Alumni News
Allison Hantschel Sansone is organizing the 120th anniversary gala for Cardinal alums. One of the original board members of DCAA, she has experience organizing previous reunions but she’s really outdone herself with plans for 2012. Allison was Cardinal Editor-in-Chief in the fall of 1994 and Arts Editor in 1995-96, after the shutdown. She worked steadfastly on payables and receivables while the paper was not publishing. She is a ten-year veteran of the newspaper business. She publishes First Draft, a journalism and politics blog, with her partners Adrastos, Jude and Scout. She is the author of It Doesn’t End With Us: The Story of the Daily Cardinal (2008, Heritage Books) and Chicago’s Historic Irish Pubs (with Mike Danahey) (2011, Arcadia Books). She also edited the anthology Special Plans: The Blogs on Douglas Feith and the Faulty Intelligence That Led to War (2005, William, James & Co.). Her work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the Daily Southtown, Sirens Magazine, and Alternet. She lives in Chicago with her husband, three pet ferrets, and approximately 60 tons of books.
Kayla Torgerson was a reporter, photographer and marketing specialist at the Cardinal from 2009-2011. She is currently an American marketing specialist for an in-bound travel agency based in a suburb of New Delhi, India. The company, Discovery Journeys India, focuses on unique and personalized travel experiences. We do everything from spiritual journeys to active adventure holidays. She reports: “I've been in India for just over two months and so far it has been absolutely incredible! I'm traveling for the company almost every other weekend, and when I'm not traveling I have the opportunity to explore Delhi and my suburb, Gurgaon. I love exploring old markets, meeting new people, wandering into temples, and sampling the wide array of street food. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to work abroad and travel at the same time. India is an amazing country - the colors, the people, the sounds, and the smells are all overwhelming, but wonderful. India has tested my patience and strength in many ways, but those challenges have helped me learn many things about myself and about the world around me. Right now I can't imagine being anywhere else.”
Todd Stevens was on the Cardinal from 2008-2011 as a film reviewer, co-editor of opinion, managing editor and arts editor. He is currently in AmeriCorps with the Community Technology Empowerment Project in the Twin Cities, teaching computer classes for the program at community centers in Saint Paul Public Housing sites. “I am working on applications for law school, and providing a quality institution is kind and/or foolish enough to accept me I will be enrolling next fall. I am also working on a blog about television criticism with follow Cardinal alum (and former 2009 arts editor) Kevin Slane. dvroverflow.tumblr.com.
Michael Clarence Chatt was on the Cardinal forty years ago and has spent his career making the world better for children. A retired social worker, he specialized in older special-needs children; about 100 children were adopted as a result of his efforts in writing social histories and court reports. That is specialty journalism with a great cause. Earlier, he was a VISTA volunteer in Harlem, teaching children.
Marcie Harrison was Assistant Managing Editor on the Cardinal in the mid-1960s and is a DCAA board member. She owns The Harrison Group, a Chicago public relations agency with a strong concentration in healthcare, food service and small business development. Marcie writes: “I learned something while working on the Cardinal that has stayed with me and that is a respect for deadlines. This is a life skill that has served me well. When I have projects due for clients, they are always delivered on time. And I have seen how much clients appreciate that.”