Welcome!

I'm a reporter and the managing editor at my college's newspaper, The Brookhaven Courier. This page is a collection of most of my published work, plus some extras such as winning contest entries.
My LinkedIn profile might also be helpful if you are interested in hiring or working with me.
Outside work, I like to swim, bike, read, take pictures with my OM-1 or D500, obsessively scan the sky for airplanes, travel in said airplanes when possible and go for the occasional hike.

COVID-19 starts in China, breaks out

This story originally appeared in The Brookhaven Courier.

By Aarón Romero and Matthew Brown
Contributing Writer and Senior Copy Editor/Proofreader

Countries are keeping close eyes on their borders as cases of coronavirus top 80,000 worldwide.

The coronavirus epidemic began in Wuhan, China in 2019. As 2020 rolled around, the disease, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization, spread throughout China. On Feb. 26, more new cases were reported outside the nation than inside it, according to The Associated Press.

COVID-19 is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that is a closely related to the SARS and MERS viruses, which have caused outbreaks in the past, according to AP.

But so far, COVID-19 does not seem to worry students, staff and faculty at Brookhaven College.

New locks frustrate faculty

This story originally appeared in The Brookhaven Courier.

By Matthew Brown
Senior Copy Editor/Proofreader

Around 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 3, Jamileh Stroman, English for speakers of other languages professor at Brookhaven College, was getting ready to teach her night class. She arrived outside Room T308 and waved her keycard past the reader the way she had earlier that day and had been doing for many years. The lock beeped, but nothing happened. 

'One College' given new name

This story originally appeared in The Brookhaven Courier.

Jacob wrote this story, but he used my notes, so we double-bylined it.

By Jacob Vaughn and Matthew Brown
Editor-in-Chief/Music Editor and Senior Copy Editor/Proofreader

The Dallas County Community College District board of trustees reached a consensus on what the new “One College” structure will be called. Two names were presented during their Feb. 4 work session: Dallas County College and Dallas College. 

They chose the latter.

Adulting to be taught at Brookhaven

This story originally appeared in The Brookhaven Courier.

By Andre Hampton & Matthew Brown
Copy Editor/Fact Checker & Senior Copy Editor/Proofreader

The Brookhaven College Center for Career Development will host a series of 10 soft skills workshops called Adulting 101 to teach students some of the skills they will need to function as independent adults. 

DCCCD discusses sustainability at summit

Originally published in The Brookhaven Courier, Volume 42, Issue No. 5.

          The annual event brought together students, staff, faculty and more from across all of DCCCD, and covered a wide range of sustainability-related topics.

By Matthew Brown

Layout/Web Editor

          Hundreds of people from all across the Dallas County Community College District and beyond descended on Eastfield College Nov. 8 to discuss the ways they, the Dallas community and other cities around the world are acting to cope with climate change and minimize the effects of society on the environment.

FAFSA requirement hits Texas

Originally published in The Brookhaven Courier, Volume 42, Issue No. 1.

By Matthew Brown
Web/Layout Editor

          The state of Texas has taken an important step forward in helping more lower income students attend college. House Bill 3, the state education finance and reform law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in June, includes a mandate that will require every graduating high school senior to complete the FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, to receive their high school diploma. This will go into effect in the 2020-2021 school year.

          Seniors can opt out if they are over 18 or if a parent signs a form, and any students who apply for financial aid still do not enroll in college. Still, the new mandate could make tens of thousands more Texan high school graduates complete the FAFSA each year. That would help them find out about financial aid that could put going to college within their reach.

          But many high school counselors and some college financial aid offices are already stretched thin, so carrying out the mandate may prove more difficult than lawmakers anticipated.