware of anytime the Barenaked Ladies ever performed barenaked. Second, I don't think them performing "barenaked" would be a good thing, because the Barenaked Ladies aren't even ladies -- they're four guys.

3 We've heard the stories about Iowa kids tipping cows for fun. Any other obscure teen pastimes we haven't heard about?

There ain't much fun here in Iowa. It's all work. When we're not righting the cows that have been tipped during the night, we're shuckin' corn. And when we're not shuckin' corn, we're plantin' the stuff.

Actually, we Iowans, think of ourselves enjoying the same activities as everyone else in the country does, except with more corn.

4 Describe something you learned in one of your college classes that gave you a totally new perspective on a subject.

I took this class last spring, African-Americans in Mass Communication, which changed the way I looked at minority representation in the media. It pointed out many stereotypes of African-Americans that are still present today, especially in TV.

5 What was your proudest moment in grade school?

The proudest moment for me in grade school (K-6), came early for me, in kindergarten. My teacher was an avid golfer and often chipped a few shots in the back of the school on weekends (when no kids were around).

All those golf balls were out there and it didn't really make sense for him to get them when he had twenty-some 5-year olds who could go running after them, so he offered a bounty for each ball found: Find a ball, get a cookie.

I searched that playground for weeks trying to find a ball, and finally, near the end of the year, I found one. I, Steven Cook, got my cookie. It was the proudest moment of my grade school career.

6 Say someone's planning to drive through Iowa for vacation. Where should they stop along the way?

Over in Coralville, a city right next to Iowa City, they just got this really big mall, the Coral Ridge Mall. It's really big, 1.2 million square feet of chain stores. It's bringing in tour buses of people from around the Midwest coming to Coralville to shop. I don't know why you would want to drive hundreds of miles to come to shop in a mall, but it is really big.

In Iowa City, we also have Iowa's Old Capitol. Iowa's capitol was in Iowa City for about ten years in the mid-1800s before the capitol moved to Des Moines. You can see how Iowa was governed in the mid-1800s, but if you came to see Iowa's new Capitol you'll have to hop back in the stationwagon and head about 100 miles to the west.

7 Tell us about the single worst aspect of your high school years.

I guess, the single worst aspect of my high school years had to be my high school job.

When I wasn't working on school stuff, or high school paper stuff, I was flipping burgers at the local McDonald's. There wasn't really anything that bad about working the drive-through every weekend, but there wasn't really anything good about it either.

I did, however, get to spice up my drive-through pitch every once and a while by interchanging the standard line "would you like fries with that?" with the slightly more sophisticated line "Would you like that in an Extra Value Meal?"

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Copyright 1998, Thomas L. Mangan >Back to SevenQuestions

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Steven Cook is a second-year journalism student at the University of Iowa.		1 September 1998
1	With all the youth culture on the Internet and all the opportunities available to people with advanced tech skills, why should a guy like yourself go into journalism?	Back to the 7Q index
	The reason I'm going into journalism is because it's just interesting. In the year and a half since graduating high school and starting at my first daily, the Daily Iowan, there's been something new every day. I've talked to so many interesting people in just a short time. It also didn't hurt to have a cool high school journalism advisor, ole Ben Van Zante, or just Ben as everyone called him. I was news editor of my high school paper my junior and senior years. Anything I wanted to do, Ben was right there supporting it. One time, in January 1996, the Des Moines Register held a Republican Candidates Forum, gearing up for the next month's Iowa caucuses with all nine Republican candidates for president. I heard about it, and since it was only 100 miles away I sent for credentials for my high school paper and I got them. So, there I was -- a 17-year-old junior at Iowa City West High -- at this big stop on the way to the presidency. This high school paper was sitting along side 60 of the biggest papers in the country, including the New York Times, Baltimore Sun and Dallas Morning News. It was great! So, after graduating as part of the West High Class of 1997, I started at the University of Iowa's Daily Iowan and interned this summer at the Cedar Rapids Gazette. I have had nothing but success.
2	Name a band you're into and tell why you like them.
	I'm sort of partial to bands with names that make absolutely no sense. A good song helps a little, too. Right now, I would have to say my favorite band is that new ska-sensation Barenaked Ladies. First of all, I am not aware of anytime the Barenaked Ladies ever performed barenaked. Second, I don't think them performing "barenaked" would be a good thing, because the Barenaked Ladies aren't even ladies -- they're four guys.
3	We've heard the stories about Iowa kids tipping cows for fun. Any other obscure teen pastimes we haven't heard about?
	There ain't much fun here in Iowa. It's all work. When we're not righting the cows that have been tipped during the night, we're shuckin' corn. And when we're not shuckin' corn, we're plantin' the stuff. Actually, we Iowans, think of ourselves enjoying the same activities as everyone else in the country does, except with more corn.
4	Describe something you learned in one of your college classes that gave you a totally new perspective on a subject.
	I took this class last spring, African-Americans in Mass Communication, which changed the way I looked at minority representation in the media. It pointed out many stereotypes of African-Americans that are still present today, especially in TV.
5	What was your proudest moment in grade school?
	The proudest moment for me in grade school (K-6), came early for me, in kindergarten. My teacher was an avid golfer and often chipped a few shots in the back of the school on weekends (when no kids were around). All those golf balls were out there and it didn't really make sense for him to get them when he had twenty-some 5-year olds who could go running after them, so he offered a bounty for each ball found: Find a ball, get a cookie. I searched that playground for weeks trying to find a ball, and finally, near the end of the year, I found one. I, Steven Cook, got my cookie. It was the proudest moment of my grade school career.
6	Say someone's planning to drive through Iowa for vacation. Where should they stop along the way?
	Over in Coralville, a city right next to Iowa City, they just got this really big mall, the Coral Ridge Mall. It's really big, 1.2 million square feet of chain stores. It's bringing in tour buses of people from around the Midwest coming to Coralville to shop. I don't know why you would want to drive hundreds of miles to come to shop in a mall, but it is really big. In Iowa City, we also have Iowa's Old Capitol. Iowa's capitol was in Iowa City for about ten years in the mid-1800s before the capitol moved to Des Moines. You can see how Iowa was governed in the mid-1800s, but if you came to see Iowa's new Capitol you'll have to hop back in the stationwagon and head about 100 miles to the west.
7	Tell us about the single worst aspect of your high school years.
	I guess, the single worst aspect of my high school years had to be my high school job. When I wasn't working on school stuff, or high school paper stuff, I was flipping burgers at the local McDonald's. There wasn't really anything that bad about working the drive-through every weekend, but there wasn't really anything good about it either. I did, however, get to spice up my drive-through pitch every once and a while by interchanging the standard line "would you like fries with that?" with the slightly more sophisticated line "Would you like that in an Extra Value Meal?"
Back to SQ index Copyright 1998, Thomas L. Mangan		>Back to SevenQuestions