Meet the ‘Head Eds’: Accomplishments, goals and a fun fact about the students who lead The Daily Orange’s 9 departments

At the top of The Daily Orange masthead are Alexa Díaz and Alexa Torrens, the two women who reside in the only office that still has its own door — management. (You can learn more about them here.)

But when it comes to the day-to-day operation within each department, The D.O. is directed by nine editors who hail from across the world. These students are in different classes and have varying experiences in journalism and interests outside of it, but they come together each night to lead their section and tell stories they can be proud of.

Learn more about The D.O.’s ambitious editorial plans for the 2017-18 academic year here and meet the people helping make it happen below:

Sara Swann, News Editor

Hometown: White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

Year/major: Senior, newspaper and online journalism (with a minor in political science)

How did you spend your summer? As a reporting intern at the Center for Responsive Politics (a.k.a. OpenSecrets.org) in Washington, D.C., I wrote about campaign finance and money in politics. I also conducted a dark money investigation into an influential 501(c) group.

Future D.O project you’re looking forward to? News coverage of the Syracuse mayoral election in November.

Career goals? The Washington Post is definitely the dream, but really my goal is to be a political journalist in Washington, D.C. Maybe later in my career I’ll specialize in campaign finance or be a congressional reporter, but I’d like to start out broad and then see what ends up working out best.

My spirit animal? Definitely a cat! I’d say a cat is my spirit animal because I can be temperamental like cats often are. Sometimes I want to hang out and be around people and other times I just wanna be alone. Also, I love to sleep. And, of course, I love cats!

Stacy Fernandez, Feature Editor

Hometown: Yonkers, New York, but I rep the Bronx too

Year/major: Junior, magazine journalism/latino-Latin American studies (with a spanish minor)

Favorite D.O. project you’ve worked on? Our Latinx Series. In recognition of Latino/Hispanic Heritage Month, this three-part series spotlighted local figures working to increase the representation of the Latinx community in Syracuse and beyond.

How did you spend your summer? Metro intern at The Buffalo News covering cops, community affairs and chasing multiple tornadoes and floods. My first solo A1 was a non-sports sports story I pitched about the unofficial Buffalo Bills barbershop and the free haircuts they give fans during training camp.

Career goals? I want to be a talented enough writer to contribute to The New York Times or The Atlantic, but would love to hold a staff position at a mid-size paper or online publication that would allow me to do community affairs and social justice reporting. But who knows, I may end up at an educational non-profit after journalism.

Favorite song to dance to during production? Right now you can find me at my “dancing desk” (like a standing desk, but not) bopping to Fergie, Cardi B and the occasional salsa/bachata/merengue song.

Sam Fortier, Sports Editor

Hometown: Strafford, New Hampshire

Year/major: Senior, magazine journalism

Work experience? Contributing writer, The Ringer

Favorite D.O. project you’ve worked on? Power Move: Inside Mike Hopkins departure from the only school he ever knew. Thanks to donations from Daily Orange alumni, we sent Matt Schneidman to Seattle and he covered Hopkins opening press conference at the University of Washington while I conducted background research and co-bylined the story with him.

Career goals? Writing for a living

When the party’s dying down, what’s your go-to rally song (Sam created this question for himself)? “Low” by Flo Rida, which strikes the perfect balance of throwback and classic.

Kathryn Krawczyk, Editorial Editor

Hometown: Lockport, New York

Year/major: Senior, magazine journalism/information management and technology

How did you spend your summer? I spent my summer interning at a local design studio doing web design and copywriting. I also went on a handful of road trips and took an information technology class abroad where I visited 10 different European cities over a few weeks.

Favorite D.O. project you’ve worked on? A story on an up-and-coming pinball league in Central New York, especially since it was just intended to be a filler for a dropped A1 and turned into one of my best stories. I also loved sitting down with a man who plays Santa and also owns his own motorcycle clothing shop. I expected a fun story, and what I got was incredibly touching. Doesn’t hurt that I got to get breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Santa. Covering the Women’s March on New York City was pretty thrilling as well.

Career goals? Right now, I’d love to go into digital content strategy for a magazine, newspaper or online news source, though I’m definitely leaning toward a newspaper. I love writing and tweaking headlines and social media posts, as well as planning the best way to give content a strong and accessible digital presence.

Favorite PUP food? My favorite PUP food was when Kennedy Rose brought not just more than enough Domino’s cheesy garlic bread for everyone, but baked us three different pies. We even got to vote on what pie flavors we wanted to see, and I’m not ashamed to say I had piece of pumpkin, Oreo cheesecake and chocolate peanut butter moon pie.

Ally Moreo, Photo Editor

Hometown: Goldens Bridge, New York

Year/ Major: Junior, photojournalism

How did you spend your summer? I had a fellowship with New York Times at their Student Journalism Institute for two weeks. 24 students and I produced a paper in about two weeks time. Each photographer had their own story. I also worked at Yoox Net-A-Porter as a fashion photography intern.

Favorite D.O. project you’ve worked on? Father’s time. Last year Paul Schwedelson and I traveled to Canada to do a feature story on a transfer lacrosse player with a two-year-old son.

Career goals? Anything that allows me to travel the world (potentially with National Geographic) and tell the typically overlooked stories of cultures worldwide.

Favorite song to dance to do during production? “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire, because it truly brings out the best in everyone.

Lucy Naland, Presentation Director

Hometown: Arlington, Virginia

Year/major: Junior, graphic design

How did you spend your summer? I was the editorial design intern at The Boston Globe. I got to work on the newspaper and magazine by designing pages, creating illustrations and hiring illustrators for larger projects.

Favorite DO project? Either our inauguration guide or the 2017 football guide. I art directed and designed for both.

Career goals? I hope to continue working at news organizations, preferably at a newspaper or magazine. I had a blast designing for each of the Globe’s publications and I’d love to work more with editorial design and art direction in the future. But if I ever want a break from journalism, being a graphic designer for film also sounds ridiculously fun.

Favorite PUP food? I always appreciate when people make homemade dessert for PUP food. I cannot fathom putting aside the time to make pies, brownies or cookies so I’m consistently impressed by staffers who go above and beyond that way.

Emma Comtois, Digital Editor

Hometown: Los Angeles, California

Year/ Major: Junior, graphic design/finance

How did you spend your summer? I was the graphic design intern at two branding and web design agencies in LA. One was called Willa Creative Agency and the other was called Blend. It was really nice getting to work on projects outside of editorial design.

Favorite D.O. project you’ve worked on? Launching The D.O.’s Snapchat Publisher Story this semester was so much fun. There were so many moving parts, but seeing it all come together was really satisfying. This project is the first time the digital team has had a weekly budget to fill. That’s been challenging, but rewarding.

Career goals? I would love to work at Pentagram (a design studio in New York) one day. But I’m also really interested in working for a venture capital firm as a designer to help start-ups develop the design side of their products. I love acting as a creative director so I think that would be a really good fit because it also brings in my finance major. Long story short, I have no idea.

Favorite PUP food? Anything that can serve as my dinner for the night. It used to be Pudgie’s (RIP), but now I’m a fan of Domino’s.

Satoshi Sugiyama, Copy Chief

Hometown: Himeji, Japan — about 230 miles west of Tokyo.

Year/Major: Senior, newspaper and online journalism/international relations

How did you spend your summer? I was in St. Petersburg, Florida, this summer interning on the Tampa Bay Times’ metro copy desk. I copy edited, fact-checked and wrote headlines and cutlines for metro/regional, business, features, PolitiFact and wire articles. I ate gator meat while I was there, too. Not a fan.

Favorite D.O. project you’ve worked on? The one I wrote when I was covering the inauguration of Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. A D.O. photographer found a family from the Syracuse area who was standing in line to enter the National Mall at about 5 a.m. I chronicled the family’s day from there until the end.

Career goals? A correspondent for The Associated Press. The AP is arguably one of the most powerful news agencies in the world. I would like to see my articles being read and my videos watched in different countries.

Favorite things to do outside of The D.O? Definitely sleeping and exploring the world of craft beer as influenced by my roommate.

Amanda Caffey, Video Editor

Hometown: Houston, Texas

Year/major: Senior, broadcast and digital journalism/citizen and civic management

Work experience? The summer after my freshman year I worked for Goodman Manufacturing and Daikin in Houston. I made videos, worked on commercials and designed marketing material. Last summer, I worked at a camp for adults with down syndrome and made videos for OttoTHON, a philanthropy at Syracuse.

Favorite D.O project you’ve worked on? Our 2017 inauguration coverage. I went down to Washington D.C. with a few reporters and photographers to shoot video of the inauguration, celebrations and protests.

Career goals? Working at “60 Minutes” or any organization making short videos.

Favorite song to dance to during production? We hit the jackpot with a royalty-free song called “Gotta Make it Happen” by Harlin James and Paul Lewis. It is in the video from the women’s marches. We listen to this song at least once a night.