Evan Bailey, production manager for the Office of Student Media at Kent State University

I’ve always known Chris was a bright kid. He originally came to me while he was in high school and begged me for a job at the Daily Kent Stater.  He told me he really wanted to learn page design. I told him to come back when he was accepted to the university. A year later, he did just that and I still hired him against conventional wisdom.  I was a little worried since he wasn’t a design student (he was a history education pre-major at the time), so I warned him he’d have to hustle to keep up with the other designers.  When he first started work here, he meticulously wrote down everything we showed him in a spiral-bound, black notebook. Within a couple days, the other designers noticed his efforts and affectionately nicknamed him “Notebook,” a nickname that’s stuck since.

Essentially, Chris loves to learn. Details and accuracy are an area where many young journalists struggle, but Chris works hard to excel at. Another aspect of Chris’ personality I find fascinating is his interest in the political world and world news. He knows his stuff, often a rarity in young people these days.

Recently, Chris was working on one of the most complicated layouts for The Daily Kent Stater we’d seen this semester. Lots of color pagination issues, three sections, and special requests from the newsroom, etc. When he was finished with the layout, he showed it to me. I caught a very minor mistake and said something along the lines of “what’s up with this, Chris?” I was joking when I showed him, but I could tell it bothered him and he was upset he didn’t catch it. I guess I find that sense of accuracy inspiring. I could tell he was upset with himself, but in reality he’d finished something many students couldn’t have handled or even attempted. It’s his quest for excellence I find so interesting about him.

John Kellogg, designer and former photographer for The Daily Kent Stater

Chris Sharron's editorial cartoons for the Daily Kent Stater are always witty, intellectual, truthful, and satirical. His view of world events and people's actions and opinions are articulated very well through his work, in a way that many can enjoy. Without Chris Sharron, I think the Daily Kent Stater would not have as many people picking up the paper everyday.

Rachel Abbey, former forum editor for The Daily Kent Stater

He is an extremely talented and dedicated individual who began working on the Daily Kent Stater, a college publication, as a high school senior.

He's very independent and dependable, and he has never missed a deadline when I've worked with him. He receives no direction on what his cartoons for the Forum page should entail. He's obviously very in tune to current events, both locally, nationally and internationally, because his editorial cartoons are consistently insightful and relevant.

Source | The Daily Kent Stater
A sampling of Chris's recent work, selected by Chris himself.