DAVIS NAMED MANAGING EDITOR

Emporium's Alex Davis has been interested in newspapers for as long as he can remember.

So it only made sense that when he began college at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford (UPB) last summer that he worked as a reporter for the campus newspaper, The Source.

After all, he had been stringing for area newspapers, this one included, since he was 15. That experience, in addition to his hard work and love of the profession, has paved the way for Davis to take on a more prominent role at the newspaper.

In just his second semester, Davis has been named the publication's managing editor.

"In the first few weeks of my first semester, I wanted to get more involved in all aspects of the paper," Davis, who was covering the "student government association" at the time.

Former editor-in-chief Ed Nolter and thenmanaging editor and now editor-in-chief Anna Chiodo saw something in Davis and got him involved in design by mid-semester.

So impressed by the quality of his work with layout and writing, Davis was told he would be almost guaranteed the managing editor position in his second semester.

"I was excited to hear that, but I didn't get my hopes up because I wasn't sure if that was going to happen or not," he said. "But when it happened in December, I was ready for it and hit the ground running."

The first edition of the new semester was printed just about two weeks ago. The newspaper has been getting rave reviews for the quality of layout, photography and writing, according to Davis.

"It's a goal of mine to reshape journalism at Pitt-Bradford," he said. "The craft is a dying art and I want to change that."

Davis, 19, is a public relations major at UPB. He's also involved with Panthers Against Tobacco and the One Campaign. He also serves as a Campus Judicial Board member.

He is the son of Kent and Wendy Davis of Emporium.