The statewide Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) conference took place from March 17 to 19 in Burbank. 
More than 40 colleges from around the state came to attend workshops, compete in on-the-spot competitions and receive awards for their performance over the last year.
Over 200 students competed in various on-the-spot competitions in photography, layout design, cartooning and news and opinion writing. 
The photo contests were structured around local events, with buses taking students from the hotel to a local car show or volleyball practice at a nearby college. 
The writing contests were similarly structured, with students covering a panel on the San Bernardino tragedy last year. 
The on-the-spot contests are used to test a student’s ability to work quickly and efficiently, replicating a real-world journalistic scenario. 
Each journalist had a strict deadline and very little time to complete the piece. 
The Laney Tower placed in two such competitions, with KR Nava receiving 2nd place in Design Layout/News Judgment and David Hiltbrand earning an honorable mention in the Feature Photo competition.
Laney Tower staff members are present at each year’s regional and state conferences.