Pulse 2010 by Gaylord College

Summer 2010

A Publication of the JayMac Alumni Group

Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication

COVER STORY: Connecting with Journalists in South Asia

Ned Hockman

A Fantastic Life

Gaylord Hall Completed

New creative spaces promote collaboration

Professionals Bring New Viewpoints and Expertise to Campus I can hardly believe that it has been a year already since the last issue of Pulse! Last year at this time we were eagerly anticipating the opening of the new 46,000-square-foot wing of Gaylord Hall and only dreaming of the projects that might be created within the walls. Now here we are just a short year later and already wonderful projects have emerged from the first-class facility. The Lindsey+Asp advertising and public relations agency hit the ground running and hasn’t stopped yet. Led by professionals David Tarpenning and Robert Pritchard (formerly the faculty adviser for the student agency at Ball State University in Indiana), the agency has secured more than 20 clients in the first year and rose to the top with 10 Addy’s. Five from the local competition and five bronze medals from the regional Addy awards. We couldn’t be prouder! (Read more about Lindsey+Asp on page 14). Shortly after the publication of Pulse last year, we added several seasoned journalists and media mavens to the Gayord faculty. First we scored a coup by convincing veteran foreign correspondent Mike Boettcher to come on board as a visiting professional and teach Advanced Multimedia Journalism and then we brought in Pulitzer Prize winning Chicago Tribune journalist John Schmeltzer as the Engleman/Livermore Professor of Community Journalism. Together these two led the initiative to produce Gaylord College’s first online magazine, Routes (read more about Routes on page 28). For the first time students across the journalism curriculum have a place to showcase their professional-quality work whether it be writing, video, or photography. We also brought to the classroom Kathleen Johnson, an Emmy awardwinning cable and satellite television producer, as the McMahon Centennial Professor. She has been busy teaching students about media management and coordinating the first ever New York City Media Tour for students. On that trip students spent time with media powerhouses like Katie Couric, Anderson Cooper and Ann Curry. This has truly been a spectacular year at Gaylord College. You can read about many of the other exciting projects and events that took place throughout the rest of the magazine. Enjoy! Sincerely, ON THE COVER: Gaylord students Hailey Branson and Alex Page and four faculty members spent their winter break training journalists in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Joe Foote Dean, Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication Edward L. Gaylord Chair

Keep us updated! Let us know where you are and what you have been doing since you left OU. Send your updates to klazalier@ou.edu or: Alumni Update 395 W. Lindsey, Room 3000 Norman, OK 73019

Summer 2010

COVER STORIES

Storytelling Around the World Connecting with Journalists in S. Asia

4 6

PROFILES

Ned Hockman Young Alumni mini-profiles Al Eschbach Pattye Moore

8 10 12 32

EVENTS

Guest Speakers Distinguished Alumni Dream Course Gaylord Prize

20 26 30 35

EDITOR / CREATIVE DIRECTOR

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Celia Perkins Director of Communications

Celia Perkins Robert Taylor Shevaun Williams

WRITERS

JAYMAC BOARD MEMBERS

Natasha Goodell Journalism, 2011 Taâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Chelle Jones Journalism, 2009 Kristi McMullen Journalism, 2011 Matthew Mozek Journalism, 2011 Victoria Stahl Journalism, 2011

Jolly Brown Pugh President Nancy Coggins Vice President/President Elect James Tyree Secretary Heather Cook Immediate Past President

COLLEGE NEWS

Professionals in Training Embracing Diversity Capitol Reporting Building Completed Travel/Study Abroad Photo Gallery Routes Webzine Launched

ALUMNI NEWS

Board of Visitors JayMac Alumni Association Class Notes Celebrating Lives

14 16 18 20 22 28

34 36 44 47

395 W. Lindsey Street, Room 3000 Norman, OK 73019-4201 www.ou.edu/gaylord Changes of address may be made in the alumni directory at www.ou.edu/alumni or by calling the Alumni Records department at (405) 325-1700. Pulse is the annual magazine published by the JayMac alumni association of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma. Students in the spring 2010 JMC 3011 Magazine Practicum class provided the majority of the stories. OU Printing Services printed 11,000 copies of this issue at no cost to taxpayers of the state of Oklahoma. The Gaylord College distributes Pulse to alumni and friends of the journalism and mass communication program. The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution. 3

CoverStory

Teaching Storytelling Around the World

Four Faculty Members and Two Students Travel to Bangladesh and Pakistan Over Winter Break BY VICTORIA STAHL

early all Pakistan-related headlines these days communicate negative information. “Bomber strikes near Pakistan rally,” “Attack kills 10 at Pakistan gathering,” “Deadly attack at Pakistan hospital.” Here is one of a much more positive nature you may have missed: “Six from Gaylord

College visit Islamabad to train Pakistani journalists.” In January, four faculty members and two students from Gaylord College traveled to Islamabad to teach two workshops to journalists. They came to Pakistan from five days in Dhaka, Bangladesh, teaching the same two training sessions. Not only was this the first trip to Pakistan for the Gaylord group but also for any civilian group into Pakistan in more than two years. However, over the previous six years Gaylord faculty members have gone five times to Bangladesh and twice to Nepal for similar training events. This was the first time students made the trip. Because of dangerous conditions in Pakistan, questions arose as to whether the group would be permitted to enter the country. Ken Fischer, Gaylord Instructor, led the group as workshop coordinator, and was accompanied by Dr. Elanie Steyn, assistant professor of journalism; Bob Dickey, OU Nightly News Director; and Mike Boettcher, visiting professor and former CNN Foregin Correspondent, as well as two students, Alex Page, media management graduate student and Hailey Branson, journalism senior (see Hailey’s story on page 6). All said they felt some apprehension while traveling to Islamabad, but the experience turned out to be a safe one and worth the challenge of getting there. In fact, neither of the students informed their parents of the Pakistan leg of the trip before leaving Oklahoma. “It was such a good experience in Pakistan,” Steyn said. “It was good for me to explore a new culture and a new country. If I decided not to go because it was unsafe and allowed that confusion to keep me from having this experience, I would have lost more than I gained. I learned not to allow fear to prevent you from learning and experiencing new things.” Steyn said despite economic and political struggles in Pakistan and Bangladesh, the people persevere. “They don’t have nice things, but the things that happen to us happen to them,” Steyn said. “People still fall in love, they have children, they are happy. Life goes on similar to how life goes on

for us. One student told me that they appreciate that people get to know them. Not all Pakistanis are terrorists. The only way to know a culture is to find out for yourself. Get to know someone from these countries; many from Pakistan live in Norman.” Steyn taught a workshop focusing on women in media leadership, in which she taught leadership skills, communication skills and management styles, among other things. Fischer, Dickey and Boettcher taught a workshop on visual storytelling. Dickey says most of the journalists attending the workshops in Pakistan were experienced, but that they work in a very different media environment. According to the website for the Committee to Protect Journalists, Pakistan ranks seventh on the list of deadliest countries for journalists since 1992 with 30 journalist deaths. Already in 2010, four journalist deaths have been reported, making it the No. 1 deadliest country so far this year. “In Pakistan, journalists die,” Dickey says. “There are explosions and terrorism attacks every day. One of the reporters we worked with was held by the Taliban and condemned to death. As they prepared to execute him, they told him to do one last interview before they cut his head off, but then they let him live.” Boettcher has worked in the region as a foreign correspondent as recently as last summer and says his experience in that country and other dangerous areas of the world has taught him to know what to look for and stay safe. “Working in dangerous parts of the globe, you develop an extra sense,” Boettcher says. “But you also realize it is not as bad as it seems. Despite the unrest in Pakistan, it is a place of culture that has much to offer.”

the educational part; it’s the cultural exchange. The 30 or more people in the workshop will tell others about their experience with Americans.” The group traveled as a part of a 3-year grant with the U.S. State Department’s Citizen Exchange Program. This was the third and final trip abroad for this particular grant, but Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote says the college hopes to obtain grants for similar future workshops. A dozen journalists from Nepal, >> CONTINUED ON PAGE 40

PHOTO BY HAILEY BRANSON.

Fischer says the Pakistani journalists he encountered said they learned from the workshop that the American government does not necessarily represent beliefs and attitudes of all Americans, just as the Pakistan government does not represent the beliefs and attitudes of all Pakistanis. “We did more for the diplomacy of U.S.-Pakistan relations than any big time diplomat could do,” Fischer says. “Participants walked out of that workshop having a better feeling about America. That is why the grant is so important. It’s not just

CoverStory

Connecting with Journalists in South Asia A student shares her insights BY HAILEY BRANSON

nother hour, and we would be gone. Our bags were packed – or bulging, really, from the gifts we had received over the last two weeks – and we had a bit of time to ourselves to rest in our guest house rooms before our long trip home. Alex was in the bathroom, fixing her hair and makeup, and I could hear her singing. I didn’t know the song, but I could tell it was a happy one. I started crying uncontrollably. I couldn’t help it. Relief played a part. It was Pakistan, after all, and we were leaving happy and safe. The day I found out about our trip weeks before, the front page of the New York Times showed a devastated market in Pakistan, blown apart by a bomb. For two months, I had practically dreaded the trip, as every potential disaster scenario played in my mind. But it was joy that overwhelmed me to tears. In the two weeks I had been in Pakistan and Bangladesh, I had seen unprecedented kindness, strength, intelligence and courage from the people we had met. I had learned that behind the headlines about a country torn by crisis and fear and heartache is life that goes on every day: life with the same hopes and dreams that grace life in my own country. And I knew my career in journalism and, indeed, my life would forever be changed.

PHOTO BY HAILEY BRANSON.

A Trip Abroad

It was in October that I learned Alex Page, a media management graduate student, and I would get to tag along on a trip to Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Islamabad, Pakistan, in January with four journalism faculty members: Ken Fischer, Elanie Steyn, Bob Dickey and Mike Boettcher. It would be my first trip abroad, and Alex and I would be helping the faculty teach two simultaneous journalism workshops in each country: Visual Storytelling and Women’s Leadership. The workshops would be part of a six-year project at OU funded by the Citizen Exchange Program for the U.S. State Department. We worked with the Bangladesh Centre for Development, Journalism and Communication in Dhaka and Uks, a research center for women and media, in Islamabad. I was thrilled to be chosen, but I had a sinking feeling when I saw the e-mail in my inbox on November 17. Everyone in our group had by the next morning to decide whether to agree to the “optional” trip to Pakistan that would follow our week of workshops in Dhaka.. Day after day, the country’s name had haunted the headlines, never with good news. My heart ached for the people. But my hands shook with the thought of going there. One night as I scanned the New York Times’ international section, my fiance, who did not know what I was reading, asked me if I was sick after seeing my face.

I was the last to reply to the e-mail. Everyone else responded within minutes with something along the lines of “I’m in.” I waited until the next morning before sealing the deal. “Pakistan” and “Bangladesh” were the first words I typed in a Google news search every morning until we left for Dhaka. The news was hardly inspirational.

The Sensory Overload Of Dhaka

Bob Dickey was the only one on our trip who, like me, saw this trip from the perspective of a first-time overseas traveler heading into one of the world’s most impoverished countries. “The piles and piles of blanket-wrapped luggage that confronted us in the Dhaka airport served as a visual introduction to the cacophony and congestion that awaited us,” he says of our arrival in Bangladesh’s vastly overpopulated capital city, where we waited more than two hours for our luggage. The streets tell the story of Dhaka, and one cannot help but be humbled upon them. Our complaints about the wait for our luggage and about our lack of Internet connection were instantly futile the first time I looked into the desperate eyes of a woman holding her baby to the window of our van, pleading us for help. The sound of laughter from tiny children – who walked the dangerously busy streets, often barefooted, selling everything from popcorn to books to fruit instead of attending school – could easily be heard above the vans, the rickshaw bells and the roar of this teeming city. Laughter would greet us at the beginning of our workshop the next day. I think it is safe to say the women in our workshop taught us just as much, if not more, than we taught them. In a country where leadership for women is just now becoming more of a reality, there is hope in these women. They are smart. And beautiful. And eager to learn how to better themselves and their country. “I think what was most interesting about the women we met in Dhaka was their passion for journalism,” Alex says. “They had far less modern facilities than we have in the United States, yet their ability to tell stories and their confidence were stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. “They had a desire to learn, and we had a desire to learn from them.”

Go home and tell people that we hate terrorism, too. They are destroying our cities, and we just want to live in peace just like you do. – Pakistani Journalist During one of our sessions, Elanie asked the women the difference between a boss and a leader. A young woman like Mehrin looked at us like it was a question everyone should know. “A boss says, ‘You have to do this. A leader says, ‘We should do this.’” I couldn’t, quite honestly, have said it any better myself. And then there was Shoma. She was “that one” student. The one who stared into our eyes as we spoke. The one who had a deeply-thought-out, intuitive answer to everything we asked. And she was tough. And, when she cried while hugging us goodbye during our final night before leaving, I was surprised. Then I learned: This tough young woman, who I could picture leading her country some day, lived a very tough life. She worked hard at Dhaka University, where she shared a twin bed with another, maybe more, students. As she recited for us several verses of Bangla poetry by memory, I stared. Before, I had thought I would share nothing in common with these women. But, at that moment, I had the utmost respect for this one and all of the others in the room. During our last day in Bangladesh, as we drove out of the city and into the brick yards and river areas just outside Dhaka, the views out our windows changed. Thin metal shacks lined the road. Whole families dug out of mountainous garbage piles. Cows and goats tramped through that same garbage. Men and women carried impossible loads – building materials, the food they were going to try to sell that day – on their heads. >> CONTINUED ON PAGE 40

FacultyProfile

A “FAN-tas-tic” Life Ned Hockman: Storyteller BY NATASHA GOODELL

s friends and colleagues remember Ned Hockman, who died Dec. 20, 2009, they remember the legacy he left, the stories he told and, most often and fondly, the laughter they will never forget.

The Legacy

The Bud Wilkinson Show, the National Press Photographers Association, the OU film and video studies program and an archive of film from World War II are the tangible legacies Hockman has left for generations of photographers, videographers and journalists. The influence he had on shaping the talents and careers of thousands of students is harder to measure. “Many of the things he did at the University of Oklahoma he did not by walking into a ready-made environment,” Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote says. “Ned had to create his own

“To me, the greatest tribute a faculty member can have is to be remembered years after students graduate…the person who has been asked about the most, who has been remembered most fondly, has been Ned Hockman. That’s a huge tribute to him and to our college.” – Dean Joe Foote environment. He had to build a photography and film program. He saw the potential connection with the Athletics Department, and he was able to create the first real substantive coaching show in the history of NCAA football: “The Bud Wilkinson Show.” He saw the opportunity for training photojournalists and videographers, so he helped create a national workshop through the National Press Photographers Association. That event brings the world to Norman, Oklahoma.” Adjunct journalism instructor Rick Allen Lippert – who teaches electronic media writing and post-production and graphics at OU, is also an adjunct professor at Oklahoma City Community College and owns his own media production company, Lippert Media – met Hockman in the mid-to late 1970s through an organization called the International Television Association meeting in Oklahoma City. “Ned would come to our meetings and introduce himself and talk about the NPPA workshop that would be coming up 8

in the next couple of weeks,” Lippert says. “He would invite any of us in the group to go down to Norman and attend the NPPA workshop. He would always say, ‘But whatever you do, don’t sign anything!’ Meaning, he was inviting us to attend the workshop for free: ‘Just don’t sign anything. Don’t let them know you’re there, otherwise they’ll charge you for it.’” Foote says he has met people from all over the world who don’t know anything about Oklahoma other than this workshop. “When you think back, this workshop exists because of Ned Hockman, who had an idea,” Foote says. “He was a man of ideas. He probably drove administrators nuts with a new idea every day. But I like that. That’s how you get better.” Foote recalls Hockman always pushing things, packaging projects and pursuing goals more ambitious and demanding than many would undertake. Andrew Horton, Jeanne H. Smith film and video studies professor, came to OU in 1998 and witnessed Hockman’s drive when he first met him. “Even though Ned had long retired, he came to everything,” Horton says. “I realized then that being at OU meant you had to get to know Ned Hockman if you were interested in film. “I think he was very good at going beyond just being a teacher or a filmmaker; he was also a diplomat in the sense that he was helping film and projects way beyond the classroom. That’s why people would stay in touch with him forever.” Horton explains that it wasn’t like Hockman to teach a course and then say goodbye. He would retain contact with his students, or they would retain contact with him. “To me, the greatest tribute a faculty member can have is to be remembered years after students graduate,” Foote says. “Inevitably, when you take people on tours of campus, or meet them years later when they return, they’re going to ask about one or two faculty members. They don’t remember who taught them many things, but they’ll always remember one or two professors. Since my return to OU, clearly the person who has been asked about the most, who has been remembered most fondly, has been Ned Hockman. That’s a huge tribute to him and to our college.” Lippert recalls Hockman being immensely proud of everything he had accomplished at OU and would have said his greatest achievement was being a David Ross Boyd Professor. Lippert says Hockman was invited as a staff filmmaker to OU, but he did not have a master’s degree or hold a doctorate in journalism to teach. However, he had significant experience as a filmmaker. Over time, Hockman began teaching classes, >>CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

FROM HOCKMAN’S PERSONAL COLLECTION – PICTURE TAKEN WHILE SHOOTING SYNC SOUND IN A TENT AT K-16 KIMPO, KOREA.

AlumniProfile

From the East Coast to the West Coast

Young Alumni Making Their Place in the World BY KRISTI MCMULLEN

n tough economic times, things can look bleak for soon-to-be college graduates. To avoid the problems of too much competition for too few jobs, some may be seduced by the perks and safety of graduate school, thinking that the one- to three-year commitment is a way to avoid dealing with slim job pickings. Others are

not daunted. Defying conventional wisdom, they launch themselves into not just the marketplace but into the marketplace’s major markets.

With confidence and the skills to back up their self confidence, the five alumni in this story, all of whom have been out of college for three years or fewer, have not just jobs, but jobs that are bringing them one step closer to their dream careers in major media markets. Gaylord Dean Joe Foote says the many levels of involvement available in the college help prepare students for successful futures, no matter what the economic climate. Gaylord is a fullservice journalism and mass communications program, he says, where students who wish to do so can invest in designing their own path to success, however they define that concept. “We offer as many points of entry as possible,” Foote says. “Students can create a tailor-made program to get the very best of experiences here.”

Jason Rider: 2007, Professional Writing

Rider is the fashion associate editor at T, The New York Times Style Magazine. He works directly with the fashion director for the magazine, securing the clothing that fits into the photographer’s, director’s and stylist’s vision of a fashion story. In addition to arranging for the clothing, he books the models. Rider has traveled across the globe on photo shoots, both within the United States to places like Palm Springs, Fla, and Yuma, Ariz., and abroad, to Paris, London and Portugal. He has worked with celebrities including Mary-Kate Olsen, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Taylor Swift and Dakota Fanning. Rider says that he always had the idea that he wanted to be a fashion editor. Fashion writing was not a part of the Gaylord College’s curriculum, so he chose professional writing because of the major’s flexibility. “Jason was always innovative and thinking creatively about what he wanted to do and how he could accomplish it,” says Kathryn Jenson White, associate professor of journalism. “He went beyond the check sheet and tried to craft his experience here at OU to form himself into a package that he could sell 10

successfully to those offering internships and, later, jobs where he wanted to work.” Rider says that the discipline that has taken him to New York City and landed him a job at one of the top newspapers in the world comes from his four years at Gaylord. “The best preparation you can have as an aspiring fashion editor is to really immerse yourself in all areas, whether it’s art history, writing or film,” Rider says. “Gaylord taught me how to research and find the resources for what I was interested in.” Rider interned for a semester at BlackBook magazine in New York City after graduation, then he interned at Details, a men’s magazine. These internships led to freelancing opportunities. During the internships and through the summer of 2008, Rider did freelance styling for magazines like L’Uomo Vogue, V, Interview, In Style, Details, BlackBook and Self Service. From someone who worked at Details, he learned of an opening at T, The New York Times Style Magazine. He began there in September 2008.

Cadie Thompson: 2009, Journalism

Thompson is working as a business reporter for CNBC online in New York City, where she has created her own niche beat covering mobile technology. She also works on special projects and on researching and writing a variety of story types. Thompson barely had time to breathe before starting her first job, she says. She booked her flight to New York City on graduation day, flying out of one life and into another eight days later. Thompson started out doing freelance reporting for CNBC, where she had interned twice before. She started by working on a project on the financial crisis, a piece nominated for an Emmy. She says she is thankful for the strong journalism background Gaylord gave her and that the college’s focus on learning the different streams of mass communication, advertising and public relations as well as broadcast and print journalism benefited her.

PHOTO PROVIDED.

Baxter Holmes graduated at the top of his class in 2009 with a degree in journalism. Thanks to several quality internships he had as a student, his job as a sports reporter with the Los Angeles Times was lined up before he walked across the stage at commencement.

Her knowledge of software, such as InDesign and Photoshop, programs she may not use every day, helps her communicate with other departments.

ad placement at New York City’s Partnership for A Drug-Free America, a non-profit organization.

Grant Haines: 2009, Advertising

Holmes is a sports reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Starting the summer after his freshman year, Holmes consistently had summer internships at newspapers. He interned first at The Boston Globe. As a sophomore, he went to The Salt Lake Tribune and between his junior and senior year, the Argus Leader, a newspaper in Sioux Falls, N.D. After graduating, Holmes took an internship at the Los Angeles Times as a sports reporter. That internship led him to METPRO, a Tribune Company entrylevel training program for inexperienced journalists. Holmes made an impression on instructor Warren Vieth in Vieth’s 2008 In-Depth Reporting Class. “Baxter is one of those kind of exceptional students who comes along every once and while that is clearly eager to write good stories just for the sake of doing it,” Vieth said. “He just has that genuine excitement about being a writer and a reporter.” Holmes says professors who helped motivate and inspire him while he was at Gaylord include Peter Gade, David Craig, Warren Vieth and Chris Krug. “In my time there I was really fortunate to be in contact with a few professors who were really bright minds in terms of being able to challenge students and make them think critically about current issues in our field,” Holmes says.

Haines works for larry abel/de-signs, vb., as a production coordinator in New York City. The firm is a creative agency and event production company with other offices in Hollywood and Miami. Haines shares an apartment in Brooklyn with Thompson and three others. He says the trips to New York City, China and other places Gaylord offers to its students are great preparation for moving to another place to live and work. “The trips give you an opportunity to travel and broaden your horizons,” Haines says. “You get to see other places. It motivates you to get out there and see the rest of the world and want to work in bigger markets.” Haines started freelancing as a production assistant for the company on a project for Godvia Chocolate and NetFlix. Haines worked on a few more projects before being hired full time in September 2009. Another project Haines worked on for Godiva was featured on Oprah in February. In January, Haines helped produce the Entertainment Weekly Photo Studio for the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Before beginning freelancing for his current company, Haines interned in the digital media department on the online

Baxter Holmes: 2009, Journalism

>>CONTINUED ON PAGE 41 11

AlumniProfile

Larger Than Life

Al Eschbach approaches career and teaching with energy BY MATTHEW MOZEK

klahoma sports legend Al Eschbach walks into the classroom, shirt neatly tucked into his slacks and wearing the trademark Panama hat that he, seemingly, never removes. In fact, the hat has become a part of his persona. Equally important to that persona is his voice, a thick East Coast accent that sets him

apart from the rest in the Oklahoma City radio market. Eschbach has an unorthodox teaching style, one element of which is that he doesn’t use a textbook in his course. Eschbach says he believes the ideas and concepts he teaches students cannot be learned from a textbook. With more than 40 years of experience working with sports journalists and sports figures in and around the state of Oklahoma, Eschbach teaches from the Book of Eschbach, a tome filled with example after example of what real-life journalism is like. The host of a sports radio talk show on WWLS The Sports Animal, Eschbach draws his style in the classroom from his onair style: energy is the key element. “How many teachers do you have that don’t teach with energy?” Eschbach says. “I’m in there – every class – and I’m energized. I think it’s important. I do my show with energy. I teach the same way I do my show – with energy.” Eschbach’s Sports In Society course focuses on the art of sports interviewing and sports writing for all types of media, including print, radio and television. He asks students to write editorials and features and to learn how to put together a newscast as they assemble the top sports stories of the day. Eschbach, who graduated from OU in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, says he cares about all of his students. “When I go into a class I get excited,” Eschbach says. “I get excited about talking to the students. I get excited about getting their feedback. And I get excited about teaching them.” Journalism junior Clark Foy says taking Eschbach’s course is an opportunity to be coached by one of the best-known media personalities in Oklahoma. “It’s really fun,” Foy says. “The class is laid back. I think he is a great guy, and you can tell he legitimately cares about his students and he wants to touch the lives of those that are in his class.” Eschbach’s class is ideal for Foy because after graduation, Foy says, he would like to pursue a career in sports journalism including blogging, radio, television, writing and multimedia. Foy served as The Oklahoma Daily’s men’s basketball beat reporter in spring 2010. Journalism senior Annelise Russell says she enjoys the course because she has the opportunity to interact with not only Eschbach, but also many other well-known sports figures in Oklahoma. She has that opportunity because Eschbach brings in numerous guest speakers who currently work in both the

Oklahoma City and national market, including OU head football coach Bob Stoops, OU head basketball coach Jeff Capel, The Oklahoman sports columnist Berry Tramel and Washington Nationals play-by-play announcer Bob Carpenter. Guest speakers tell students about how they advanced in their professions from entry-level jobs to their current positions. Sports figures come in to help simulate a press conference. “It’s interesting,” Russell says. “It’s very different than the other classes you’ll probably ever take. It’s very laid back, but it’s fun. You can tell he enjoys being there, so you enjoy being there.” After graduation, Russell says she would like to pursue a broadcasting career in sports journalism. Russell served as The Oklahoma Daily’s women’s basketball beat reporter in spring 2010. While attending OU in the 1960s, Eschbach says he didn’t find many teachers in the journalism school who were working in professional journalism. That led him to teach a course at OU, he says.

I’m in there – every class – and I’m energized. I think it’s important. I do my show with energy. I teach the same way I do my show – with energy. “I thought it was really important if I could show what reallife journalism is like and bring people into the class that are involved in the world of real-life journalism,” Eschbach says. Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote says Eschbach gives students access and information that only a seasoned professional can provide. Foote, who was also working in radio sports at the same time Eschbach worked at the Oklahoma Journal as a student in the 1960s, says Eschbach is able to leverage his connections in the industry. “You can imagine the contacts he has built over that 40-year period of time here in Oklahoma; that alone opens doors for OU students beyond what most of us could dream about,” Foote

PHOTO BY STAFF.

says. “Plus Al is an outstanding communicator; he is a very intelligent man. That put together equals an excellent course – a course I would enjoy taking.” Eschbach served as a sports editor at The Oklahoma Daily his senior year at OU and says he started at the bottom of that publication as a sports writer and worked his way to the editor’s position. Although he had fun working at the newspaper, he realized he was better at sports radio than at sports writing, he says. His thick East Coast accent not withstanding, Eschbach has become the voice of Oklahoma sports radio. The New Jersey native came to Oklahoma in 1963 and says he never thought anyone with his accent could be on the air in Oklahoma. But he wasn’t about to change his way of speaking. “I’ve always said if I lost my accent I’d move back – but not really,” Eschbach says. “There is no way I could live there again. No way.” Foote says Eschbach’s personality set him apart from everyone else from the beginning. “It’s never been difficult to pick Al out of a crowd,” Foote says. “His differences really helped Al. He was this guy with a strange accent and quirky look. You can imagine how much attention he received because he was one of a kind.” In fact, Foote says the worst criticism one could make of any broadcast journalist is to say he or she is just like everyone else in the industry. Eschbach says he prides himself on being different and doesn’t plan on changing. “In talk radio I am not the norm,” Eschbach says. “I haven’t changed. I’m myself. I’m crazy. If anyone has ever seen the movie “Animal House” – that was me in college. I never want to lose that side.” Eschbach started his career at KTOK in 1976 hosting an hour-long sports radio talk show; he began working at WWLS The Sports Animal in 1985. Tramel, who is an on-air contributor to Eschbach’s radio program, says Eschbach has helped sports radio evolve into the popular medium it is today. “He was a pioneer in the business,” Tramel says. “It was a novel concept. I had never heard of a sports talk show. Nobody else had either.” Eschbach says he attributes his success to OU and its outstanding journalism program. That explains one of the reasons he chose to teach a course in the Gaylord College. “I wanted to give back to the university that I went to,” Eschbach says. Foote says the long-standing culture in journalism education supports bringing professionals into the classroom. Journalism faculties have always been a blend of academics and professionals, he says. “Adjuncts bring the profession directly to the students, but to be an outstanding adjunct you have to do more than that,” Foote says. “You have to have a keen sense of what makes a good course. You have to have the organizational ability to pull it off and the rigor to evaluate students adequately. “There is more to it than just standing up and telling ‘war’ stories. You really have to be a good educator as well as an outstanding professional. We’re fortunate that we have found several people with that blend and talent.” Professor Scott Hodgson, who serves as head of the media arts sequence, says adjuncts often have professional experience that regular faculty members do not have. “Regular faculty members come with a set of skills, but if you want to expand upon that, especially for some specialty things, there is nothing better than hiring adjuncts,” he says. Hodgson says adjuncts have the same respect given to full-time faculty members. “What adjuncts lack in teaching experience, they make up with experience they have had in the professional world,” he says. Students need a mix of people with great theory, an understanding of trends in media, conceptual background and hands-on experience. That mix provides students with the best possible educational experience, Hodgson says. “We really view our adjuncts as partners,” Hodgson says. “If we were in a program with no adjuncts and were all just full-time faculty members, I think we would lack in something.” The Book of Eschbach ensures Gaylord students do not lack for insights into professional sports media today.

CollegeNews

Professionals in Training Students provide real clients with real services BY NATASHA GOODELL

rom the beginning Dean Joe Foote envisioned that Gaylord College would become a place where experiential learning was as much a part of a student’s time as the conceptual and skills development courses that build the foundation of any journalism and mass communication curriculum.

When Foote became dean in 2005, he began making that vision a reality. The student-run, full-service, advertising and public relations agency, Lindsey + Asp, and the student-run video production company, Gaylord Hall Productions, are the two newest examples of that vision. (In a related story, read about the new ROUTES Webzine on page 28.) These two programs teach students how to work on a professional level as they meet the needs of their clients. In doing so, both are winning awards that bring recognition to Gaylord College and the University of Oklahoma.

Lindsey + Asp

PHOTO BY SHEVAUN WILLIAMS.

Lindsey + Asp, located on the second floor of Gaylord Hall, is the showpiece of the new $19 million addition and provides advertising and public relations students with more than 2,000 square feet of dedicated space. The new facility is furnished with contemporary décor— long couches, high bar tables and stools, ball-like chairs of many, almost neon colors and dry-erase boards forming partitions located throughout the facility for jotting down creative thoughts. The open-area workspace, conference

room, editing room and five idea-generation rooms dedicated specifically to the agency, provide the space and equipment needed to present a purely professional atmosphere. “We’re well known for having fantastic facilities,” says David Tarpenning, advertising instructor and faculty adviser for Lindsey + Asp. “The dean wanted the agency as a means of promoting the college and showing that it was one of the premiere programs in the country. To do that, you’ve got to excel in several different categories, and this is one of the categories: an agency that says you are on the road to becoming a really premiere journalism and mass communication program.” With two-thirds of the College’s students studying advertising or public relations, Foote says, he knew Gaylord College had to create space dedicated to these two fields. Gaylord journalism and broadcasting and electronic media majors have had opportunities for gaining real-world experience by working at The Oklahoma Daily, “Sooner” yearbook, OU Nightly or the Wire, but public relations and advertising had nothing until Lindsey + Asp.

Students work together in groups in the new Lindsey+Asp advertising and public relations agency.

PHOTO BY AMY FROST/OU DAILY.

Students working in the new Gaylord Hall Productions unit work with real clients including working with President David L. Boren on the new institutional spot shown during nationally broadcast sports events.

“We’re changing that equation, but remarkably, we’re one of the few programs in the U.S. that has done that,” Foote says. “Just about everyone has a student newspaper. Most have a student TV newscast, maybe a student magazine and other types of journalistic products, but very few in America have a working public relations and advertising agency. The colleges that do are underfunded and understaffed.” In its first year of operation, the agency has already won five student Addy Awards in the local American Advertising Federation annual competition. The Oklahoma City Ad Club gives the awards as the first of three competition levels. Agency work also receive five bronze Addys at the regional level. Other accounts have received recognition for public relations work from the national-level Zenith Awards, hosted by Gaylord College. The agency draws clients from both within the university and from the Norman community and surrounding areas. “Working here is pretty much like what I did when I was in the business many years ago, running my own company, Advertising and Marketing Resources,” Tarpenning says. “The only difference is you’re working with students rather than professionals. However, we prefer to call the students in the agency, ‘professionals in training.’ ” Tarpenning says the human resources director at Young & Rubicam, one of the biggest advertising agencies in the world, told him she would rather hire someone who came to her from a student-operated advertising agency than someone who came in with just an internship at a professional agency. She said she knows what it takes to be in a student-operated advertising agency where the students have full responsibility for working with clients and doing actual production. “The difference in an internship and the experience I’ve had here is putting everything I’ve learned in the classroom to more practical use,” says Laura Walker, advertising senior, communications minor. “You’re really doing things, and you’re working with clients one-on-one. It’s definitely more real-world experience than some internships offer, but I also think it was beneficial to have previous internships. “I’ve learned things at those internships about how those companies structure themselves and how they run. I’ve also

learned how to work with clients, and I feel that’s something I’ve brought back to the agency.” “Our clients really like a few things about us,” says Will Langenberg, advertising junior and account services director. “First, we’re young, so we have fresh ideas. We’re great at social media: the more guerrilla marketing, thinking outside the box, being cost effective and getting people’s attention in ways some older agencies don’t think to do. Also, because we are students, we can do this for a lot cheaper than other agencies.” Langenberg says the kind of work these students do each day depends on the client. “Some of them have smaller budgets and smaller needs,” he says. “For one client, we may just design a logo and some posters and a brochure. For the Norman Police Department, we’re doing a website redesign to help change their image and help them with recruiting. Copelin’s Office Center wants to promote their new toy store, Toy Zone, so we’re doing some TV advertising. It really varies by clients. Some are more public relations, and some are more advertising.” Robert Pritchard, public relations instructor and faculty adviser for the public relations side of Lindsey + Asp, formerly worked as the public relations adviser for the student-operated agency, Cardinal Communications, at Ball State University in Indiana. Public Relations Student Society of America named it the nation’s Outstanding Chapter Firm in 2008. Pritchard says when Gaylord College announced its plans for a student-run agency, he thought the dean had a wonderful vision for what the agency could become. “The facilities have no equal in the country,” he says. “Coming here offered me the opportunity to be in something on the ground floor, and that doesn’t happen very often.” Pritchard says he has already made visits to two of the top public relations firms in the state. He found both agencies excited about the credentials the students coming out of Lindsey + Asp would have. They said the students’ experience would put them ahead of many of their contemporaries, Pritchard says. “This program is one of the best and most advanced methods of teaching: experiential learning,” he says. “As we do work, and do good work, for our clients, and recognize what they’re trying to accomplish, it reflects well on the college.” >>CONTINUED ON PAGE 42

CollegeNews

Embracing Diversity Enriches Learning

Diversity is stressed in the classroom, student organizations BY TA’CHELLE JONES

eople of color comprise more than 13 percent of those employed at daily newspapers in the United States, more than 11 percent of those who work in radio and about 21 percent of the broadcast news workforce. Currently, minorities account for over 30 percent of the U.S. population, and it is projected that

they will account for more than half of the population by 2042. As of Fall 2009, Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication has 1,339 students in its five majors, 20 percent of whom are minority students. While this number is higher than the national average of minority media practitioners, Gaylord is working towards increasing diversity within the college. Numbers offer a glimpse into national and local demographics, but Ramòn Chàvez, instructor of journalism, wants to go beyond them to create an environment that supports and fosters diversity of all sorts in Gaylord College and ultimately all the media professions it trains students to enter. With construction of Gaylord Hall phase two complete and the college’s new advertising and public relations agency in full swing, the Gaylord College is poised to build on a foundation of, arguably, the best journalism and mass communication facility in the country to achieve that goal. Gaylord strives to construct an open, inclusive environment with its support of minority professional media student organizations, a committee of faculty and staff dedicated to diversity and coursework that features a focus on inclusiveness. “Diversity is vital,” said associate professor of public relations Meta Carstarphen who is also a Gaylord Family Endowed Professor. “It is integral to all of the mass communication fields that we represent.” Within the college, students can become involved in four professional organizations focused on supporting journalists of color: the Asian American Journalists Association, the National

Asian American Journalists

Association

Association of Black Journalists, the Native American Journalist’s Association and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. “We all come from different backgrounds, different parts of the world and different cultures,” said NAJA president Sara Norton, professional writing senior. “It’s very important to see that diversity throughout the Gaylord student body and to see us all working together.” Each group has its specific focus, but a commonality exists in their pursuit to diversify journalism and mass communication with their presence. That is why once every four years the four national associations meet at the Unity conference. These groups create a strong support system for students and professionals of color. Gaylord College is proud to be the home to one of the four Unity groups, the Native American Journalist’s Association. NAJA moved to the OU campus in 2008 and now has their headquarters in Copeland Hall. “These organizations give minorities a boost, an extra push,” said NABJ president Jessica McClarty, public relations sophomore. “It gives students another place to call home, another resource.”

PHOTO BY SHEVAUN WILLIAMS.

While there may be “Only One” University of Oklahoma and Gaylord College, the people that make up the faculty, staff and student body come from many different backgrounds. The Gaylord College strives to emphasize the value of diverse ideas and diverse voices in society through classwork and student organizations.

These organizations sponsor events and hold general meetings. Events, such as NABJ’s Black Love in Hollywood, explore the stereotypes and issues of importance to the African-American community through viewing films and opening a discussion among those attending. The Unity groups hold movie nights, career fairs and open forums to explore the ideas of diversity and unity. “We have been able to meet in Gaylord every week and use the new auditorium for guest speakers,” Norton said. “The deans have even come to our meetings. Overall, Gaylord has been very helpful.” Diversity amoung the faculty and the curriculum is also important. To work specifically toward the goal of helping the college with its diversity efforts, the dean appoints faculty to committees that serve to improve the college. Among these is the Diversity Committee. The committee’s goal is to assist the college in implementing its Diversity Plan, the latest version of which the faculty approved in 2009. The plan serves as a blueprint for the college’s work on increasing diversity in the faculty, the student body and in the experiences students have while earning their degrees. Increased recruitment of a diverse student body and faculty and the integration of diversity into all classes are key goals on the diversity plan said Diversity Committee Chair Kathryn Jenson White, associate professor of journalism. “We work at improving our focus on diversity in all areas each year,” Jenson White said. “However, we’re never satisfied with what we do. I’m only satisfied when I feel we’ve substantially furthered the cause. That’s a challenge each year, but one we take up gladly. This year, our own Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender journalists group met for the first time. That’s an important step forward for us.”

In classrooms, diversity as a core value appears in different ways. Classes such as “Race, Gender and the Media” and “Business of Media: Women in Media Leadership” address the issues of diversity as their primary focus. However, many courses

I want every student at Gaylord College to feel welcome, to feel like they can jump in and be a member of our community. – Dean Joe Foote have a diversity element, no matter what their titles, Jenson White said. “In JMC 2033, Writing for Mass Media, we now have a textbook titled “Reporting For a Diverse World” that helps students think about how inclusive they are in their reporting, what kinds of language issues they must address and how to cover diverse communities well,” Jenson White said. Students in adjunct professor Dr. Monica Flippin-Wynn’s summer “Race, Gender and Media” class were invited to blog for The Oklahoman’s new Cultural Awareness Blog. The Diversity Committee reviews syllabi with the goal of having at least 80 percent of them reference diversity. As students become more aware of diversity in journalism through courses and extra- and co-curricular activities, they are better prepared to work in an increasingly diverse world, Jenson White said. >>CONTINUED ON PAGE 43

CollegeNews

Students Learn the Ropes of Capitol Reporting Provide Coverage for Community Papers

PHOTO PROVIDED BY LSB, PHOTO DIVISION

BY MARK MOZEK

overing the Oklahoma Legislature in the 1980s was an entirely different proposition than it is today. The Tulsa World and the Tulsa Tribune each had two full-time reporters at the Capitol, The Oklahoman had three, The Associated Press had two reporters and the United Press International and The Oklahoma

City Times each had one full-time reporter at the Capitol with an additional reporter during session. However, the recent economic downturn has changed the landscape of local and statewide Capitol coverage. Cutbacks have led to less coverage of state and local politics, especially at Oklahoma’s small community papers, but a Gaylord College class is providing that coverage as part of its goal of teaching students statehouse reporting through on-the-ground coverage of the Oklahoma Legislature. With the appetite for content as strong as it has ever been, OU instructor of journalism Warren Vieth is working to revitalize the heart of state Capitol reporting and has been teaching the course, Capitol Bureau Reporting, since spring 2007. Vieth, who graduated OU in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, says he wants to introduce journalism students to what he sees as the exciting and rewarding world of state Capitol reporting. “I think it’s one of the more enjoyable forms of reporting, and I would much rather do that kind of reporting than most other straight news beats that I’m familiar with,” Vieth says. As part of the course, Gaylord students spend a minimum of one morning or afternoon per week at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. The students produce a story every week about legislative issues, events and people. By the end of the semester, students will have produced more than a dozen stories on deadline. An Oklahoma native, Vieth previously worked for newspapers in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Dallas and most recently as a reporter in the Washington Bureau of The Los Angeles Times. He began his journalism career in earnest when he became editor of The Oklahoma Daily during his senior year in fall 1976. “I’ve done a lot of things as a journalist, but I don’t think any of them were more fun than when I covered the state Capitol, first for The Oklahoma City Times, which no longer exists, and then for the Tulsa World,” he says. Vieth says many journalism students shy away from state Capitol reporting because it sounds boring or complicated. However, students who take the course develop a better understanding of state government, he says. Vieth took a similar course as a senior at OU. He says that experience changed his perspective on political reporting forever. “If I hadn’t signed up for that class, none of this would have happened, and my career would have taken an entirely different direction,” Vieth says. “It’s near and dear to my heart for that reason.” Journalism senior Caitlin Harrison says she was initially intimidated because she thought the class would be overwhelming and difficult. However, the experience of Vieth’s course was not that at all. In fact, the class meets every Monday and Friday at Café Plaid on Campus Corner in Norman where the group discusses legislative coverage, strategies and plans. “It’s really nice because we can sit there and eat pastries and drink coffee,” Harrison says. “It’s really relaxed because we don’t meet in a classroom.” Harrison, who was managing editor of The Oklahoma Daily in spring 2010, served as state Capitol beat reporter for The Daily in fall 2009. She says this course helped her develop a better

understanding of the state Capitol and helped her establish a rapport with legislators. She has that opportunity because Vieth brings in numerous guest speakers who currently work in both the Oklahoma City and national media, including The Oklahoman editor Ed Kelley, The Oklahoma Observer editor Frosty Troy, The Oklahoman reporter Julie Bisbee and AP reporter Sean Murphy. Recent guest speakers also included state Rep. Bill Nations, former state Senate president pro tempore Cal Hobson who is now the Executive Director of Operations for OU University Outreach, former Oklahoma House of Representatives speaker pro tempore Danny Hilliard, OU professor of political science Keith Gaddie and political consultant Michael Carrier. “Experienced Capitol reporters who’ve covered the Capitol for awhile come in and give us advice,” Harrison says. “And I think that is better than anything you could learn in a classroom because they’re telling their firsthand account of covering the Capitol.” In addition to producing a story every week on deadline, Gaylord students work as part-time newspaper correspondents covering local and statewide politics for a number of newspapers including The Norman Transcript, the Weatherford Daily News, The Shawnee News-Star, The Oklahoma Gazette, The Journal Record, KGOU and The Oklahoma Daily. Mike McCormick, who serves as executive editor of The Shawnee News-Star, worked with Harrison in spring 2010. McCormick says Vieth’s course was extremely helpful because The Shawnee News-Star was able to acquire insight on issues from local lawmakers in a timely manner that the paper would not be able to give their readers otherwise. “It provided us the flexibility for the rest of our newsroom staff to focus on the other stories on a daily basis that we need,” McCormick says. “We would not have been able to cover our area lawmakers to the extent the students were able to provide for us.” McCormick also says The Shawnee News-Star was able to give insight on issues on which their readers have the most interest, including the budget and education. Journalism sophomore Ricky Maranon says he enjoyed Capitol Bureau Reporting. The course demands an aggressive approach to Capitol coverage and the student’s commitment to report and write a story every week must take precedence over other school activities and workplace obligations. However, Maranon says that’s what he enjoyed about the course. “I appreciate the trust that I get,” Maranon says. “It’s very independent. You’re very self-sufficient, and you work at your own pace, yet you still have a deadline.” Maranon, who was assignment editor of The Oklahoma Daily in spring 2010, says one of the great things about the course is it is an opportunity to produce clips he can show to prospective employers after he graduates. “You have to have these clips, you have to have these internships,” Maranon says. “This Capitol reporting class is helping people get those clips.”

SpecialEvents

Guest Speakers Share Decades of Experience

National-level media professionals visit Gaylord Hall BY KRISTI MCMULLEN

n a typical day in the Gaylord College, a sense of urgency permeates the building as students rush to complete their class projects from print stories and broadcast packages, to public relations and advertising campaigns, to screenplays and novels. However, despite deadline demands on any given day,

Gaylord students gather to absorb all they can from nationally and internationally known guest speakers. Jim Miklaszewski, chief Pentagon correspondent for NBC News, and Richard Griffiths, vice president of news for CNN, brought their many years of experience to benefit Gaylord students through funding from two foundations, one based in Oklahoma and the other national. In 2007, the William Randolph Hearst Foundation awarded the University of Oklahoma, a multiple-year, renewable grant totaling $200,000 in 2007 to establish the William Randolph Hearst Endowment for Visiting Professionals in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. “The grant allows Gaylord to invite outstanding professionals to visit classrooms and provides co-curricular events where students network with and learn from highly respected, nationallevel journalists,” said journalism sequence head Peter Gade, associate professor of journalism and Gaylord Family Endowed Professor.

PHOTO BY STAFF.

It’s important to bring in speakers who are working journalists so that students can hear from them what is happening in the industry – Kathleen Johnson

Jim Miklaszewski visited with students and discussed how they can use their skills in the constantly evolving field of journalism.

Kathleen Johnson, McMahon Centennial Professor in Journalism, said the McMahon Foundation, based in Lawton, Okla., provides funding for bringing in working professionals to speak to students. “It’s important to bring in speakers who are working journalists so that students can hear from them what is happening in the industry,” said Johnson. “It’s changing quickly right now, and they can give us insight into how newsrooms are addressing those changes.”

Deciding on what to focus on in explaining why the college asked Jim Miklaszewski to be a Hearst speaker is a challenge. He has 25 years of experience under his belt at NBC News, first as White House correspondent and more recently as chief Pentagon correspondent. He covered Reagan’s “Morning in America” and President Obama’s “Change You Can Believe In”. He was the first reporter on the scene following the Sept. 11 attacks on the Pentagon. Gaylord College brought Miklaszewski to Norman, actually, not to focus on his impressive past but to explore with future journalists what their experiences might be. His long, impressive career, and the integrity that he brought to it, places him in a position to be asked to speak to the students, Gade said, but his insights into what the media is becoming matter greatly to students preparing to enter the media profession. Miklaszewski entertained the 52 students who attended his lecture with stories about CNN’s beginning struggle to prove itself a credible source of news. He talked about CNN’s beginning when the fledgling station brought out a cherry picker to get a good view of a nuclear warhead that had been blown from its shell by accident in Arkansas in August 1980, much to the U.S. government’s chagrin. Though Miklaszewski was confronted by a high-ranking military official, he and CNN continued to report every 30 minutes about the scramble to remove the weapon safely. “Miklaszewski has a reputation for inspiring and telling great stories,” Gade said. “He brought a wealth of experience and expertise to the changes occurring every day in the media environment.” “He is one of the people that is a strong proponent of journalism values and truth telling, serving citizens in a way that helps them govern,” Gade said. “He’s a very good role model for students to see that these things are still very important despite the changing media environment.” Journalism sophomore Ana Valentine said she was impressed by Miklaszewski’s abilities to communicate the scenes of the past and emotions regarding the future. “I thought the speaker was one of the most interesting people I have heard speak all year,” Valentine said. “It might have just been the tone of his voice or the way he told the story, but when he spoke you actually felt like you had been apart of what he was talking about.” Although he did share anecdotes from the early years of CNN, the 61-year-old news veteran spent the majority of his speech offering hope to the students about the many opportunities that the changing business offers them. “The changes under way now, which are frightening to many, offer huge opportunities for young people just getting into the business,” Miklaszewski said. “By the time they reach J-school, they are more adept at exploiting technology and using it than those who have been in the business a long time.” Journalism senior Lizzy Lopez said that Miklaszewski gave her hope for her rapidly approaching future. “Although Jim projected a grim outlook for journalists of his generation, I was encouraged by the opportunities that he expressed for young journalists,” Lopez said.

Miklaszewski spoke of these opportunities throughout the course of his 45-minute speech, taking students questions as well. He said he was jealous of the students’ knowledge of social media and noted that NBC was holding classes for its journalists on use of social media. After speaking to the larger group of students, Miklaszewski met with seven students individually to review broadcast packages from their résumé tapes. Journalism senior Greg Gullberg said Miklaszewski critiqued his news package on barriers to international trade exports. Gullberg said this opportunity was valuable in hearing feedback on what a potential employer looks for at the highest level. “He told me what I could do differently, do better for a national market. It was really about when you are going for the big jobs, here is what you do,” Gullberg said. Miklaszewski said he took time to speak to students about their open-ended futures because he is genuinely excited about the future of journalism and wanted to share his experience to help students chart a successful course as they move into that future.

Richard Griffiths

At first glance, Griffiths, vice president of news at CNN, doesn’t appear to be an intimidating man. His demeanor is friendly, and his jokes come easily. However, in April, a group of 50 Gaylord students experienced first hand just how intimidating Griffiths, and the career he represents, can be. The advertised topic of Griffiths’ speech was media ethics and story structure. Many students settled into their seats, expecting an interesting, conceptual lecture similar to the ones they typically receive from speakers. As soon as Griffiths began to speak, however, the whole room of Gaylord students sat up a bit straighter. He launched into a 90-minute lecture he had given internally at CNN quite often. He immediately began to call out students at random and demand answers from them, answers to the ethical questions his presentation raised. “He really got us thinking. I feel like he really had a way of putting the whole room on its heels,” Gullberg said. >>CONTINUED ON PAGE 43

PHOTO BY STAFF.

Jim Miklaszewski

Richard Griffiths, vice president of news at CNN, spoke to students about media ethics and story structure in a participative session. 21

BUDAPEST

Travel Study

LONDON

BEIJING

Whether the trips are truly ‘abroad’ or just across the U.S., Travel Study programs are popular with Gaylord College students. This past year groups studying International Advertising went to Budapest and Beijing on two different trips. Journalism and broadcasting and electronic media students visited New York City media powerhouses and others enjoyed the annual British Media Tour. Professional writing students learned travel writing in Puerto Rico and the second class of Gaylord’s Summer in Washington program convened in Washington, D.C. this summer. Advertising and public relations students traveled to New York City, Dallas and Chicago.

NEW YORK CITY

WASHINGTON, D.C. 22

VIENNA

PUERTO RICO

CollegeNews

New Building Fosters Creativity and Innovation $19 million expansion completes Gaylord Hall BY CELIA PERKINS

seven years of near-continuous construction, Gaylord Hall is finally complete. At more than 107,000 square feet the building provides students and faculty plentiful room and inspiration for research and creativity.

Bricks and mortar are not what make a good j-school, but a high quality facility does make it easier for students to excel in learning and applying the theory and craft of journalism and mass communication in today’s rapidly evolving media landscape. Phase I of Gaylord Hall effectively moved the technology available to students ahead 20 plus years as the new building provided students with state-of-the-art classroom space and computer labs, a first-class television studio, 10 film editing bays and a journalism library. Phase II has taken that example and raised the bar even higher. Phase II added 46,000 square feet to the building and created dedicated space for the growing M.A. and Ph.D. program, nearly 4,000 square feet of space for a working advertising and public relations agency, a second multimedia computer lab, a 25-seat computer training facility, a two-story soundstage with both a green screen and an infinity screen and a beautiful 180seat broadcast-ready auditorium all in a creative atmosphere that students can call home while they are at the OU. But what is more important than the actual building is what the students have been able to achieve because the latest tools of the trade are readily available to them.

Instead of decades-old equipment, students in the broadcasting and electronic media and broadcast journalism programs have at their fingertips equipment that some professional media outlets only dream about. A fact that doesn’t escape notice by visiting professionals. NBC News Chief Pentagon Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski commented on the “tremendous facilities” when he visited in spring 2010 and urged the students to take full advantage and exploit the opportunity they have to work with such great equipment and terrific instructors. The few short years since Phase I of Gaylord Hall opened have seen an increase in quality in student media productions such as the nightly newscast, OU Nightly, which has repeatedly earned the honor of being the Best Student Newscast in the state and consequently enabled the program to be broadcast in the state’s largest markets through the Cox Communications system. One of the most exciting additions is the new advertising and public relations agency. With Lindsey+Asp (see related story on page 14) students in the advertising and public relations programs now have the opportunity to apply their skills to real client projects similar to how journalism and broadcasting >>PHOTOS ON NEXT TWO PAGES, STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 41

PHOTOS ON BY SHEVAUN WILLIAMS.

rom the initial groundbreaking for Phase I in April 2003 to the dedication for Phase II in October 2009, after

PHOTOS ON BY SHEVAUN WILLIAMS AND STAFF.

PHOTOS BY SHEVAUN WILLIAMS AND JOSEPH MILLS PHOTOGRAPHY.

SpecialEvents

From an Alumnae of the ’30s to an Alumnae in her ’30s Excellence is a mark of OU journalism alumni BY CELIA PERKINS

he inventor of the McDonald’s Happy Meal, a food editor and restaurant critic, a former congressman and ambassador to Mexico, and a White House Correspondent: What could these four people possibly have in common? They all studied journalism at the University of Oklahoma and last October they were recognized

for their careers by the JayMac Alumni Association.

Bob Bernstein Journalism and Radio/TV, 1956-1960

The man responsible for bringing the McDonald’s Happy Meal into the world also claims that advertising chose him versus the other way around. Bernstein left OU in spring 1960 after changing his major to journalism from radio and television in his final year. He worked for several regional film and advertising companies in the Kansas City area before founding his own company. Bernstein is now president and CEO of Bernstein-Rein Advertising the firm he co-founded with partner Skip Rein in 1964. Along with Rein, he grew the agency from the ground up to include clients such as Blockbuster, Thrifty Car Rental, McDonald’s and Wal-Mart. His firm won the McDonald’s account in 1967 and introduced the Happy Meal in 1976 and the rest is history as he says. Bernstein serves on the boards of several Kansas City museums and philanthropic interests and has been instrumental in establishing regional nonprofits such as The Children’s Place and Ronald McDonald House Charities. 26

PHOTO BY BOB TAYLOR.

Bob Bernstein, Kansas City advertising executive; Suzanne Holloway, retired Tulsa World food editor and restaurant critic; and, James R. Jones, former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico and U.S. Congressman were honored at a banquet in their honor Thursday, Oct. 8 at Gaylord Hall. Holly Bailey, Newsweek White House Correspondent, was also honored with the Young Professional Award, an award that is bestowed upon alumni under the age of 40 who have made great achievements in their careers. “So many of our alumni have made such impressive accomplishments in their respective fields, that it is always difficult to select the Distinguished Alumni award recipients each year,” said then outgoing JayMac President Heather Cook. “Those of us involved in the selection process give a lot of thought and discussion to each potential honoree. I am glad we added the Young Professional Award a few years ago to recognize those making huge strides in the early stages of their careers.” 2009 JayMac honorees Holley Bailey, James R. Jones, Suzanne Holloway and Bob Bernstein.

Suzanne Arnote Holloway Journalism, 1936

Suzanne Holloway blazed the trail for women journalists from the beginning. She was only the second woman editor of The Oklahoma Daily (the first being Christine Squire Hill in 1932). Holloway began her professional career at The Daily Oklahoman covering the struggles of fellow Oklahomans during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. She then took 30 years off from the news field to raise her family, but returned in 1976 to become the food editor and restaurant critic at the Tulsa World, where she worked for 24 years never missing a deadline. Holloway said her daughter told her that journalism “brought her in touch with greatness,” and she said she had to agree with that. Holloway delighted guests at the JayMac banquet with a speech about her experiences as a journalist and how as a

journalist she was able to meet many people she would not have had the opportunity to otherwise. Holloway was honored in 2000 by the Tulsa Chapter of the Association for Women in Communication with the Saidie Lifetime Achievement Award given to women who have made significant contributions to Oklahoma during their careers in the communication field. In 2003, Holloway was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame. Suzanne Holloway is a native of Antlers, Oklahoma and graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor of arts in journalism in 1936.

WEB CONTENT Go online to the Gaylord College YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/GaylordCollegeOU to watch video profiles of each honoree. Suzanne Arnote Holloway

Ambassador James R. Jones Journalism, 1961

Former Ambassador James R. Jones studied journalism at the University of Oklahoma but found himself utilizing what he learned working in Washington as a representative of the people. Jones learned in high school, from his “tough as nails” city editor, the importance of accuracy and not making excuses. “People pick up the paper…and they want to know the news,” said Jones. “I learned that there are no excuses. The final product is out there with your name on it and it better be good.” That is a lesson he carried with him through college and life. Jones received his degree in journalism from OU in 1961 and a law degree from Georgetown University in 1964. Jones served as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico from 1993 to 1997 during the Mexican peso crisis and the passage and implementation of NAFTA. Prior to his ambassadorship, Jones was President of Warnaco International and Chairman and CEO of the American Stock Exchange from 1989 to 1993. Jones also served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Oklahoma from 1973 to 1987. He was only 28 years old when President Lyndon B. Johnson selected him as appointments secretary, the position presently entitled Chief of Staff. He was the youngest person in history to hold this position. Jones was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1994 and received the Aztec Eagle Award, the highest honor the Mexican government can bestow on a non-Mexican, in 1997. Ambassador Jones is partner of ManattJones, an international firm providing international business development, public affairs, and political and economic risk assessment services to clients in Mexico and Latin America.

Holly Bailey Journalism, 1993-1996

Holly Bailey is the recipient of the 2009 JayMac Young Professional Award. Bailey attended OU in the mid-1990s and started her career as a staff writer at the Oklahoma Gazette and assisted CNN with their coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. During her senior year, she took a job as an investigative reporter at the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C. and there was no looking back. Bailey moved to Newsweek in 2003 as an intern in the Washington bureau and was quickly promoted to reporter/ researcher the same year. She covered the presidential campaigns of Sen. John Kerry and former Rep. Dick Gephardt during the 2004 presidential campaign. In January 2005 she was promoted to White House Correspondent and traveled the country covering Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. All of this success has come as something of a surprise for Bailey. When a student interviewed her last year and asked when she knew she had made it, she responded, “Right now. Because I am back at OU talking to students.” Since receiving the Young Professional Award in fall 2009, Holly Bailey has left Newsweek and is now the senior political writer for Yahoo! News.

Retired Food Editor and Restaurant Critic Tulsa World Journalism, 1936

Bob Bernstein

President and CEO, Bernstein-Rein Advertising Journalism and Radio/TV, 1956-1960 James R. Jones

Partner, MannattJones and Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Journalism 1961 Holly Bailey

White House Correspondent, Newsweek Now a senior political writer for Yahoo! News Journalism 1993-1996 27

CollegeNews

Routes Webzine Launched

Provides showcase of student writing and multimedia work BY VICTORIA STAHL

uring what seems, at times, a total meltdown of traditional media, many argue that basic news reporting and writing skills still matter, and matter a lot. Many also argue that what journalists need to know has evolved way beyond just writing stories and conducting interviews. Students who plan to be journalists,

must enter today’s workforce knowing how to produce stories for the Web and how to use multimedia methods to tell those stories.

PHOTO BY STAFF.

To help them do that Gaylord College has created a Webzine for students to publish their own work as well as gather and manage content from other students. The Routes Webzine was launched on March 11 and can be found at routes.ou.edu. This project combines the efforts of students from multiple classes and majors and presents many types of media content, including long-form stories written for classes like Feature Writing, Capitol Bureau Reporting and Advanced Broadcast News. In addition to print-style stories, Routes also features videos, slideshows and interactive multimedia pieces. With four sections covering politics, culture, history and sports, the website covers a wide range of Oklahoma-centered topics. Although there is not much claiming the site as an OU product, a small hint hides in the site’s name: “Routes” refers to the routes that built the history of Oklahoma such as the Trail of Tears and Route 66. Recent journalism graduate Blair Tomlinson provided content for the spring issues of Routes during her final semester. She says the Webzine provides an important experience for students in the future of journalism.

Pulitzer Prize winning Chicago Tribune journalist and new Gaylord College professor John Schmeltzer works with students on the Routes Webzine. Schmeltzer is the Engleman/Livermore Professor of Community Journalism. 28

“It is a new medium,” Tomlinson says. “It is a medium that is growing, and it is just as important as when radio came out and when TV came out. We need to learn it and adapt to it.”

It is a new medium. It is a medium that is growing, and it is just as important as when radio came out and when TV came out. We need to learn it and adapt to it. – May graduate, Blair Tomlinson Tomlinson says Routes challenges students to step outside their comfort zones, traditionally defined by phrases like “print major” or “broadcasting major.” Online journalists can expand stories by using multimedia and adding more detail than traditional media allow because of a lack of space and time restrictions. Tomlinson says students in Advanced Multimedia Journalism, the class that produced much of the content for the spring issues of Routes, had to both generate content and develop the site. Students in the Photojournalism and Online Content Management classes also contributed. “I have been part of launching several projects, and it is always a rewarding struggle,” Tomlinson said. “You are so much more proud of it. I hope I can get online in 20, 30 or 50 years and Routes will still be there.” Co-teaching Advanced Multimedia Journalism are Mike Boettcher, a veteran broadcast professional who was a visiting professor in 2009-2010, and John Schmeltzer, Engleman/ Livermore Professor in Community Journalism. “Routes provides an outlet for students to show the work they can do, not just in print journalism, but also broadcast, professional writing and even poetry,” Schmeltzer says. “This is to give students a space where they can really say, ‘These are the things we are doing, and this is what we can do.”

PHOTO BY STAFF.

Two journalism juniors cover the NFL Draft for Routes

Journalism senior Paige Lawler and other students work on the Routes Webzine. (Screen image simulated).

Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote says Routes gives students the opportunity to display their best work, not just to the campus but to the world. “Routes provides an excellent public outlet for student work that we haven’t had,” Foote says. “When students do outstanding things in class, others usually don’t see it, now they can. Students should take great pride in the quality of the content they produce for Routes and can use it as a bridge to the profession.” Routes targets not only members of the campus community as potential readers, but Boettcher says the Oklahoma-focused stories aim to attract readers from around the state. “Oklahomans crave learning about their state and learning about the people in their state,” Boettcher says. “Routes is a student publication, but our hope is that when you look at it, you won’t be able to tell it is a student publication. We are integrating the curriculum of the college into a final product. We are making this an exposition of the intellectual property of a great university.” Boettcher says the class gives students an opportunity to gain the skills now routinely expected of them in the profession. Those skills include producing video content, taking photos and capturing audio of interviews while gathering information for a story.“Students should leave here knowing what they are going to be asked to do in the real world,” Boettcher says. “We are here to make sure they not only survive out there in that tough climate, but that they succeed better than students from any other university.”

While most NFL draft media attention was on first pick favorite Sooner quarterback Sam Bradford, two reporters chose to focus on the number three pick, Gerald McCoy. Gaylord College journalism juniors Claire Brandon and Melissa Foy followed McCoy during the last few days of his journey to the NFL. Brandon and Foy participated in the new online journalism project Routes. Brandon developed and pitched the story idea of following Gerald McCoy on his trip to the NFL to Routes faculty adviser John Schmeltzer. Coverage followed McCoy as he prepared for the trip and participated in promotional activities in the days leading up to the draft. Brandon and Foy were right there next to McCoy and his family while they anticipated the draft announcement and for the celebration afterward. The students had a little help along the way with the logistics of the trip. Since Routes is a class project there was not exactly a travel budget and very little funding to cover expenses for reporters. Gaylord College got creative and reached out to some generous alumni. Namely former OU and NFL running back and CBS sports analyst Spencer Tillman (Journalism, 1987) and Vice President of Advertising and Corporate Communication for American Airlines, Roger Frizzell (Public Relations, 1983). Tillman was instrumental in gaining official press passes for the students so that they could be there right beside national media when McCoy’s moment came and Frizzell and American Airlines provided the plane tickets to get the students to New York and back. To show their appreciation and to share a little bit of the excitement behind the scenes Brandon and Foy produced a final video thanking Gaylord College for the opportunity.

WEB CONTENT The Routes Webzine appears in monthly thematic issues during the spring and fall semesters. In spring 2010, special issues focused on: • Gerald McCoy and the NFL • Works Progress Administration in Oklahoma • Immigration in the Heartland • 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing

Read the student stories at http://ROUTES.OU.EDU and watch Claire Brandon and Melissa Foy’s Thank You video at http://www.youtube.com/GaylordCollegeOU. 29

CollegeNews

Dream Course Features International Media Mavens Women in Media Leadership Roles BY TA’CHELLE JONES

ournalist and activist Ida B. Wells served as a newspaper editor and co-owner of her own publication in the late 1800s. For 57 years Helen Thomas worked as a White House Correspondent covering every U.S. President since Dwight D. Eisenhower’s second presidential term. In 1976, Barbara Walters

became the first female co-anchor of a network evening news program. Diane Sawyer became the first female correspondent for the CBS news magazine “60 minutes” in 1978 and has since gone on to become anchor for ABC World News. After signing a reported $65 million, four-and-a-half year contract with NBC in 2002, Katie Couric made history as the highest paid television personality, and again in 2006 as the first woman to solo anchor the CBS Evening News.

d u,

N e p al

cto r of S D SU J o

u r n a li sm Sc h

so As 30

media leadership, decided to offer the course with a diversity component, Jenson White says. The Dream Course explores the relationship between the journalistic aspects of news media and the business model that generates profits for these news organizations. At the center, though, is the role women play in that business. Or, perhaps more importantly, the role they don’t play. Speakers such as Jill Geisler, group leader for Leadership and Management at the Poynter Institute, and Mary Peterson Arnold, head of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at South Dakota State University, shared their experiences with students. The roster of topics ranged from Geisler’s “Training Women as Leaders” to Cheryl ProcterRogers’ “Women as Leaders in Strategic Communication Environments.” Procter-Rogers is the vice president for public relations and communications at DePaul University in Chicago.

d a n a R a n a , I n t l.

Ban

These and a host of other women helped set the stage for the course, JMC 3083 Business of Media, with a one-time focus on women in media leadership. Offered for the first time during the spring 2010 semester, this class will d a i o R a n i n d TV in the future be a journalism and mass communication elective focused solely on the business of n me , K media. But during the spring semester students met an international list of women in media o at .c W who occupy leadership positions. Speakers came from as far away as South Africa and Nepal and as close as South Dakota and Chicago to talk to students thanks to OU President David L. Boren’s Dream Course Program. “This is a crucial class for students to take because it shows them how media have traditionally functioned and how changes in readership/viewership and the economy have changed traditional business models,” said assistant professor of journalism Dr. Elanie Steyn. “It exposes students to the way the media are evolving and how they, as future media practitioners, can play a role in being successful and helping these changing media organizations as they create professional careers in a rapidly changing environment.” y Peterson Arno l d, M ar Steyn and associate professor of journalism Kathryn Di Jenson White, who share a research interest in women in

I n s ti t

ute, Florida

“I think this course is a very innovative idea,” Arnold said.”It was a very exciting experience for me to participate in.” During her visit, Arnold spoke to students about the research studies she conducted concerning women in the media. She produced four book-length reports titled: Women in Newspapers: How Much Progress Has Been Made, Women in Newspapers 2002: Still Fighting An Uphill Battle, Women in Newspapers 2003: Challenging the Status Quo and Women in Media 2006: Finding the Leader in You from 2001 to 2006. “Many women who could have been leaders in media left the field,” Arnold said. “A portion of my work was centered on finding out why they left and what we can do to get them to come back.” l ProcterScholars and analysts have cited the dynamics of raising a Rog C h er y family, misconceptions about women’s ability to lead and ers , environments inhospitable to the advancement of women for the exodus of women from the media industry. Kerensa Jennings, executive editor at BBC News and instructor at the BBC Academy, spoke to students about her experiences as a professional. From working with legendary journalist David Frost, to producing a show on former South African president, Nelson Mandela, she recounted some of her most touching as well as trying moments as a woman in the media industry. While she described the BBC as an exciting place for women’s leadership in the media, Jennings also noted that there are still many strides to be made. “The work force needs to be like a mirror and reflect the way society looks,” Jennings said. “With women leaving the industry in droves, this is not the case.” Along with listening to guest speakers, students had lively discussions, viewed videos and made group presentations. Some of the ideas in the class found students divided about their validity or importance. e s b u r g, S o u t h A “We’ve had some pretty heated debates, but all of them have been very interesting,” graduate n n f ri c a oh student Alex Page said. “I think it’s because of all the different perspectives, because there are a J , males in the class as well.” Discussions ranged from male and female leadership styles to the different ways the two genders communicate, to the effects of family on the success of women in the work force, Page said. Women account for 66 percent of the 1,339 students in Gaylord, according to the OU 2010 Factbook. This fact did not surprise journalism senior, Daniel Martin so much as the subject matter of the dream course. Walking into the class on the first day was a bit of a shock for the student, as he was unaware that the business of media course had been awarded dream course status, Martin said. “At first I was going to drop the class because the women in leadership title kind of scared me away,” Martin said. “Within 30 minutes of the first class, I decided to stick it out. I’m glad I did, because it’s been a really great class.” i x o n, C a n a d i a n el N Since the Dream Course program began in 2004, President h Bro c a Ra Boren has provided supplemental money to enrich four to six undergraduate courses each fall and spring semester. Selected courses receive up to $20,000 in funds that allow instructors to bring in notable speakers from around the world and create a more enriched educational experience for students. Three courses offered by Gaylord College have been chosen to participate in the Dream Course Program in previous years. The college’s first dream course, Race, Gender and the Media, was taught in 2006 by associate professor of public relations and Gaylord Family Endowed Professor, Meta gs J e nnin , B B C, L o a s nd Carstarphen. The following year, professor of advertising en on Jim Avery who also heads the college’s strategic er communication sequence, taught Advertising Account Planning bringing to the classroom international advertising professionals. In 2008, Jenson-White teamed up with assistant professor of broadcast and electronic media Ralph Beliveau to teach Introduction to Documentary. Wells, Thomas, Walters, Sawyer and Couric and many other notable women from the media workforce have created a trail that is headed toward the future of the media industry. In this Business of Media course, some students found the path an inspiring one. “It was never hinted that it couldn’t be done,” Page said, “For the first time, women are going to be sought after for leadership positions. That’s really where the future lies in the media, and that’s really exciting.”

l er ,P e is

J ill G

r nte

De Pa u

l Uni

versity, Chic

i a dd

Clay, Avusa Ltd. M

a go

dc ast in g

Corp., Toronto

PHOTOS THESE TWO PAGES BY STAFF OR PROVIDED.

Board MemberProfile

Where Moore Leads, Others Gladly Follow

A lifetime of nurturing her instincts leads to success BY CELIA PERKINS

attye Moore is one of those people that just seem to be a born leader. She would argue that it takes a lot of work, but she makes it look so easy that it is hard to believe her. When you look at her career some might think she was just in the right place at the right time, but when you delve deeper you find a rare

Moore was a public relations major and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Oklahoma in 1979 and was active in the PRSSA. She says it is hard for her to remember any one specific thing from her time at OU, but memories of two of her professors stand out. “One of my most satisfying memories was convincing Junetta Davis to give me an ‘A’ in news writing because I got extra credit for getting an article published in the Norman Transcript,” remembers Moore. Her memory and gratitude for one of her public relations professors was so strong that she chose to make a contribution to the Gaylord College naming a conference room in his name. “Paul Dannelley was an outstanding professor and adviser. I learned so much from him that helped me throughout my career. I believe it’s important to recognize and honor your great mentors and teachers – anyone who contributes to your growth and success,” says Moore. “It was nice to be able to honor him that way.” Like many aspiring advertising or public relations professionals Moore started her career as an account manager with a regional agency but quickly worked her way up the ladder to be a senior executive and account supervisor in charge of the Sonic drive-in account before she eventually made the switch from the agency side to the client side as vice president of marketing for Sonic. In the 12 years she was at Sonic, Moore’s career progressed along with the growth of the company and as marketing and advertising became more critical to the company her title went from vice president of marketing to senior vice president of marketing and brand development, to executive vice president and finally to president. It is probably no coincidence that during that same 12 years, Sonic went from less than $900 million in sales and 1,100 restaurants to more than $3 billion in sales and more than 3,000 restaurants. Along the way Moore received industry recognition when she was named one of Advertising Age magazine’s “100 Top 32

PHOTO PROVIDED.

style of leadership at the core of everything she does.

Marketers in the U.S.” in 2000, and again in 2002 when Nation’s Restaurant News named her one of the top 50 women in foodservice. She also has received recognition and praise from OU President David L. Boren receiving the Regents Alumni Award in 2008 and the Gaylord College Distinguished Alumni

award in 2002. Moore was also named a 2010 Byliner by the Oklahoma City chapter of Women in Communication. Moore left Sonic in 2004 and is now a marketing and leadership consultant and serves on several boards including Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, ONEOK, Inc., QuickTrip Corporation, Giant Impact and the Arthritis Foundation. Her unique leadership style developed over the years has made her a valued leader and regardless of the organization Moore jumps right in to get the job done. Through the years of working her way up the ladder, Moore developed what she calls “corner office instincts.” These 15 factors are what make anyone that follows them a good leader. The first of which is to find your office soul mate. An office soul mate is someone with whom you can really put your heads together to collaborate and bounce ideas off. Moore found hers in 1994 in Scott Aylward, the account executive in charge of the Sonic account at one of the U.S.’s largest advertising agencies. Together they practiced these instincts and climbed the corporate ladder in their respective companies. And together they compiled their list of 15 corporate office instincts into a book, “Confessions from the Corner Office: 15 Instincts that will help you get there.” Among the other instincts in the book are some items that are frequently heard in management literature like the need to give everything to your job including lots of time and conscious thought. In other words, to be really successful at your job you should eat, drink and sleep the job. If you are really in the right position, this will be easy. If not, they suggest maybe you should move on. The need to be a good communicator both in writing and in public speaking is also considered important. Public speaking is one of the areas in which Moore makes it look easy. In her work with the various boards, and when she worked with Sonic, she was frequently called upon to make presentations. Even now in her consultancy and board positions she regularly speaks to professional groups, volunteers and corporate CEOs. But the instincts that are not so commonly mentioned are the ones that make Pattye Moore such a successful leader. Being willing to “protect, honor, and defend those who work for you” and avoiding “Me-itis” or spotlight hogging are traits that have rewarded her with dedicated and loyal employees and coworkers. Being approachable is another seldom mentioned trait or instinct a leader should possess. By being available and welcoming input from those around her, regardless of position or title, Moore has been a successful leader whether in a major corporation or on a volunteer board. For the past four years Moore has served as chair of the Gaylord College Board of Visitors, a group of approximately 30 experts in the fields represented by the five majors in Gaylord College: advertising, broadcasting and electronic media, journalism, professional writing and public relations. This board serves as the chief advisory council to the dean and faculty on issues relating to curriculum and career and internship development and works to elevate the reputation of the College in both academic and professional circles. “Pattye has done a superb job leading the Gaylord College’s Board of Visitors in recent years. In some ways the board is the proverbial herd of cats – and a feisty, independent brood at that. So it takes a real leader to bring such a group together and reach consensus on how best to support the college. If we didn’t have Pattye, we’d have to invent her,” says Ed Kelley, editor of The Oklahoman and fellow Board of Visitors member. Other members of the Board of Visitors include Roger Frizzell (PR, 1982), vice president-corporate communications &

2008 Chairman of the OU Regents, Jon R. Stuart (left), and President David L. Boren (right), awarded Moore the Regents Alumni Award in 2008.

advertising for American Airlines and Gracelyn Brown (R/TV/ Film, 1975), vice president of programming for MGM-HD, and Linda Cavanaugh (Journalism, 1973) anchor for KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City, each of whom are JMC alumni. But not all members of the board are JMC alumni, several, like Roy Page and Renzi Stone (OU History 2000), are on the board because of their reputations in the local industry and because they have been proven friends of OU and the Gaylord College through support of our students in both internships and permanent employment after graduation. (For a full list of members see the next page and go online to read their bios.) Under Moore’s leadership, the Board of Visitors and the College have launched the Gaylord Prize for Excellence in Journalism and Mass Communication. The Gaylord Prize recognizes a prominent leader in the journalism or mass communication field. But the primary purpose of the Gaylord Prize is to elevate the reputation of the College. “The Gaylord Prize presents a tremendous opportunity for the Gaylord College to tell our story – and it is a great story – to leading journalists around the country and to hope that they will spread the news that one of the top journalism colleges in the nation is right here in Norman, Oklahoma,” says Moore. The first Gaylord Prize was given to Jim Lehrer of PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and the second was given to Thomas L. Friedman, foreign affairs writer for the New York Times and author of “The World is Flat.” “I think the Gaylord Prize Committee has done an outstanding job so far and I’m looking forward to this event continuing to grow in stature and reputation,” said Moore of her fellow board members. Kristen Lazalier, director of development for the Gaylord College, has worked closely with Moore for the past three years on the Gaylord Prize and on the semi-annual board meetings and recognizes the impact Moore has made. “Pattye has led our Board of Visitors with the diligence and determination required to guide a group of this importance in the proper direction. Her leadership and business acumen is unequaled and I am proud to consider her not only a colleague, but a friend as well,” said Lazalier. Moore will her tenure as chair at this fall’s board meeting but will continue to serve as a Senior Adviser to the group.

Board of Visitors 2010-2011 members

Ann Adams

Rob Boswell

Gracelyn Brown

Forrest Cameron

Pam Carter

Phil Caudill

Linda Cavanaugh

Jim Dolan

Roger Frizzell

Genevieve Haldeman

Bill Hancock

Robert Hess

Ed Kelley

Kathy Leonard

Michael Lim贸n

Ken Luce

John McClymonds

Pattye Moore

Joanne Orr

Roy Page

Steve Pickett

Howard Price

Harry Sherman

Renzi Stone

David Stringer

Suzie Symcox

Steve Trolinger

Weldon Watson

Doug Williams

Debbie Yount

SpecialEvents

Thomas L. Friedman Awarded Gaylord Prize

Encourages students to nurture their imagination BY CELIA PERKINS

n an increasingly flat world, Thomas Friedman encourages journalism students to nurture their imagination.

“When the world is flat, whatever can be done will be done,” says Friedman. “The only question is: will it be done by you or to you. Just don’t think it won’t be done.” In today’s flat world everyone has the means to create and distribute content and ideas quickly and cheaply, so mass communicators must be prepared to act quickly on their ideas or someone else on the other side of the globe will. Friedman continued saying, “More and more things are becoming commodities in this world. And, what this means is that the one thing that is not and cannot be a commodity is more important than ever. And, that is imagination.” It is the creativity and imagination of Americans that gives Friedman hope for the new century and the journalism profession. Companies and countries that foster imagination in their people will be successful. Those that do not, will fail, says Friedman. Friedman was speaking to a crowd of nearly 400 that included Oklahoma City media and business leaders, University of Oklahoma President David L. Boren, First Lady Molly Shi Boren, faculty, staff and more than 150 journalism students at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City. The Gaylord College presented Friedman with the second Gaylord Prize for Excellence in Journalism and Mass Communication on Monday, Dec. 7, 2009. Friedman’s visit to OU included the Gaylord Prize luncheon, and two sessions in conjunction with the President’s Associates program.

WEB CONTENT The Gaylord Prize program was broadcast live to the Web by a team of students who filmed the program and live blogged during the event. Students and attendees were also encouraged to Tweet during the event and make Facebook status updates from their mobile devices. Video of all three programs has been archived on a special Gaylord Prize website that can be found at http://gaylordprize.ou.edu. This year’s Gaylord Prize event also featured video profiles of three students during the program: Kolt Atchley, Ava Doyle and Katie Lakin. Kolt Atchley’s video centers around his fall 2009 internship with the Dr. Oz show in New York; Ava Doyle’s video highlights her participation in the Gaylord College’s first Summer in Washington program and her study abroad semester in South Korea; Katie Lakin created her video while she was participating in the British Media Study Abroad trip summer 2009. Their videos can be seen on the Gaylord College YouTube channel found at http://www.youtube.com/GaylordCollegeOU.

Alumni Association

The Friends & Alumni Association of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication, nicknamed JayMac, was organized in1983 with a mission to promote pride for the college and its faculty, students and alumni and to encourage the pursuit of excellence within the college and among the practitioners in the profession.

Specific objectives: • • • •

Develop a continuing interest in the college from its graduates and former students Encourage students through incentive programs such as awards and scholarships Promote an interest in the college among high school students Create an awareness of financial needs of the college

JayMac Board Members

The JayMac Alumni Association is led by a group of volunteer directors. The directors and officers for 2009-2010 are: Jolly Brown Pugh, president Nancy Coggins, vice president James Tyree, secretary/treasurer Heather Cook, immediate past president

the club also began honoring a Young Professional at the event as well as recognizing excellence in teaching and research by presenting the JayMac Teaching and JayMac Research awards to a deserving faculty member. JayMac also sponsors new graduate receptions in both the fall and spring as a part of the college’s convocation ceremonies.

Pulse Magazine & Newsletter

The organization underwrites the printing of Pulse, the College’s annual four-color alumni publication. December 31, 2007 marked the beginning of a newsletter for the Alumni and Friends of Gaylord College. This email newsletter supplements the information provided on the website and in the Pulse giving alumni and friends up-to-date news about Gaylord College.

Cost

Distinguished Alumni

For nearly 30 years, JayMac has hosted an annual event on campus featuring the Distinguished Alumni recipients. In 2006,

Annual dues for JayMac membership are $50 per person. A lifetime membership is available for a one-time gift of $1,000.

For more information about JayMac and supporting the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication, please contact Kristen Lazalier, Director of Development, at (405) 325-7670 or klazalier@ou.edu.

JayMac Life Members Ben Blackstock James T. Bratton Phil Caudill Fred L. Cook* Jean Duke Charles Engleman* Judith A. Garson Mike Hammer* C. Joe Holland* James K. Howard Jill Kelsey Roy Kelsey, Jr. 36

E. K. Livermore, Sr. Gary McCalla* Tom McCurdy, II Charles McWilliams, II* Max J. Nichols Elizabeth Ray John A. Rector, Jr.* Jan D. Rogers Ralph Sewell* Arlen Southern* Steve Trolinger Larry Wade * Deceased.

Thank You JayMac Members June 2009 - June 2010 Wendy Adair Bob Adams Ann Adams Dot Adler Maj. Gen. John Admire Alex Adwan James Allen Peggy Aycock Charles Bacon Mark Bagby Paula Baker Terry Baransy Deborah Barnes Jennifer Barnhart Jeff Barrington Bob Barry, Jr. Monica Bartling Cathy Beard Don Bentley Stephen F. Bentley Bob Bernstein Sylvia Blasdel Katie Blum Richard Bollman Douglas Bonebrake Leslee Boyd Larry Brainard William Braun Gracelyn Brown Michael Bruce Carol Burr Amanda Byte Susie Calonkey Bruce Campbell Sherry Carlson Lisa Carneal Linda H. Carter Pam Carter Virginia Caudle Allan Cecil Julia Chew Lawrence Clark Shirley Cobb Nancy Coggins Kristi Cohea Athena Coleman Heather Cook Debbie Copp

James Corbridge, Jr. Jerry Cornelius Lori Crouch Joseph Coyne Quincy Hicks Crawford Edgar Cregar, Jr. James Cundiff Dahill Road Productions, Inc. Karin E. Dallas John H. Davenport Don C. Davis Lauren Davis Caryn Day Jon R. Denton Loretta Di Grappa Jim Dolan A. L. Douthitt Mary Ellen Doyle Dow Dozier Rick Drisko Jennifer Dunning William Dutcher Julia Edwards Bill Edwards Amanda Ellis Beth Emery Bob Enterline Sharon T. Ervin William Evans Amy EwingHolmstrom Larry Ferguson Lew Ferguson James Fienup Sarah Flynn Joe Foote Jeanne Foster Bill Frame John Francis Sue Bentley Francis John Frank Jonella Frank Jeremy Fried Frank Gaskin Robin Rodgers Gladstein Jane Goodell Wallace Goodman

Judy Gorman-Prinkey J. Kent Graham Tom Gray Mark Green Mike Gregory John Greiner, Jr. Pam Gutel Margaret Habiby Cole Hackett G.W. Hail, Jr. Lisa Haines Jim ‘Tripp’ Hall, III Mildred Hamilton Joe Hancock Bill Hancock Jack Hardy Jamie Hare David Harris Carolyn Hart James Hartsell Lou D. Hawks Kelli Hayward Frank Heaston Mary Heath Cathey Heddleston Ed Heintz Helen Ford Wallace Frank Hermes Bob Hess Scott Hildeman Kristin Hincke Sue Hinton Charles Hogan Maggie Holben Suzanne Holloway Meredith Holmes Kara Hoover Patrick Hough Janis Hruby Elizabeth Huckabay Linn Huntington Keith Isbell David Iverson Bill A. Jackson, Jr. Lisa Janssen Terry Jenks John Jeter, Jr. John Johnson Linda Johnson

Ronald Jones Brenda Jones Amb. James R. Jones Steve Jump Frederick Jungman H. Hilton Kaderli, Jr. Ronald E. Keener Debra Kerr Billie Kincade Timothy Kincaid Kirstin Krug David Lakin Jeneanne Lawson Kristen A. Lazalier Alesha Leemaster Ed Livermore, Jr. Cheryl Lockhart Kuyk Logan Sandra Longcrier Joshua Lunsford Richard Luttrell Sy Markowsky Carla Marler Chris Martin R. Guy Mason Paul D. Massad Col. William Massad (Ret.) Terry Maxon John McBreen Tom McCarthy Don McGuire Linda McLain Kathryn McNutt Jan Meadows Kristen B. Mees Larry Merchant Bill Moakley Gracie Montgomery John D. Montgomery Emma Moore Pattye L. Moore Bill Moore Charles Murphy Mary Nalefski Stephen Neumann Ben Newcomer John Nicholas Trude S. Norman

H. Dean Stone Joyce Norman Matthew B. Stratton Shannon Olson David Stringer Lauren Ottis J. C. Strow Mack Palmer Derieth L. Sutton Linda Pavlik Synergy Marketing Pelligrini Solutions, Inc. Associates Valerie Pena Carole A. Taggart Elaine Pereboom Lt. Col. Franklin Beverly Perkins Talley (Ret.) Marjorie Peterson Kendal Tate Larry Phipps Kathryn L. Taylor Val Pipps Ed Taylor Mary Pitchford James C. Tincher, IV Tara Pogue Valerie Tolman Thomas Poteet, Jr. Robyn Tower Dorea Potter Robby W. Trammell Gregory Potts Megan Traynor Franklin Presson Preston Trimble Marcus Price Ron Turner Jolly Brown Pugh Michael Utter James Quillian Warren Vieth Britt Radford Janet Vitt Carter Reid Daryle Voss Tracy Rinehart Ray Waddle, Jr. Winona Roberts John Wallrath Karie Ross Charles Ward, IV John Rowley Rep. Weldon Watson Greg Rubenstein Rich Wells Bob Ruggles Dorothy Welsh Connie Ruggles Keith White Susan Sala Susan Waltz White Eve Sandstrom Jon J. White Susan Sasso Dennis Whittlesey Terry Schuur Anne B. Wick Sequoyah County Helen Wolk Times Maj. Fred Worthington Barbara Sessions Linda Lake Young Harry Sherman Debbie Yount Claire O’Malley Shisler Patricia Zagrzecki Tara Sikes Michael Zeamn James D. Sims Joseph Zovak Capt. Stanley Skinner David J. Smith Blaine Smith, Jr. Ronald L. Smith Charles R. Smith Steve Sisney Irish L. Stogner G. Clayton Stoldt 37

Ned Hockman

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8)

but the other journalism professors were not very happy about that. After having someone come in to observe his class, they said Hockman knew what he was talking about so they let him teach. “I believe being titled the David Ross Boyd Professor is the highest honor a professor can receive at this university,” Lippert says. “Ned would use that as part of his title whenever he would introduce himself. He was very proud of that.”

The Stories

The Laughter

Hockman’s colleagues remember him as a friend as much as a colleague. “He was one of the dearest men I have ever known,” Lippert says. “He was eccentric, which I loved about him. He was salty with his language. And it didn’t take long to realize that he knew what he was talking about.” Lippert recalls coming to the university before he started teaching here to see various screenings and films in Old Science Hall. There would always be three seats reserved for Hockman and his good friend, Dave Smeal. “I would sneak in; Ned would see me and wave me over to sit next to him at these screenings in the seats reserved for Ned Hockman,” he says. “It made me feel very special that of all the people in that auditorium, Ned let me sit next to him. I really can’t describe the feeling that that gave me, on several occasions.” Horton remembers Hockman in his 80s still coming to events, helping the film and video studies program, advising students, making himself available and, above all, laughing with the best laughter Horton has ever heard. “Even the last week before he died, visiting him in the hospital, he was always full of surprises,” Horton says. “I mentioned I had seen Clint Eastwood’s new film, and Ned, even with oxygen tubes, said ‘When we had Clint over to our house for supper that time…’ and I said, ‘Ned, you never told me that Clint came to your house for supper.’ Then he told me that story. “I think the lesson, for Gaylord College, the film and video studies program and for photography, is that you have to be a professional,” Horton says. “You have to know what you’re doing and not give up, and you also have to be good at meeting people. You don’t work alone, you’ve got to be able to work with others, and always with a little laughter.” Horton says even in Hockman’s last year of life, when he was quite weak and could get around only in a wheelchair, he didn’t stop coming to events. He had a mind that was very clear and was always willing to disperse great advice. “And the laughter, until the end, was there,” says Horton.

PHOTO FROM THE NED HOCKMAN COLLECTION.

Horton says when Hockman would come and speak to his classes his students would catch on to the fact that Hockman had done a bit of everything: World War II photographer, chronicler of football at OU, guide to students working on their own films and feature filmmaker himself. “I spent many hours listening to him tell tales about his experience in the army and shooting movies in the military,” says Gerald Loessberg, visiting journalism instructor and Hockman’s former teaching assistant. “He was fun and interesting to be around. Never a dull moment around Ned.” When speaking, colleagues recall Hockman taking every opportunity to share a story with his audience. “Ned would come to events and make suggestions,” Horton says. “It was always fun to bring him to class and say, ‘Tell the students what it was like working with John Wayne or the many other stars that he worked with during World War II.’” Lippert remembers a story Hockman often told about going to Los Angeles training as a World War II military photographer stationed in Myanmar. He was given the same orders as the other cameramen. They were all shooting 16 mm black and white film and had been told to not put filters on the camera because the Army wanted uniform looking footage. Lippert says Hockman told anyone he recounted this story to that he didn’t like those restrictions. He put a very slight diffusion filter on his camera. So whenever he watched the footage in the future, he would be able to know which was his footage. Always a man of stories, Hockman was also one to teach his students lessons from those stories. “There was this special day they brought back a bunch of former football players and coaches,” Lippert says. “Ned had this photograph in which all of these players and coaches were lined up in the middle of the field, facing the seats on one side of the stadium. This photograph was from the back. He went behind them to get the shot from, basically, their point of view. They’re in the shot, and you see all these people in front of them, a stadium full of people. In the middle ground, you see this row of photographers taking the picture of all of these former players and coaches. “Ned took great pride in saying ‘All of these photographers in the front were all former students of mine, but it took the old man to Ned Hockman (center with camera) launched the “Bud Wilkinson Coaches Show,” one of the nations’ first syndicated go around behind and get the shot that was coaches’ shows, while teaching film and serving as the official director and cinematographer of OU sports for 40 years. printed in the magazine.’” 38

Celebration of Life: Remembering Ned Hockman Ned Hockman’s students left OU to make an impact, but they came back, many years later, to remember the impact Hockman had on their lives. Former students, faculty members from across campus, retired faculty members, Hockman’s wife, Loretta, other family members and friends crowded into Gaylord Hall’s Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation Auditorium April 24, 2010 to remember Hockman and the contributions he made as journalist, teacher, friend and family member. “Ned’s the only one who taught Frank Capra how to film movies and Ronald Reagan how to be in them,” said Mack Palmer, former professor of journalism at OU to the nearly 200 people attending. Palmer recalled playing golf and tennis with Hockman, while at OU, and remembered the attention Hockman devoted to his students. “I think this celebration is lovely,” Palmer said. “I think the only person that would love it more than us would be Ned. He loved attention and deserved it.” Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote, one of the many speakers at the celebration service, read a letter on behalf of OU President David L. Boren who was unable to attend. “Ned Hockman was a great journalist, but above all, he was a great teacher,” Boren wrote. “He taught all of us the lasting lessons of how to live with joy and with meaning.”

Shiree Charles, one of Hockman’s daughters, spoke of her father as her hero. “WWII and the Korean War were probably his most difficult and challenging times, but his love for his country was unequaled,” Charles said. “He believed so strongly in fighting for everyone’s freedom and equality. He did this in the war as a combat photographer, and he did this in his classrooms as a college journalism professor here at OU.” Hockman’s former student Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Jari Askins spoke of Hockman at the service as having the ability to find that creative gene in each one of his students and bring it out. “I realized the ability Ned gave to all of us to look through the lens of life with a different vision and realize that it is more than the naked eye can see,” Askins said. “And it’s what we do with what we see and what we find that makes life important.” Askins said she will continue to take pictures and remember life’s lessons because of the way Hockman taught them. Mike Boettcher, former student of Hockman and current Gaylord visiting professor, credited Hockman for the many things Boettcher learned while at the university. “In 1980, Ted Turner, who was influenced by Ned, calls me and a bunch of other Okies who worked in this market and said he was starting this company in Atlanta called CNN,” Boettcher said. “So we all said, ‘Yeah,’ and loaded up in the pickup and moved east. As history is written about CNN, it will always say, founded by Ted Turner. But I promise you, Ned Hockman’s fingerprints are all over it.” During the ceremony, Charles read from a list she had compiled from sticky notes she had found in her father’s office. The words on the notes sum up the man and his philosophy. “What’s the most important is how you bill your time.” “What’s important when I look back: how could I have done all of these things better.” “Loretta has always been right here with me.” “What I loved and craved for the most was my students.” “I told my students time and time again, I tell them, not just desire nor burning desire, but deep, deep burning desire. You have to have fortitude, courage and grace.” “The teacher’s best gift is his great students.”

WEB CONTENT One of the highlights of the Celebration of Life held for Ned Hockman was the showing of the newly restored, student film “Ned Hockman Immortalized.” The film was created by John Maher and Mike Dirham while they were film students in the 1970s. This is an extremely fun and entertaining film about Ned in the heyday of his teaching at OU and really shows Ned’s character. Maher and Dirham have graciously allowed us to post it on our website for the world to see. In 2007, OETA and The Oklahoman ran a series of documentaries about Oklahoma’s World War II veterans. One episode featured Ned and his wonderful stories about being a photojournalist in the Burma theater. Also available on the Web is a Guest Book for Watch the OETA/Oklahoman documentary of Ned’s friends and family to leave their personal “Ned Watch “Ned Hockman Immortalized” at www.tiny.cc/Ned1. military years at www.tiny.cc/Ned2. Story.” The last entries were made in April following the “Celebration of Life” held at OU. Please feel free to drop by and read those and add your own reflections at www.tiny.cc/Ned3.

Faculty View

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5)

Bangladesh and Pakistan recently attended the final U.S. workshops of the grant in Norman. In Bangladesh, the visual journalists were younger, mostly women and eager to learn new things to jumpstart their careers, Dickey said. Bangladesh was not a dangerous place like Pakistan, but there was plenty more to notice. All of the faculty members said poverty is a major problem in the country. “I knew I was going to the third world and I knew I was going to a place where there was poverty, but I don’t think you can prepare yourself for how vast the poverty is in places like Dhaka,” Dickey said. “There are beggars knocking on your car windows and that is very difficult to see. I’ve seen North American poverty, but it’s amazing how widespread it is in Bangladesh.” Fischer says the work produced by journalists in Bangladesh and Pakistan is on caliber with the journalism coming out of the United States, but they face slightly different challenges. “They have a thriving press in both countries,” Fischer says. “They have a spirit of wanting to have what we know as the

Student View (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7)

I wish I could say that everything about Dhaka is beautiful and that all is pleasant here. But I cannot. This kind of poverty – it is real. And yet – the people smiled. They helped one another. Their work and their lives seem impossible to us, but they do it, day in and day out. And, though they must be weary, we could tell they have joy. The human spirit prevails in Bangladesh. The people are the light of this country. Theirs are the stories that should be told.

Pakistan

For all of the fear I had held about Pakistan, my longawaited and feared first one-on-one conversation with one of our workshop participants in Islamabad was: food. This was with Hamza, a friend with whom I share some form of online conversation every week even months after our trip. It was the same kind of first conversation I would have had with anyone I met at home. The women in the Women’s Leadership workshops spoke near-perfect English, and they spoke with candor about working as journalists in a country torn apart by terrorism. They have to be ready, one of the women said, to run out and cover breaking news when it happens. She spoke with a smile and no surprise about this “breaking news:” bombings. It was the way an American journalist would speak about covering a fire or a car crash. It was just something that happens. It’s all in a day’s work. One of the women, Maleeha, a journalist from the city Karachi, told me in an online message recently that she wanted us to bring back one message about our trip to Pakistan. “Tell them we’re normal people!” she wrote. “Tell them that we have a lot more in common than they’d expect.” 40

First Amendment. The problem is that political parties own or are involved with major media companies. I think they are still trying to figure out how to separate the ownership and the politics and have the freedom to report the news.” While Fischer admits that some of the same issues exist in U.S. media, the newsrooms in the two Asian countries are more controlled by owners. While journalists face many restrictions from their governments, there are some who challenge those restrictions. Fischer says while in Pakistan, the group attended a concert, which was broadcast live on Radio Pakistan. The music they listened to that night was outlawed by the Taliban, but the station intentionally broadcast the banned music. Gaylord Dean Joe Foote said the program gives all who participate a unique opportunity to interact with professionals from a different culture. “These workshops put Gaylord faculty in direct contact with professional journalists with a different perspective,” Foote said. “I’ve been very impressed with how interested our faculty has been to work with the South Asians and learn from them. It has been a special experience for everyone and has brought all of us closer together as citizens of the world.”

WEB CONTENT Both students received course credit for participation in the workshops and travelling to Bangladesh and Pakistan. As part of their work for the course each of them was required to produce a video presentation and contribute to a blog.

Watch Alex Page’s Dhaka video at www.tiny.cc/Dhaka.

Read the student blog at ou2dhaka.wordpress.com.

“We cried endlessly when Michael Jackson died, and we totally dig Taylor Swift and “Iron Man.” We don’t hate the Americans, we never have, and you can gauge that by the long queues outside the American embassy here in Islamabad.” Our workshop participants were brilliant, but they had the sad realization that many in the outside world think everyone within their country is a terrorist. One young man in the Visual Storytelling workshop pulled me aside as we ate lunch and begged me: “Go home and tell people that we hate terrorism, too. They are destroying our cities, and we just want to live in peace just like you do.” This same young man came by our guest house and waited for us to leave for our flight home. We didn’t leave until 11:30 that night. But he sat in the lobby, with a big smile on his face and gifts and hugs for us all. He gave me a handful of rupees and told me not to refuse them. He considered me a sister. I think of him every time I get asked how this trip has affected my view of journalism. And I smile. My “brother,” and all of my other new siblings in Pakistan and Bangladesh have taught me that stories – and, indeed, the story that is life itself – always are about the people behind the headlines. They are about heart. And heart is available in abundance in Southeast Asia.

Young Alumni

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11)

For the second time in 2010, Terracina held a seasonal position from September to April in the marketing department at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Academy offered her the chance to stay on the whole year in 2009, assisting where she was needed on various projects for the remaining months of the year. For two years running, Terracina has been in charge of the bleacher seating on the red carpet at the Academy Awards. The seats were filled with fans from around the world, chosen randomly from a free drawing online. Along with another marketing assistant, she orders background checks for the 700-bleacher seat winners. “We are the chief correspondents that dealt with the high-security of the event,” Terracina says. “Lorrin, the other marketing assistant, and I have to make the winners credential badges once the background checks passed. We have to assign them seats; we have to get donations for goodie bags for them. We have to give them information about where to park, where to stay: all the logistics. It is a really, really great event-planning experience that taught me about the little details that you wouldn’t even think about.” Terracina is the principal creator of the College Oscar Watch Party Contest. The contest allowed a team of four to submit a packaged plan for an Oscar watch party, complete with photos, videos and a written element of the planned event. A panel judges the “party plans” and the winners receive bleacher seats on the Academy Awards Red Carpet. Terracina helped the Academy with its social media this year as well, launching the Academy Facebook fan page, which now has more than 90,000 fans. Terracina had to rely on her own talents and contacts to make her way in a new city. She says that her professors spent numerous hours coaching her on improving her résumé and interview techniques to give her that extra edge in the Los Angeles market. “My Gaylord professors and advisers believed in my potential and encouraged me to go for it,” Terracina says. “Moving to Los Angeles right after graduation was very daunting, but their votes of confidence helped me make the plunge and get where I am today.” “Annie is dynamic, energetic and has the ability to bring great focus to her work,” Meta Carstarphen, Gaylord Family Endowed

Building

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23)

students have long had the newspaper and various radio and television programs. The agency area in the new wing is one of the most creative spaces in the building and on campus. Whereas most public areas of campus buildings, including Gaylord Hall, are decorated with stately traditional Stickley Arts and Crafts-style furniture, the agency and adjoining computer lab make a departure by featuring brightly colored walls and furniture that is adaptable to the way each student likes to work. Workstations in the lab are able to be adjusted from a standard sitting position to a standing position. Other seating options include a booth for group work and several sitting groups with large round ottomans for spreading out work.

PHOTO PROVIDED.

Annie Terracina: 2008, Public Relations

Annie Terracina (right) and her best friend Mary Garis both graduated from OU in 2008 with degrees in public relations and went to work on opposite coasts but kept up the friendship via a blog at http://annieandmary. blogspot.com and got together in person for the 2010 Oscars.

Professor, says. “I think what makes Annie stand out is the sheer joy she radiates. When she is “in the zone” creating and writing great PR messages, or planning a campaign outreach, her exuberance is infectious.” These recent college graduates have immersed themselves in major cities and cultures miles away from the halls of Gaylord and the familiar turf of, often, small hometowns. Despite the uncertain economy, these young alumni are building foundations for themselves in major markets, armed with the tools gained at the Gaylord College. Terracina has recently started an exciting new job as Executive Assistant to the Vice President of eCommerce in Digital Distribution for Warner Brothers.

The new soundstage provides students with ample space to create custom sets for television shows that rival those seen on broadcast and public television. The centerpiece of a recent graduate student project was a towering brick warehouse as a backdrop for a new musical show similar to Austin City Limits. Without these new facilities students’ creativity would be stifled because of lack of available space and resources. By providing the state-of-the-art building at no cost to the students, academic fees have been able to be applied in other beneficial ways such as supplying the computer classrooms and labs with the most current software or helping a student produce a show that will bring acclaim not only to the student but to the College. A photo gallery of the building can be found on our website at www.ou.edu/gaylord/home/main/building_tour.html. 41

Professionals

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15)

Gaylord Hall Productions

Also making a name for itself outside Gaylord College is Gaylord Hall Productions, overseen by Professor Scott Hodgson, broadcasting and media arts sequence head. “It’s a chance for the students and faculty to work together on big projects,” Hodgson says. He says Gaylord College provided almost everything needed for this production unit: a green screen (the tool used most commonly by weather forecasters on television), a new editing suite and other equipment, such as cameras. Gaylord Hall Productions is a full-service contract production unit geared toward getting students involved in outside client work, much like the public relations and advertising agency Lindsey + Asp. One of Gaylord Hall Production’s first projects was a university commercial called simply the “OU Institutional Spot,” which airs during OU football games. The commercial won national recognition with an Award of Excellence at the Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts in April 2010 in Las Vegas. “That was a combination of a student producer, broadcasting and electronic media senior Jordan Roby, and me serving as director,” Hodgson says. “The two of us worked together along with 30 undergraduate and graduate students.” Gaylord Hall Productions has also worked on a big project for Norman’s K20 Center for Educational and Community Renewal. This OU-based organization is a statewide education research and development center that promotes learning through school-university-community collaboration, according to its website. “The K20 Center came to us one day and said they had the chance to go before the National Science Foundation to do a presentation, and they needed a video that showed what they do all over the state of Oklahoma,” Hodgson says. “We had three weeks to complete the video. Within a week, a group of us were

traveling across the state to different schools doing video work; three weeks later, we sent it off to D.C. for the presentation.” Hodgson says working at Gaylord Hall Productions means always looking for interesting projects and that he and the students have found several of them. Hodgson has started programs similar to this at two other universities, Ithaca College in New York and Southern Illinois University. “We can, as professors, tell you what it’s like out there in the real world and tell you the theory behind it, but not until you have the chance to actually work with a client will you realize that you don’t have any option but to get an A, to do your best work,” Hodgson says. “People out there aren’t looking for C work. Students need practical, hands-on experience as close to the real world as we can provide.” Katie Lakin, second-year graduate student with an emphasis on broadcasting and electronic media, says Gaylord Hall Productions has given her the chance to learn and work at the same time and to help her understand her strengths in these areas. “It’s one of those opportunities Gaylord College offers that most colleges don’t,” she says. “It gives us the opportunity to not just talk about having great facilities and equipment, but to use these things on real clients.” Lakin says she would like to see Gaylord Hall Productions move in the direction of the agency, Lindsey + Asp, by being more structured and having clients coming in more often. These student-run pre-professional programs are in their beginning stages, but within the brief time they have been in operation both have won national awards. “There are two kinds of students,” Foote says. “There are those who want a neat and tidy career here, to go through the classes and not have to do a whole lot more. And then there are the other folks who have submerged themselves in all of these opportunities regardless of the time they take. They come out with a far different education. Both groups will go across the stage at graduation and get the same diploma, but there’s a vast difference that you probably don’t see in most majors in the university.” The difference could mean either a great career or a job that just pays the rent.

WEB CONTENT

Students in the Lindsey+Asp Advertising and Public Relations Agency filmed a video introduction to the agency. Watch the video at www.tiny.cc/Agency.

Professor Scott Hogdson and students participating in the Gaylord Hall Production unit filmed the official University of Oklahoma commercial that runs during nationally televised events. Watch the video at www.tiny.cc/OUCommercial.

Diversity

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17)

When faculty members take the time to mentor students of traditionally underrepresented groups, inform minority students of internships or simply create an open discourse in the classroom about the variety of people in our communities and issues in the media, this also supports diversity, Carstarphen said. Gaylord faculty and students start the focus on diversity before the college experience begins for some students through a program for high school students from underrepresented groups. The Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism consists of a workshop each summer. In the past, the workshop has been two weeks long. In summer 2010, participants will choose between attending the first week to focus on the basics of broadcast journalism or the second week to learn about print journalism and online content, or they may attend both sessions. Funded by The Dow Jones Foundation and The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the workshops bring in high school students from as far away as South Dakota and as close as Norman. The aim is to bring together students representing different religions, genders, sexual orientations and races and get them excited about journalism as a college major and/or a career option. “We’ve broadened our definition of diversity,” said OIDJ Director Chàvez. “Although racial and ethnic diversity are still critical elements, we now think of other diversity elements.” During the workshops, students learn journalism skills from lead writing to ethics. The focus is always, though, on the importance of diversity in newsrooms and in news coverage. Each year the students create The Red Dirt Journal both in print and online and a 15-to-20-minute newscast. “Eventually we want to go beyond the two-week workshop in the summer,” Chàvez said. “We want to do ongoing work throughout the school year with the many other students who could benefit from this kind of experience.” Diversity is a hard goal to achieve, Carstarphen said, given that no matter how well the college does, it should always strive to do better. Gaylord pursues this elusive goal through its student organizations, its courses and its faculty and staff support. “I want every student at Gaylord College to feel welcome, to feel like they can jump in and be a member of our community,” said Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote.

Guest Speakers

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21)

Griffiths showed video clips from CNN that had raised ethical concerns. Before some of the videos, he gave contextual information so students could understand the ethical dilemma involved. In some instances, the videos needed no backstory. On all of them, he placed students in the hot seat by creating hypothetical situations. At times, students disagreed with the standpoint Griffiths asked them to defend. Griffiths himself frequently defended a position that went against the station’s final decision. “Going into it, I thought that I was going to have it all figured out, that I would have all the right answers,” Gullberg said. “But he asked all these questions that it was just like, ‘take a guess’. These were situations that we hadn’t talked about before.” Though the situations were new, Blair Tomlinson, journalism senior and international and area studies minor, said she could easily see the correlation between the conceptual ethical core learned in the classroom and the more practical, real world ethics that Griffiths presented. “You can really apply the philosophy to real life,” Tomlinson said. “As journalists, you need to know yourself. You need to be able to be called on and be confident.” Griffiths was an ideal choice given his long career and highlevel position in video journalism to expose students to modernday media ethics through case studies, Johnson said. “He really showed how professionals make tough, hands-on decisions everyday when covering news under a tight deadline,” Johnson said. “He engaged the students and asked them what decisions they would make in those situations, to get them to start thinking about why they make the choices they do, now, and in the future.” After his presentation, Griffiths continued to push 16 seniors to think about their futures through 10-minute, oneon-one sessions with him, where he critiqued their résumé and performed mock interviews. Natalie Ruhl, broadcast journalism senior, met with Griffiths. “The face-to-face time with someone in his position was a great opportunity, because after a five-minute interview, he coached me on some ways to improve my skills,” said Ruhl. “It was the chance of a lifetime.”

2009-2010 Guest Speakers

WEB CONTENT Students in adjunct professor Dr. Monica Flippin-Wynn’s summer “Race, Gender and Media” class were invited to blog for The Oklahoman’s new blog – Know It: Cultural Awareness. Read their blog entries at http://knowit.newsok.com/culture.

Lance Barrow, CBS Sports Paddi Clay, Avusa, Ltd. Bob Dotson, Today Show Michelle Faulkner, OMD Chicago Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times Jill Geisler, Poynter Institute Richard Griffiths, CNN Ginger Hardage, Southwest Airlines Kerensa Jennings, BBC Academy Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News Rachel Nixon, Canadian Broadcasting Company Mary Peterson Arnold, South Dakota State University Cheryl Procter-Rogers, DePaul University Bandana Rana, International Association of Women in Radio and TV Jason Riley, Wall Street Journal David Sanger, New York Times Daniel Stein, Federation for American Immigration Reform Karen Wicker, Schnake Turnbo Frank PR

ClassNotes

2010 Inductees to the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame Mike Boettcher, Journalism, 1975, was named to the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame for 2010. Boettcher is a visiting professor at the Gaylord College and a veteran network news correspondent, Boettcher, has been recognized with journalism’s top awards for his coverage of events that shaped the world since 1980. He also helped launch the era of 24-hour live news coverage when on June 1, 1980, he performed the first live satellite report for a fledgling network called CNN. Andy Rieger, Journalism, 1980; MPA, 1995, was named to the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame for 2010. Rieger was recently named executive editor of The Norman Transcript after 14 years as managing editor. In addition to his management and community duties, he writes a weekly column about Norman and its people and places, past and present. A lifelong resident, he is frequently called upon to write and speak about Norman’s history. His essays on five decades of Norman’s history are part of the city’s Legacy Trail Park. Reiger was also awarded the Regents’ Alumni Award in 2010.

Advertising Lacey Duffy, AD, 2006, is Vice President/ Account Supervisor at the Mercury Group, a subsidiary of Ackerman McQueen in Washington, D.C. Shelley Lott Roten, AD, 2003 married to OU undergrad and Law School Grad, Robert (Chris) Roten and is currently living at Fort Riley, KS where Chris is an Army JAG Officer. Shelley is currently working as a journalist for the First Infantry Division Public Affairs Office, writing for Duty First! Magazine and the First Infantry Division Post Newspaper. Ethan Luke Stenis, AD, 2004, currently residing in Austin, TX, where he received his Masters in Advertising from the University of Texas in 2008 after which he worked in media research before becoming a copywriter for the Internet marketing firm, Volacci. 44

Karen Wicker, R/TV/F, 1988, MHR 1997 is Senior Vice President and head of the Oklahoma City offices of Schnake Turnbo Frank | PR.

Journalism and News Communication Holly Bailey, Journ., 1993-96, was the White House Correspondent for Newsweek Magazine but has now moved to Yahoo! News as Senior Political Writer based out of New York City.

Mike Boettcher

Andy Rieger

Broadcasting and Electronic Media and Radio/TV/Film JP Moery, R/TV/F, 1987, is President of Moery/LAI a business development company which accelerates association membership and non-dues revenue through direct sales services and consulting inWashington, D.C. Sheri Singer, Broadcast Journ., 1974, has her own production company, Just Singer Entertainment, which is the producer of many TV movies/miniseries for Lifetime Television and the Disney Channel. Cindy Wall Morrison, R/TV/F, 1989, is now a media contributor to Startup Princess which has been named one of the top women’s websites by Forbes and Entrepreneur. Cindy also hosts a show for The Women’s Information Network Online called “Girlfriends 2.0.”

Brian Eaton, News Comm., 1994 is living in Vancouver, BC where he is the General Manager for the Vancouver Olympic Centre, site of the curling competitions for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, with overall responsibility for the planning and execution of all aspects of the Olympic and Paralympic venue. After working for a few years he received his M.S. in Sports Marketing at Memphis, worked 6 ½ years promoting U.S. gymnasts and swimmers. He also spent three years in corporate PR guiding efforts for the Budweiser brand, Bud’s Super Bowl advertising, and the Clydesdales, before returning to the Olympics. Carolyn Hart, Journ., 1958, published the second book in her new series about the impetuous, redheaded Bailey Ruth Raeburn, a fun-loving ghost who comes home for the holidays in “Merry, Merry Ghost” and the 20th title in the Death on Demand series, “Laughed ’Til He Died,” in which an innocent woman faces arrest unless Annie and Max Darling solve three inter-locking puzzles, which went on sale in April. Matt Hinderman, Journ., 2006, is back living in Norman and working as Senior Production Assistant for the OKC Thunder after working several years for NBA Entertainment in New Jersey. Cheyenne Hopkins, Journ., 2002 is a reporter for American Banker (Source Media) based out of the Washington, DC Bureau. Trang (Nicole) Ninh, Journ., 2006, is News Producer for NewsChannel 8 in Arlington, Va. Joy Mayer, News Communication, 1996, is design editor for the Columbia Missourian at the University of Missouri and is one of six journalists accepted into the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute’s 2010-2011 Fellowship program for her project on reconceiving the relationship between news providers

and the people formerly known as their audiences. Mark Monroe, Journ., 1990, wrote the screenplay for the controversial documentary “The Cove” which received an Academy Award for best documentary and an outstanding achievement award from the Writers Guild of America for the screenplay. Hugh Morgan, Journ., 1958; M.A., Journ., 1967, is now a retired English Professor from the Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. Robert M. Ruggles, Journ., 1961; M.A., 1962, Professor Emeritus at Florida A&M University, will receive the 2010 Lionel C. Barrow Jr. Award for Distinguished Achievement in Diversity Research and Education at the 2010 Denver Conference of the Association for Education Journalism and Mass Communication on Aug. 6. The award recognizes outstanding individual accomplishment and leadership in diversity efforts within the journalism and mass communication discipline. Ruggles was the founding dean of Florida A&M University’s School of Journalism and Graphic Communication. Brooke Thomas, Journ., 2009, had her first job out of college with WDAZ, Fargo, as the Devil’s Lake Bureau Chief and is now working in Lubbock, Texas as a reporter for KLBK, the local CBS affiliate.

Royce Young, Journ., 2008, is a Social Media Specialist for OU Outreach and owns and operates Daily Thunder, an ESPN-affiliated OKC Thunder blog and is a credentialed media member by the NBA.

Professional Writing Scott Andrews, PW, 1987, recently was named coordinator for the American Indian Studies Program at California State University, Northridge, where he is an associate professor in the English Department. He was on the OU campus March 25-27 for the Puterbaugh Festival of International Literature and Culture, where he spoke about the works of Sherman Alexie. Darleen Bailey Beard, PW, 1986 is a professional writer whose books have received starred and boxed reviews from Junior Library Guild Selection, Best Book of the Year by Bank Street College of Education, Amelia Bloomer Award, seven state nominations for children’s choice awards, Gamma State Author Award and the Oklahoma Book Award. Her “Flimflam Man” has been featured on “Discover Oklahoma,” turned into a play by the La Jolla Playhouse in California and presented in schools throughout the San Diego area and at San Diego State University. Her “Operation Clean Sweep” is currently being turned into a play in Umatilla, Ore. She is a longtime member of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

2010 Regents’ Alumni Award Bob Barry, Sr., Journ., 1951, was awarded the OU Regents’ Alumni Award in 2010. Widely known as the radio play-by-play “Voice of Oklahoma Football and Basketball,” Oklahoma City native Barry achieved the nickname “The Legend” following more than 25 years of sports reporting in the Oklahoma City area. He began broadcasting sporting events in 1956 as a salesman, disc jockey and sportscaster with KNOR Radio (now KREF). His big break came in 1961, when the legendary Bud Wilkinson selected him to be the new radio play-by-play voice of the Oklahoma Sooners. He began his long and distinguished television career with WKY-TV (now KFOR News Channel 4) in 1966. He was named sports director for the local NBC affiliate in 1970, a position he held until he handed the title over to his son, Bob Barry Jr., in 1997, after which he continued to work at KFOR in sports until his retirement from the TV station in 2008. His career spans 55 years of live radio play-by-play broadcasts, including 31 years of broadcasts of OU football and men’s basketball games and five years of high school play-by-play. Watch a video about Bob Barry at www.tiny.cc/BobBarry.

Keep us updated! Send your updates to klazalier@ou.edu or: Alumni Update 395 W. Lindsey, Room 3000 Norman, OK 73019

Michael Herman Awarded the PRSA 2009 Gold Anvil

Michael Herman, APR, Fellow PRSA, PR, 1969, a 40-year public relations veteran with extensive corporate, agency, association and academic experience, was awarded the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) 2009 Gold Anvil Award, the highest individual honor, at the general session of the PRSA 2009 International Conference in San Diego on

Nov. 9, 2009.

Watch a video interview with PRSA and read more about Herman’s career online at www.tiny.cc/Herman.

ClassNotes Chris Borthick, PW, 2003, is a student adviser for the Gaylord College but in his spare time he enjoys ghost hunting in Oklahoma. He is a member of OKPRI, a ghost hunting group recently featured on an episode of Animal Planet’s “Haunted” series. For more on OKPRI go to http://www.okpri.com. Matthew Stratton, PW, 1980, senior vice president of marketing for Tinker Federal Credit Union, was chosen as 2009 Professional of the Year by the National Association of Federal Credit Unions. Stratton was honored at NAFCU’s 42nd annual conference in National Harbor, Md., in July 2009.

Public Relations David Balloff, PR, 1976, is VP External Relations North America for Embraer Aircraft Holdings out of Washington, D.C. Rachel Griffith, PR, 2006, lives in Washington, D.C. and is communications and event coordinator for the Society for Women’s Health Research a national nonprofit organization based in Washington DC, which is widely recognized as the thought leader in research on sex

Sandra Longcrier Named to PRSA College of Fellows Sandra Longcrier, PR, 1979; MA 1986, was named to the PRSA College of Fellows. Longcrier is the first member of the Oklahoma City Chapter of PRSA to be named to the College of Fellows. The PRSA College of Fellows is the highest honor that a PRSA member can attain. Only 430 members out of the more than 22,000 PRSA members worldwide have been honored. This designation is reserved for those members that have been in the profession or teaching for a minimum of 20 years, are accredited by the organization and have demonstrated superior expertise in public relations strategy and practice. Longcrier worked for AT&T for 18 years following graduation from OU until moving to OGE Energy Corp.. She served as the 2007-2008 JayMac President and has been an active member of the Oklahoma City PRSA chapter board for nearly 20 years. differences and is dedicated to improving women’s health through advocacy, education, and research. Ryan LaCroix, PR, 2001, lives in Norman and works as a graphic artist for American Education Corporation in Oklahoma City. LaCroix recently co-wrote “Another Hot Oklahoma Night: A Rock and Roll Story,” which was published by the Oklahoma Historical Society. In 2008, LaCroix was appointed to the Oklahoma

Official Rock Song Advisory Panel and his website, OklahomaRock.com, was named one of the “75 Great Oklahoma Websites” by Oklahoma Magazine. Rachel Leonard, PR, 2007, is back living in Norman and working at Saxum Public Relations as a junior account executive in Oklahoma City after working several years in NJ at Stern + Associates and Beckerman PR.

Heather Dutcher Spencer Lobbys for Pancreatic Cancer, Runs for Mrs. Oklahoma International Heather Dutcher Spencer, News Comm., 1998, has been the Internship and Career Coordinator for the Gaylord College since 2006 helping more than 1,200 students each year find resources for jobs and internships. After her dad died following a very short battle with pancreatic cancer in 2008, Spencer began working to promote awareness of Pancreatic Cancer. Spencer has been very busy working to promote awareness through her participation in the Mrs. Oklahoma International Pageant 2010 and working with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s Oklahoma affiliate (PANCAN).

Heather Spencer (right) and Jai Pausch, wife of The Last Lecture professor and author, Randy Pausch, who also died in 2008 from pancreatic cancer.

“I placed Third Runner Up and won Mrs. Congeniality, 1st Place Visibility and Director’s Award for my work with my platform,” says Spencer. Spencer is currently a co-event coordinator with PANCAN. The national group offers support to cancer patients and their families as well as facilitates research funding and awareness. In June she served as an affiliate representative for the organization’s Advocacy Days in Washington, D.C. where she joined more than 500 people on The Hill, visiting with federal lawmakers about HR 745/S. 3320, The Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act. While in Washington, she met with the staff of each of Oklahoma’s Senators and Congressmen to urge sponsorship of the Act. Spencer and another Gaylord grad, Erin Hughes Yarborough (Advertising 2005), also spoke at IgniteOKC, a new event that focuses on new trends for social networking bringing together the top minds in the city to share ideas and information. The video of their speeches can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/user/igniteokc.

Tiffany Nelson Smith, PR, 2004, is the Student Leadership and External Relations Coordinator for the OU College of Engineering. Meredith Noonan, PR, 2007, is the Director of Operations for the women’s basketball program at Mercer University. Nate Osburn, PR, 2001, is a political appointee in the Obama Administration serving as the Senior Speechwriter for the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. William (Bill) R. Ritzhaupt, PR, 1966, is President of Vortex Solutions, a fullservice marketing, advertising and PR agency handling B2B accounts with an emphasis on transportation/trucking, aerospace, mobile workforce management technology systems and equipment manufacturing. Cheryl Thornton, PR, 2004, is the Director of Special Events and Development for Living Water International, a non-profit organization that assists communities in developing nations acquire desperately needed clean water. Cheryl is based out of Washington, D.C. David A. Trissell, PR, 1989; JD, 1992, is the Chief Counsel of FEMA. As Chief Counsel, he is responsible for directing and executing all legal activities within FEMA including serving as principal legal advisor to FEMA leadership, directing the legal support for FEMA’s disaster services and programs and supervising all litigation and the representation of FEMA interests before courts and administrative bodies. In July 2010, Trissell moved to Brussels to serve as the FEMA/DHS Attaché to the U.S. Missions to the EU and NATO. Melissa Walters, PR, 2005 is currently living in Bayside, Queens, NY and working as an Account Coordinator in Corporate Sales and Partnerships with the New York Mets. Megan Winkler, PR, 2003, has joined the GableGotwals law firm as Manager of Business Development and Client Services. Winkler previously served as the marketing manager for Eide Bailly, LLP. She completed her master’s degree in business administration from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2009.

Masters Roger Di Silvestro, MA, PW, 1980, is the senior editor for National Wildlife Magazine and award-wining writer of Western literature. His most recent award is from the March 2010 Western Writers of America National Festival of the West for a short nonfiction piece entitled, “Teddy’s Ride to Recovery” published by Wild West publishers. He has previously worked for various conservation groups and the National Parks Conservation Association. His newest book, “Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands,” will be released in Spring 2011. Christopher Payne, APR, MA, PR, 1989, is vice president and general manager of the Tulsa offices of Saxum Public Relations an integrated public relations, strategic marketing and creative firm. He previously served as senior manager of corporate communications for Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc., a global corporation and one of Saxum’s newest clients. Louis A. Torraca, Jr., APR, MA, 1971, received the 2009 Hall of Honor Award, the highest award presented by the Hawaii chapter of the PRSA recognizing those with distinguished and exemplary careers in public relations. PRSA Hawaii’s Strategic Advisory Committee, which determines the recipient of the award, chose to honor Torraca for his “tremendous contributions” to the Hawaii chapter over the years and your “notable career accomplishments”.

CelebratingLives D. Jo Ferguson, Journ., 1941, a past president of the Oklahoma Press Association, died Monday, January 4, 2010. He was 87. Ferguson was publisher of the Pawnee Chief, which he helped establish with his father and another partner in 1941. Ferguson was also co-publisher of the Hominy News-Progress with his brother, Larry. Ferguson was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 1998. Ferguson attended the Oklahoma Military Academy before joining the U.S. Navy in 1942. He attended the University of Oklahoma, where he was involved in both the editorial and advertising departments of the Oklahoma Daily newspaper. While an OU student, Ferguson was elected to the Oklahoma Legislature.

C. Ray Shaw, Journ., 1957, died July 19, 2009 after going into shock when he was stung by a wasp. Shaw was the former president of Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal. After retiring from Dow Jones at 55 in 1989, Shaw built a new career as chairman of American City Business Journals Inc., a Charlotte, N.C., publisher. A native of El Reno, Okla., Shaw got his start as a reporter at his hometown paper and later worked on the Daily Oklahoman and for the Associated Press. He was hired at the Wall Street Journal in 1960 and worked as a reporter and editor before becoming founding managing editor of AP-Dow Jones, an international news service operated jointly with the AP. In 1979, he became president and chief operating officer of Dow Jones, the second-highest-ranking executive at the company. Shaw helped the organization expand into electronic publishing. In April 2009, Shaw was given a distinguished achievement award by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, which cited him for accomplishments “in his so-called retirement.” Brian Jay Walke, Radio/TV, 1978, passed away Friday, July 2nd, 2010. He was 55. He received a B.A. in Radio and Television Journalism in 1978, as well as a Master of Arts in International Relations in 1990. From 1979-1985, he served in various positions within the news department at KEBC-FM, where he began his award-winning career in journalism. During that time, he developed, directed, and produced KEBC’s weekly news magazine program, Newsreel 94, which won more than 25 local, state, and national awards. He continued his commitment to truth and excellence while working as the News Director at KGOU-FM from 19851992, where again, he and his colleagues were honored with numerous prestigious awards; these included a 1989 Ohio State Award for a documentary on health care. Brian further established his legacy as News Director at KTOK-AM, where he directed an investigative series, “Secrets of Justice,” that won several regional awards, including a national Edward R. Murrow Award. He was a founding board member of FOI, Oklahoma, and served on the board of the First Amendment Congress in 2006. He served on the JayMac board of directors for the Gaylord College in 2002 and 2003.

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GAYLORD COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION 395 W. LINDSEY STREET, ROOM 3000 NORMAN, OK 73019-4201

NON-PROFIT ORG. US POSTAGE PAID UNIV. OF OKLAHOMA

Mark Your Calendar Watch for these events in fall 2010 JayMac Distinguished Alumni Awards Event Gaylord Hall, Thursday, Oct. 14 OU/Texas Reception Friday, Oct. 1 Moroch Partners in Dallas Homecoming Celebration Gaylord Hall, Saturday, Oct. 16

Watch for the Gaylord Prize Recipient and Banquet to be announced in the fall