CHRONICLE 16-17 ISSUE 08

Campus chronicle.durhamcollege.ca January 24 - 30, 2017 The Chronicle 9
Mourning the loss of former Chronicle editor
Frank Katradis
The Chronicle
Gerald (Gerry) Rose, former editorin-chief
of the Chronicle, the campus
newspaper at Durham College
and UOIT, has died. He was 67.
Rose died peacefully, at Lakeridge
Health, Oshawa, on Jan. 9,
2017 after a brief battle with pancreatic
cancer.
Rose was born Jan. 22, 1949
and grew up in Pasadena, Nfld. In
the mid-1970s he moved his young
family to Ontario to pursue work
before deciding to go back to school
at Durham College for journalism
in 1976.
“I taught Gerry from the years
of 1976-77 and ’77-78,” says former
Chronicle editor Bill Swan. Swan
says Rose’s previous experience
helped him with his journalistic
abilities.
“Gerry was ten years older than
his peers,” says Swan, noting that
Rose’s university background also
played an important role in his
abilities.
After graduating, Rose was hired
where he did his field placement,
the Oshawa Times (the Times was
a daily newspaper in Oshawa for
more than a century before it closed
in 1994).
He was the Times' editor for 10
years before Swan offered him the
positon of editor-in-chief of the
Chronicle newspaper at Durham
College in 1991. Swan believed that
Rose had the exact skills needed to
fit the position.
“Gerry was a very quiet individual,”
he says. “He didn’t dominate
the room. But, when you talked to
him, you’d see he had a lot to offer.”
Rose was the editor-in-chief of
the Chronicle for more than two
decades before retiring on June
30, 2014, exactly 23 years after he
started at Durham.
He was admired by his peers
and loved by his students. On his
Facebook page, many former students
expressed how sad they were
to hear that he passed, but praised
his abilities as an educator.
“Gerry was the dream teacher,”
says former student Evan Barr.
“He was very busy, but always
available for his students. There
were always students asking for
edits.”
Rose was well known for his
edits. With his famous green pen,
as opposed to the standard red, he
would edit his students’ work.
Former office mate Ginny Colling
recalls students being devastated
seeing their work covered in ink,
but says Rose would always give
them a thumbs up to assure them
that they were on the right path.
“He would always say ‘It’s OK
with fixes',” says Colling, indicating
when a story had met final approval.
Rose wanted the Chronicle to be
professional like any other newspaper,
says Colling. Rose expected
good work from his students and
had the patience to help them
achieve good work. He always
helped out his students and would
make sure the paper was filled with
interesting stories.
“Gerry ran the Chronicle in
a very organized fashion,” says
current Chronicle editor-in-chief
Brian Legree, “but you couldn’t
tell looking at his desk.” Rose’s
desk was always buried under a
mountain of paper, Legree adds
with a smile.
Legree also worked for Rose at
the Oshawa Times and took over
Rose’s position at the Chronicle
when he retired. He adds Rose
was loved by his students.
Rose taught with a “get it done
right attitude, with a smile on his
face and a twinkle in his eye,” Legree
says.
Rose invested in students beyond
the classroom.
“I didn’t think I was going to
graduate,” says Durham College’s
credit transfer coordinator Kimberly
Boss, another of Rose’s former
students.
“Gerry really helped me believe
in myself the final semester. I
wouldn’t have graduated if it hadn’t
been for Gerry.”
Boss says she was going through
some personal issues in the final
semester of her second year, and
Rose took the time to get her the
right connections and helped her
graduate the program.
Calling him the “dad” of journalism,
she says Rose would never
criticize in his feedback, but instead
offer a different way of looking at it.
“He was just amazing in and
out,” she says.
Rose will always be remembered
as the editor who sipped soup at his
desk filled with papers and pictures
of his grandkids, marking papers
with his green pen in hand.
(Above) Journalism professors Ginny Colling (left) and Gerry Rose retired from Durham College
on the same day in 2014. Current Chronicle student-editor Toby VanWeston honours Rose
(below).
The importance of networking: Learn, connect and build
Years ago, the Kids in the Hall
comedy troupe did a great sketch
on networking that I always think
of when I hear people talk about
networking.
Why? Because I think that’s what
people picture – a bunch of guys in
suits (guys only, of course), exchanging
handshakes and clichés; essentially
how it’s defined in the sketch:
“businessmen meeting businessmen
for the purpose of meeting again at
a later date.”
The true idea behind networking
is to learn, connect and build
relationships. It allows you the opportunity
to talk to people whose
work fuels their spirit and lights
their fire, and find out if that’s work
Devon
Turcotte
you would like to do, too.
LinkedIn defines networking as
being “about meeting a few wellconnected
people who can vouch
for your ability and who are willing
to refer you to a few other wellconnected
people.”
A huge benefit of networking is
that you can tap into what we call
the “hidden” job market, which is
significant. According to a LinkedIn
study published in February,
2016, 85 per cent of all jobs are
filled through networking.
Most jobs are never posted outside
an organization and some are
never posted at all, because the hiring
manager already has someone
in mind for the role and contacts
that person directly.
Networking allows you to be
on their short list before jobs even
become available. That’s worth
spending some time on.The average
student today is at a disadvantage
when it comes to this. When you
were very young, you were probably
warned about “stranger danger.”
Now, you’re suddenly in a position
where you need to know how
to talk to strangers to further (or
start) your career, and you don’t
know how.
To add insult to injury, you also
have likely spent more time than
previous generations connecting
with others through social media
or online gaming. You have people
in your life that you would count as
friends, and yet you’ve never met
them offline. Employers generally
aren’t a part of the same generation,
so you need to learn how to meet
them where they are.
The good news is, there are ample
opportunities to start, right now
and right nearby. Take some time
to talk to your professors, sports
coaches, fellow volunteers, coworkers
or neighbours. Ask people
about what they do, why they do it,
what led them there and where they
would like to go next.
At this year’s Job Fair on Feb. 8,
one of the activities running is a
Speed Networking Lounge. There
will be alumni and business leaders
available to help you learn the
subtle art of networking, then you
can use your newfound skills to
make a splash with the employers
in attendance.
It’s time to put “stranger danger”
aside. You’re a grown-up now and
you get to own that. Networking is
one way to start.
This column is courtesy of Career Development
at Durham College.