Jargon, Spring 2012

Jargon

School of Journalism and Mass Communication Alumni Newsletter Spring 2012, Volume LXXII, Issue 2 http://jmc.kent.edu

Excellence in Action

Hit the ground running Recent JMC grads say a mix of traditional skills and new mindsets are keys to landing good jobs

Contents

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Alumni reunite during JMCʼs 2011 Homecoming celebration

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JMC Director Jeff Fruit steps down after 10 years of leadership

The end of an era

Three senior faculty members — Fred Endres, Carl Schierhorn and Tim Smith — retired this spring

Grads tackle todayʼs job market

Armed with a mix of solid basic skills and an understanding of new technology, students find success in their chosen professions

JMC endowments grow to fund scholarships for deserving students; more help needed

Faculty member explores Portage Countyʼs involvement in the Civil War Film documents conflict through the experiences of local families

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Professor spends sabbatical providing journalism training worldwide

The outgoing CEO of Franklin Hall

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Spring 2012

18 Mother, daughter capture images in Europe 30 years apart

23 Alumnus co-owner of new coffee shop in downtown Kent

14

TV2 covers local high school sports through new Web reporting initiative

Directorʼs Note

Finding our return on investment

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Poynter KSU Ethics Workshop explored ethics of sports journalism

18

Exhibit showcases the work of CCI studentsʼ experiences abroad

20 Faculty notes Gary Hanson recognized with Distinguished Teaching Award

21 Alumni notes 22 Senior captures

Hearst first-place award

23

Student fills need by collecting shoes for those around the world

Jargon Jargon is a semiannual publication of the Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

204 Franklin Hall Phone: 330-672-2572 P.O. BOX 5190 Fax: 330-672-4064 Kent, OH 44242 E-mail: jfruit@kent.edu

STAFF Editor Jeff Fruit Managing Production Editor Manager Trevor Ivan Chris Sharron Art Director Allison Struck

Photo Editor Melinda Yoho

On the cover: The illustration was created by photo illustration major Melinda Yoho using a combination of Adobe Photoshop and photo collage techniques.

s I read through drafts of stories for this edition, it hit home what the job of Director has been all about for the last decade. The real satisfaction is in the collective accomplishments of students, faculty and staff. This Jargon is chocked full of them, as it should be for a School of the size and distinction of ours.

I am sure this satisfaction comes as no surprise to those of you who have been in leadership or management positions.

To put it in business terms, our real ROI (return on investment) at the School is first in the success of our students and second in the fine work of faculty and staff. Our team is dedicated to building and maintaining a top-notch learning environment that not only positions students to succeed but also nourishes contributions to the body of knowledge in our media-related fields of study – the research, creative and professional endeavors that make up a significant portion of faculty and student work.

You can see the ROI humming along throughout this issue.

• Our 20th century graduates often ask how newly minted graduates are faring in the rapidly changing media marketplaces.

We offer several shining examples of recent graduates who have hit the ground running.

• Faculty continue to do outstanding work in the classroom and in their scholarly, creative and professional work as evidenced by Gary Hanson’s Distinguished Teaching Award, Karl Idsvoog’s international training efforts and Fred Endres’ Civil War research.

• Current students continue to excel, with national awards aplenty, including Jeannette Reyes taking a top Hearst Awards honor in television reporting.

But make no mistake: the marketplace is a very different one than graduates found just a decade ago, and the School must continue to invest in preparing students to succeed. Entrepreneurial thinking, multimedia storytelling skills across a range of media platforms and the ability to interact with targeted audiences all must be part of today’s learning environment.

Even as we look ahead to preparing that next generation of successful alumni, a moment of reflection is in order to honor the faculty careers of retirees Fred Endres, Carl Schierhorn and Tim Smith. These three journalism educators collectively logged more than 90 years in the School, pushing, pulling and prodding several generations of students. All three are outstanding teachers and scholars who have provided the kind of senior faculty leadership that has kept the School on top of its game. They will be missed.

Holding forth in this slot in our fall issue will be new School Director Thor Wasbotten, who was appointed as we went to press. You can read a bit about him below. We are delighted to welcome Thor and his family to Kent State.

I look forward to continuing on the faculty and hope to see and hear from you. Keep up the good work and keep in touch.

Jeff Fruit Director, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Wasbotten selected as School’s next director Thor Wasbotten, M.S., will join the University as the School of JMC’s next director July 1 to replace Jeff Fruit, who steps down after 10 years as the school’s leader to teach.

Wasbotten most recently served as the assistant dean for student media and online operations at The Pennsylvania State University, where he also was a senior lecturer of journalism.

Said Wasbotten of his appointement, “I look forward to working with a tremendous faculty with strong academic and professional credentials.

I’m eager to work in a building which serves as a national model for effective infrastructure and educational support, and I’m excited to serve the energized and engaged JMC students who believe in Kent State and their education.”

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JMC News

The outgoing CEO of After 10 years, Jeff Fruit steps down as director, joins teaching faculty

By Jessica Scheve It’s 9 a.m. and Jeff Fruit is sitting in a small conference room on the second floor of Franklin Hall.

He’s meeting with some staff members about a sports production boot camp that will take place this summer.

With his white and sandyblonde hair tidily combed to one side, his beard neatly groomed and his powder blue button-down shirt tucked into his black dress-slacks, Fruit looks as if he’d be just as comfortable wearing a business suit in the board room of a major corporation as he would be in a college classroom.

Fruit nods in agreement as a faculty member points out the recruiting potential the boot camp presents to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

“That’s an excellent point,” he said, as he raises his eyebrows high above his silver square-framed wire glasses. He seems more serious when he’s talking business and yet he somehow always manages to maintain an air of amiability.

Although he looks a little sleepy, like the coffee in his hunter green mug hasn’t quite kicked in, he listens intently, focusing individually on those who take turns chiming in about the program. This is the first of a long day of meetings for Fruit who, as director, manages both the academic and financial aspects of the School.

“My job, at the heart of it, is to make sure that the faculty and the students have what they need to get done what they’re trying to get done,” he said.

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While Fruit won’t be leaving Franklin Hall for good, the Spring 2012 semester was his last as director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. After 10 years as director, and 14 total years in JMC, Fruit is stepping down to assume a teaching position in the School.

ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS SHARRON He explained that the skill sets a director needs change over time and that generally an individual will serve in a position like this for about five or six years.

“It’s time for me to do something else,” he said matter-of-factly.

His varied background in journalism, business and education made

him the successful candidate for this position 10 years ago.

He’s served as an editor, a publisher, a reporter, an author and a professor. He also served as interim dean of the College of Communication and Information for six months in 2009 while a committee searched for a replacement for that vacated position.

Franklin Hall After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University, Fruit worked for the Dayton Daily News for a few years before going to graduate school.

Afterward, he taught at his alma mater for about seven years before he decided to work for American City Business Journals. It was at American City that Fruit served in some of his favorite jobs, including positions as editor and publisher. Another job among his favorites is his current position as director.

Once his nine o’clock concludes, Fruit heads back to his office until it’s time for his meeting about the year-old public relations online master’s program.

His office doesn’t sit in the corner of the building, and it’s not filled with a large mahogany desk and some fancy high-back leather chair. At about the size of the average dorm room, his office is nestled between a conference room and a pair of cubicles. Hanging from the coat rack by the door is a Kent State University baseball cap and a blazer on a coat hanger — ready at a moment’s notice should he need to assume a more formal role.

On top of the bookshelf rests a picture frame encasing a photo of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication faculty standing on the steps of Franklin Hall.

In addition to the day-to-day activities he oversees, Fruit has also managed many large projects during his tenure. One notable project was the School’s renovation of and move to Franklin Hall — a process that took two years to complete. The building now contains a number of state-of-the-art facilities, such as the digital television station.

On any given day, Fruit’s work can vary from meeting with faculty, staff and students, to securing funding for new and existing programs, to planning the following semester’s class schedule.

Despite his busy schedule, Fruit manages to make himself available to faculty, staff and students.

Lori Cantor, business manager in the Office of Student Media, said that is one of the things she’ll remember most about him.

“Jeff has many qualities that made him a great director: He’s a conceptual thinker, great communicator, has an open-door policy, compassion and a great sense of humor,” she said.

Cantor also credited Fruit for shifting the School’s focus into the “digital age.”

“Jeff is very forward-thinking and recognized early the need for the School to become more involved in new media,” she said.

Fruit has been Cantor’s supervisor for

the past 14 years, including the four years he spent in Cantor’s current position in the late 90s. She first met Fruit when she worked as advertising manager in the Office of Student Media, and he was interviewing for the position of business manager.

“He was the most impressive candidate and perfect for the position,” Cantor said.

Cantor isn’t the only faculty member who thinks Fruit is approachable. Assistant professor Eugene Shelton has known Fruit since 2001 and was even a student in one of his classes. Shelton came to Kent State as a graduate student while Fruit was serving as business manager in the Office of Student Media.

“You go to a lot of schools and you have to have an appointment [to speak with the director]…his door is always open,” Shelton said. “He cares about what he’s doing. He cares about each and every student in this school as he cares about each faculty member.”

With Fruit’s guidance, Shelton taught the Media, Power and Culture class while working on his master’s degree. Today, Shelton teaches, among other courses, Introduction to Mass Communication.

“He mentored me in a way that made me want to be in a classroom because I enjoyed being in his classes. None of it would have happened if it hadn’t been for Jeff Fruit — I didn’t come here expecting to teach,” he said.

At the beginning of every semester, Fruit speaks to the students in Shelton’s introductory course, welcoming them and explaining the “traditional” and “new” skills they’ll need to develop in order to be successful in the field.

“We have to work really hard to make sure that we’re staying current so students get what they need to get out in the market,” Fruit explained. Although Fruit spent some time in the corporate world and in more senior-level positions, he didn’t like the work as much. “[Those positions] are kind of another level separated from where the real work is getting done. I’ve always kind of liked being at that level where you’re working directly with the people who are doing the real work, but you’re also managing the business side of things,” he said.

Part CEO, part professor, part journalist, Jeff Fruit does not serve in any one role — he is a hybrid of sorts, with a background that helped the School Journalism and Mass Communication grow. “[The next director]” will have some big shoes to fill,” Shelton said.

A decade of progress for JMC With Jeff Fruit’s leadership, the School has become an innovative player geared for preparing students for an ever-evolving mass communication field. It is also a major contributor of ideas and initiatives to direct an ongoing conversation among educators and professionals about the future of journalism and communication.

2005 The School’s Media Law Center for Ethics and Access launches an annual ethics workshop in conjunction with the Poynter Institute.

2007 JMC officially moves to Franklin Hall following a $21 million renovation. The new facility offers students state-of-the-art technology and resources that provide them with top-notch training for the job market. The project included major gifts from the FirstEnergy Foundation, Gannett and The Plain Dealer.

2008 Mark Goodman is hired as the School’s first Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism, and the Center for Scholastic Journalism, a national clearinghouse for resources related to journalism education, is established. The Center’s faculty launches a fully online master’s program for journalism educators.

2011 The School launches a fully online master’s program with a concentration in public relations.

More than 100 students enrolled by the end of the first year.

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Retirements

The end of an era Three senior faculty members retire

By Meghan Caprez and Anne Dudley

From Taylor Hall to the third floor of Franklin, Fred Endres, Carl Schierhorn and Tim Smith have been professional neighbors for more than 20 years. These three cornerstones of the journalism sequence have counseled hundreds of young journalists as professors in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. This year, an era ends as they each retire from full-time teaching.

TIM SMITH “Life isn’t fair.”

T h e s e words have been repeated to each of Tim Smith’s media law classes, both at the graduate and undergraduate levels, every semester

since the 1980s.

“Life isn’t fair,” Smith said. “I write that on the board every semester. There’s no sense complaining about it. Deal with it.”

Now, nearly 30 years later, Smith is ready to put down the chalk and pick up his suitcase.

Smith began working at Kent State in the fall of 1983 as a part-time lecturer after working as the managing editor for the Akron Beacon Journal. He said it was “time for a

FRED ENDRES W h e n Fred Endres arrived at Kent State University in 1974, he thought he’d be here for 10 years. However, he taught full time and founded the co-lab, a center in Franklin Hall for collaborative online producing, established in 2003.

Endres retired this spring but will return in August to teach part time and work on creative projects.

After teaching for one year in Western Illinois and one year in Toledo, Endres returned to professional journalism in Wash6

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change,” so three years later, he started teaching full-time.

“I found that I really enjoyed it,” Smith said. “To my surprise, the students seemed to as well.”

He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree from The Ohio State University and his law degree from the University of Akron.

Both his education and his field experience in journalism law gave him plenty of material for teaching, he said.

Throughout the years, Smith said his relationship with the students has been the most rewarding aspect of his experience.

“What I’ll take away mostly are the friendships with the students,” Smith said.

“Students are constantly impressing me with their take on how the world works.”

As graduate coordinator, Smith has enjoyed recruiting students, especially those who have journeyed to Kent State from abroad.

He has a particular interest in students from China, a country he has visited twice recently.

Smith said he hopes to continue helping Kent State with recruiting and building relationships with Chinese students.

Smith decided to retire for the same reason

he decided to be an educator: It was time for a change in his life. He would like to spend his time traveling and learning about cultures and languages with which he is unfamiliar.

He already has plans to visit New Zealand, but he would enjoy visiting South Africa on a safari if he ever had the opportunity.

Smith is particularly interested in Chinese culture. One of his goals is to learn to speak the native language, so he can communicate with the people on his next visit.

“I’d love to teach in China,” Smith said.

“That’s a dream of mine. It’d have to be somewhere that speaks English because I don’t know Chinese yet, but I’d love it.”

For now, Smith is unsure of the legacy he will leave at Kent State. He said he would like to be remembered for the knowledge he bestowed upon his students.

“I’d like to have students think well of me in terms of what they learned,” Smith said.

“That they got something worthwhile that benefited their career from me. If they feel that way, then I have been a success.”

“I don’t think I’m liable to forget any of these experiences,” Smith said. “They’ve been marvelous. I’ve enjoyed myself immensely here.”

ington, D.C. for six years.

While finishing his Ph.D. and working, Endres considered going back into education.

Originally from Akron, he saw an opportunity to come home in an advertisement for journalism professors at Kent State.

More than 30 years later, Endres has served JMC in many capacities. He’s been editor of the school’s website, built foundational journalism courses and taught in print, multimedia and online journalism. Endres has served on several college and universitywide committees such as the Provost Advisory Committee, Provost Tenure Committee, the Student Publication Policy Committee and the College Advisory Committee.

“My former students are my high points, the ones who have really done well and succeeded,” Endres said.

He said he enjoys watching students’ skillsets develop.

“I liked teaching Newswriting,” Endres said. “I don’t know of many people who do.

I like to get the students when they’re young

and just starting out in their chosen field…

I like to see them two years later to see how they’ve developed, becoming editor of the Stater or the Burr.”

Endres went from a career and 20 years of teaching in print before he began exploring multimedia. He will move his office to the co-lab, or geek central, as he calls it. He’s excited to learn more about multimedia production from the gurus who work on the first floor in Franklin Hall.

When he does eventually quit teaching, Endres says he’s “going to miss working with good students. I know I’m going to miss the creativity that you feel in the building.”

JMC will be losing more than 90 years of combined teaching experience in these three professors. Each have brought enormous talent, energy and expertise to the School and anchored its focus in providing a professional education to its students.

“Carl cares so much about his students,” Endres said. “And Tim is such an advocate for students.” “When do I want to stop? Never,” Endres asked. “Maybe when I’m 79.”

Retirements

PHOTO CREDIT: MELINDA YOHO

The JMC Professional Advisory Board held a reception to honor Fred Endres, Carl Schierhorn and Tim Smith, three senior faculty members who retired this spring. They stand with Jeff Fruit (far left), director of the School of JMC, and Stanley Wearden (center), dean of the College of Communication and Information.

CARL SCHIERHORN

Student after student sits with Carl Schierhorn in his office, poring over copy edits, each equally invested in the conversation. Passersby can see the nurtured learning, the personalized lesson and interest Schierhorn takes in each and every student.

Joe Harper, a former director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication while in the College of Fine and Professional Arts, recruited Schierhorn from his position of managing editor at Gannett’s Iowa City Press-Citizen in 1985. He knew he wanted to teach based on his appreciation for editing.

“What I love about editing is that editing

is very close to teaching,” Schierhorn said.

Schierhorn came to Kent State on a freezing March day and found the place to be better than he expected. With Harper’s assurance of the professional pedagogy of the School, Schierhorn and his wife, Ann, made the move to Ohio.

The graduate of Northwestern University found a different kind of student at Kent State than those at his alma mater. “The joys are different,” Schierhorn said. Schierhorn transforms students who may enter Kent State with less-equipped writing skills into solid journalists, writers and editors.

Schierhorn has been a central figure in the lives of countless students. He has taught the core news curriculum – Newswriting, Print Beat Reporting and Copyediting – for most of his career. He also created the Nontraditional Journalism course that focuses on narrative techniques in magazine and news, which Schierhorn called his favorite.

Schierhorn has advised the Daily Kent Stater since 1999 and said advising “is by far the most rewarding part of my professional life. I really love those kids; I really do. They’re not kids, and love is not exactly the right word, but I really love working with them. I

consider them some of the best people and best friends I’ve ever known.”

Tight bonds grow between JMC faculty and students from hours spent perfecting their craft, the news. Schierhorn’s steady presence in the newsroom is an image for many JMC graduates. Many students find their small group, their personal fraternity, in the newsroom. In fact, Carl and Ann Schierhorn met on the Daily Northwestern.

“I wanted to touch lives,” Schierhorn explained. “And I think I have. Both professionally and, to some extent, personally.

“There have been times when I’ve just been able to pull a student aside when something didn’t seem right…I’ve gone to bat for students to get them that extra scholarship to keep them in school.”

Schierhorn said he is “alternatingly excited and scared about retiring.” He will start by teaching just one four-hour course. Although he now jointly advises the paper with Susan Zake, Schierhorn plans to step back from the paper and eventually do some writing coaching.

“I have been at my job for 45 years. Now I’ve got to figure out how to be me. It will be an interesting journey.”

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Grads tackle today’s job market As the mass communication field continues to change with the adoption of new technology, JMC is committed to keeping pace so students have the skills they need to get jobs upon graduation. As the School’s faculty have discovered, it’s about mixing the old with the new — students need to understand how new technologies like social media and other online platforms enhance communication while simultaneously mastering the basics of solid writing and information-gathering techniques. These are the stories of seven recent graduates with diverse interests, backgrounds and career goals, all of whom have found rewarding work that directly applies the skills and principles they learned as JMC students.

Stories by Kelly Pickerel and Grant Engle Photo illustration above by Melinda Yoho Other photos submitted by those interviewed

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About the authors Kelly Pickerel, ’09, is an editor with Benjamin Media Inc. located in Peninsula, Ohio. The company produces eight B2B publications within the construction industry.

Pickerel is specifically head of Solar Builder/ Wind Builder, a dual-publication dedicated to the construction of solar and wind energy projects.

Grant Engle is a junior newspaper journalism major minoring in business at Kent State. He came to KSU in 2009 after serving four years in the U.S. Navy. His professional interests include sports journalism, ethics in mass media and teaching at the collegiate level.

Alumni Jobs

Networking: a key to job placement Katie Corbut

Katie Corbut, ’11, practiced what her faculty mentors in JMC preached about the importance of networking in the public relations industry.

She devoted between 20 to 30 hours a week emailing prospective employers, sending out her resume and connecting with public relations professionals prior to graduation last spring. Her efforts paid off when she landed a position at Travers Collins in Buffalo, N.Y., as an account coordinator, working with clients and overseeing social media initiatives.

This is just one example of how the JMC faculty influenced her career.

She first met associate profes-

sor Michele Ewing her freshman year. Corbut said Ewing’s counsel during her first years of college set her on the path to success.

“I liked to write, but I wasn’t comfortable in front of a camera at all,” Corbut said. “Professor Ewing helped me so much with being able to get in front of a group and give a presentation.”

Corbut credited her countless hours of work and the constructive criticism her professors provided as keys to her achievements.

She recalled how she was barely able to see her own writing through all the red marks.

“I would get a paper back, and I was told to re-write it and make

specific changes,” Corbut said.

“But then I’d make the changes, and they would find other stuff wrong with it. It was frustrating at the time, but it really taught me how to accept criticism, and it made me a better writer.”

Corbut and Ewing agreed that public relations majors at Kent State are blessed with many opportunities to gain experience: student media, professional networking, hands-on assignments and practical classroom lessons.

“I felt extremely prepared going into the field,” Corbut said. “I was already well-rounded in many different aspects in PR before I stepped foot in the workplace.”

Solid writing skills a must in the PR market Lauren Vogel

Lauren Vogel, ’11, credited her team project in Public Relations Campaigns as a key factor in landing a job at Wordsworth Communications in Cincinnati.

“They were blown away,” Vogel said. “We created a PR campaign for an actual client, and the people conducting the interview told me that they had never seen a student project like that before.”

The project was similar to what Vogel does now for the agency as an assistant account executive. She serves on a team that plans and implements campaigns for clients such as Potterhill Homes and Skyline Chili.

Vogel said her familiarity with social media and blogs as well as quality writing skills helped her immeasurably.

She pointed to her Print Beat Reporting course as one of her most challenging classes, but one that has proven invaluable.

“Even though I’m not writing stories, I know what journalists are looking for,” Vogel said. “You can’t pay for the writing skills you get while going through that class.”

She noted the great support system she had within the university.

Vogel said Jennifer Kramer, director of public relations and marketing for CCI and an adjunct professor in JMC, was her biggest

influence at Kent State.

“She kind of became my mentor,” Vogel said of Kramer. “She showed me the human side of the business, and she helped me understand what was newsworthy. I always admired how hard she worked with students.”

Kramer taught Vogel’s Media Relations and Publicity class.

Kramer said she noticed fairly soon that Vogel was a star student.

“She was always really prepared when she came to class,” Kramer said.

“She knew AP style, and beyond the who, what, when, where and why, she knew how to tell a story.”

She said Vogel “is what the next generation of public relations professionals is all about.”

Student finds passion in advertising market David Lawson

After beginning his college career as an architecture major, David Lawson, ’11, knew he wanted to do something else. He found his niche in JMC as an advertising major under the support of Danielle Coombs, who taught his Principles of Advertising Class.

Coombs said Lawson’s passion was clear from their first encounter.

“He’s the kind of student every professor hopes for,” Coombs said.

“He was dedicated, interested, excited and enthusiastic.”

She said he revived the School’s

Advertising Club with his enthusiasm as its president in 2010. It became the 11th largest chapter in the country. The club placed third in the district in the 2010 National Student Advertising Competition.

That was the club’s first time competing in more than a decade; it was the only Ohio school to place.

As a student, he worked for the university’s Department of Recreational Services to develop a marketing plan and for The Tannery, a student-operated, integrated marketing communications firm.

In the summer of 2010, after networking during a student

convention in New York City, he found an internship at Hill Holliday, and he is now a full time assistant account executive with the agency.

Lawson said he was grateful for his opportunities at Kent State, and he felt he was more than prepared to take on the everyday challenges advertising professionals face.

“We learned about so many facets of the industry,” Lawson said. “I knew going in that we weren’t going to sit around a table and come up with a brilliant campaign like ‘Nike: Just Do It.’ We have to put in a lot of work.”

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Alumni Jobs

Grad combines passion for cars, journalism

Nikolas Kolenich

Nikolas Kolenich, ’11, entered Kent State as an interior design major but left with a degree in visual communication/photojournalism in December 2011.

“When I switched majors from interior design to photojournalism in 2009, I wasn’t sure what I

wanted to do with the major, but by the end I (was working for the Daily Kent Stater),” he said.

Kolenich jumped on board with the Daily Kent Stater, eventually becoming a full-time photographer. He said his experiences covering events across Ohio, Kentucky and even in New York City

molded his photography skills.

He attributed his enthusiasm for journalism and photography to advisers Susan Zake and Dave LaBelle.

Through his work with student media and various internships, Kolenich landed a job as automotive photographer for Progressive Auto Group in Massillon, Ohio, a position he took in August 2011 while finishing internship requirements for his degree. He said his main responsibility with Progressive is to ensure cars look their best and honestly represent the product for sale through his photos.

Kolenich has a strong interest in automobiles. He grew up building custom hot rods with his dad and brother. This attraction is one of the main reasons he applied for the job with Progressive. He said he wouldn’t mind one day working for an automotive trade publication.

“My current job is a step in the right direction for where I’d like to be,” he said. “I’m interested in journalism, but shooting for an automotive manufacturer as a personal photographer would be the ultimate job. Close second would be shooting and writing for Car Craft, Hot Rod or any trade publication that reviews automobiles.”

Kolenich scored an internship with the Cleveland Indians as a personal team photographer for the 2011 season, and he said it has helped him tremendously with his current job.

“I had to deal with taking pictures in stressful social situations, lighting on the go and the responsibility of handling expensive equipment,” he said. “Where I currently work, we can’t afford to replace the equipment. They trust that I’ll take care of all the lights in the studio and the camera, lenses and other tools I use every day.

They pay me to take great pictures of cars, but they also pay me to be responsible and respectful with the equipment here at Progressive.”

Kent State provided Kolenich with great life lessons, he said. But the best career lessons came from involvement with the Daily Kent Stater.

Kolenich has some advice for photojournalism students: “Always carry your camera. It might scare you at first, thinking it could get broken or what not, but the reality is good pictures always come with risk and fear. If you want to succeed in photography, you need to be willing to take harsh criticism and to give it back. It’s a two-way street.”

Top-quality work essential for ‘making it big’ Kyle Michael Miller

Kyle Michael Miller, ’09, alwayed planned to one day make it big. He said it was also in the plans of the big guy upstairs.

“I was in a church service one night, and my pastor was preaching on dreams and how God puts certain desires in your heart for a reason,” Miller said.

“Everyone in church made a declaration of their dreams (job, family, finances, etc.). I prayed to God for a full-time job at the TODAY Show with great pay and great benefits. The next day they emailed me and asked if I was interested in this position.

I never applied for it. It was an open door from God.” Today, you can find Miller in New York City working as a video producer/reporter/editor/shooter for TODAY.com.

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He is responsible for editing all four hours of the TODAY Show and getting it online in shorter segments. He also produces and shoots stories that are solely for the website.

Miller said he has his “hands in a little bit of everything” at the TODAY Show, and his broadcast news degree from Kent State has helped him work at his best.

“JMC gave me a great foundation for television, online video reporting and producing,” he said.

“The courses and professors require you to actually use the skills you have to use on the job, so it gave me a head’s up on most people applying for similar positions.”

While at Kent State, Miller was heavily involved with TV2, acting as general manager, producer, marketing director, re-

porter and anchor. Before moving to New York, he freelanced at FOX Sports Ohio for five months as a Web producer.

He said he applied to more than 140 jobs before the TODAY Show came calling.

Eventually, he would like to be on-camera full time as a feature reporter or the host of an inspiring show. He said the best way to get to his dream job is to produce top-notch material.

“You shouldn’t be putting packages together just to turn in for a class or professor. You should be producing stories for a future employer. If it’s not something you want to see on a television station, then don’t turn it in,” Miller advised journalism students. “Operate in excellence and take time to do things the right way.”

Alumni Jobs

JMC introduces students to real-world standards

James Starks

James Starks, ’11, is an avid sports fan, so it’s no surprise he’s working as a sports reporter and anchor at WLTX in Columbia, S.C. But he got his sports reporting experience in some interesting ways.

Starks spent his undergraduate career at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. He was a two-time All-American on the school’s football

team as a defensive back. After his graduation in 2008, he signed a free-agent contract with the Cincinnati Bengals, but an injury sidelined him.

He played for the Ancona Dolphins in Italy and then returned to Ohio to earn his master’s degree in broadcast journalism at Kent State.

He said his involvement with TV2 for three semesters as a sports anchor and as sports director gave him the confidence to handle his busy workload today.

“Being sports director at a large school prepared me for my current job where I have to juggle 20-plus sports and tons of schools, high schools included,” he said. “The classes, especially those with Karl Idsvoog, showed me exactly how things are in the ‘real world.’ Deadlines and professional quality work are the norm.”

Before starting his job in South Carolina, Starks had worked at a few major networks in Ohio, including WBNS in Columbus, WKBN in Youngstown, FOX8 in Cleveland and WOIO in Cleveland.

Ultimately, Starks said he would love to work at a professional sports network or ESPN, but he’d also like to work as an anchor in a ma-

jor market. He said it’s important to be a ‘oneman band’ and know how to shoot, edit, write and produce your own material.

“It isn’t just reading from a teleprompter,” he said. “It’s storytelling.”

Dedication, drive lead graduate to dream job

Lyndsay Petruny

Lyndsay Petruny, ’08, entered the real world at a rough time.

She graduated with a broadcast news degree and didn’t have much luck finding a job. But she eventually landed the job of a lifetime.

She is a host/reporter for the New England Patriots and its in-house production company — Kraft Sports Productions — at Gillette Stadium.

“Sports have always been my passion and true love in life, ever since I was young,” she said. “I think everyone should be doing something they love, and for me, my dream job is sports reporting.

When I’m in the press box ana-

lyzing a game, it’s an unbelievable feeling. I’m very thankful.”

During the NFL season, she’s on-air five to six days each week.

She does five “Patriots Today” Web shows that can be found on the team’s website. Petruny also cohosts weekly team-related shows that air on CBS’s Boston affiliate.

The NFL off-season months are just as busy with training camps and the NFL draft.

Petruny stumbled upon the job with the Patriots through Career Builder. After submitting her resume, she contacted a former host/ reporter on Facebook, got the executive producer’s email address and contacted him directly. Her “go get ‘em” attitude helped her land the job in June 2010.

She said the job search was tough, but she remained dedicated after a “life-changing experience” interning with FOX Sports in Los Angeles prior to graduation.

In the fall of 2009, Petruny secured her first journalism job with the CBS-affiliate in Pittsburgh, KDKA, where she worked both behind and in front of the camera. The contacts from her internship led her to a position as Penn State correspondent for the Big Ten Network for the 2009-2010 season.

Petruny said she is thankful for her experience at Kent State. She was an engaged member of TV2, starting as a sports anchor. She became a sideline reporter at basketball games and was the co-host of the station’s weekly sports talk show “SportsCorner,” eventually becoming a producer and serving as TV2’s sports director.

Petruny said her student media involvement provided her with invaluable training.

“It definitely paid off down the road, and I felt confident that I was 10 steps ahead of other recent

graduates when it came time to start applying for jobs,” she said.

The perfect job with the NFL might not have come along if it weren’t for the well-rounded journalism education Petruny said she received at Kent State.

“It’s so important to get involved and learn every aspect of this business. Stations aren’t hiring people for one specific task anymore,” she said. “(My JMC classes) really brought out my passion for journalism and made me want to excel and succeed in this industry.”

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Endowments

Endowments grow to fund scholarships Deserving students benefit from alumni generosity; more help needed

By Christine Isenberg “I genuinely don’t know if I could have finished my education without it,” visual journalism major Beth Rankin, ’08, said of the scholarship she received from Priscilla Johnson, ’51, the benefactor behind the Thompson Family Scholarship. “I’m so grateful to her.”

Rankin isn’t alone. In the past academic year, 61 Journalism and Mass Communication students at Kent State received scholarships totaling nearly $41,000. Recipients are selected on a combination of financial need, academic achievement and donor intent.

“A scholarship often means the student can devote more time to study because he or she doesn’t have to work a second job,” said JMC senior secretary Sharon Marquis. “It really helps lessen the load.”

Tuition for in-state students this past academic year was $4,836 per semester; out-of-state students paid an additional $3,980. Add the cost of textbooks and living expenses, and it can create quite a financial strain for our mostly working class and frequently firstgeneration students and their families, said JMC director Jeff Fruit.

“The good news is that our fundraising efforts have begun

to pay off,” Fruit added. In 2002, JMC had approximately $896,000 in foundation accounts. By 2012, these accounts totaled nearly $4,264,700. The University Foundation invests the money to generate income to fund the scholarships.

“This gain in scholarship funds for JMC students is primarily due to an increased emphasis on developing relationships with alumni and friends of the School,” said Gene Finn, vice president, Institutional Advancement. “Currently, JMC has the largest number of Honors students of any School on campus – more than 100 – and we want to continue to attract the brightest students. The best way to do that is to be competitive with the scholarships we are able to offer.”

The renovation of Franklin Hall in 2008 also helped spur donations as alumni were delighted that print and broadcast programs were united under one roof.

“The state provided some capital funding, but this had to be supplemented with gifts from individuals and corporations to complete construction,” Fruit explained. Another significant source of revenue received during the last decade was an endowed chair from the Knight Foundation. This $1.5 million gift funds

the Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism, which is held by professor Mark Goodman.

Casey Braun, a senior Honors student studying electronic media production, is the recipient of the Portage Community Bank scholarship.

“It is refreshing that so many wonderful local businesses like Portage Community Bank give back to students. Scholarship support absolutely lightens the heavy load tuition places on the backs of families,” Braun said.

The donors’ reasons for giving are as varied as the students who receive the awards. Johnson said she supports JMC’s furtherance of teaching necessary job skills to students.

“I support journalism students because I feel Kent State has always concentrated on the highest standards in news reporting and interpretation and needs help in continuing to do so. In my time at school, there was only print and radio,” she said. “Today, media is developing at an incredible rate and reaching listeners, watchers and readers all over the world.

Kent State is keeping pace. That takes money. So there’s lots of incentive for me to give.”

Wallace Stroud, ’46, has been helping JMC students for 10 years.

“My wife Peggy and I didn’t have

any heirs, and I always loved the journalism school at Kent State. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction to help out the students. It just feels good.”

Jim Nash, managing partner of Marcus Thomas LLC, has a slightly different reason for giving.

“We want to grow the talent at KSU because we hire a lot of interns who often end up as valued employees. We want the best students in the industry,” Nash said.

However, despite the quadrupling of funds in the last 10 years, a significant gap still remains when compared with other top tier journalism schools. The schools at Kent State and The University of North Carolina are similar in size, but UNC has approximately $30 million in endowed funds and 13 endowed professorships, compared with $4 million and one endowed chair at Kent State.

“I am very grateful for the financial and professional support JMC has received from both individual and corporate donors,” said Stanley Wearden, Ph.D., dean of the College of Communication and Information. “It is only with their help that we can offer our students the very best educational opportunity. We have well-qualified, highly motivated students, but as state support continues to shrink to unprecedented levels and tuition rises as a consequence, our students are finding it harder to pay for an education. By providing scholarships and funds for facilities and equipment, our generous donors are helping us to keep costs down and to make a college education possible for the workforce of the future.”

For more information on how to give, contact: Christine Isenberg at cisenber@kent.edu or www.GiveToKent.org.

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JMC News

Documentary examines Portage County’s involvement in Civil War JMC professor’s project delves into local history More than 2,000 young men from Portage County served in the American Civil War. Professor Fred Endres, Ph.D., is telling seven of their stories.

Endres and students from JMC and the history department have been collaborating for almost 18 months on a three-part project called “The ‘Sojer Boys’ of Portage County.” Included in the project are a 90-minute documentary written and produced by Endres, an accompanying website and a photo exhibit.

“This has been one of the most challenging and fulfilling stories I have ever tried to tell,” Endres said. “To learn about these men and their experiences during the war has been both enlightening and extremely emotional.”

The country is commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Endres said he has always been interested in the war but never felt any real connection to it.

“It was always about massive armies and important generals,” he said. “I wanted to cut through all that, look at local people and talk about their war experiences.”

During his research, he talked with Portage County residents who had ancestors who served in the war and who shared with him letters and diaries passed down through generations.

“Over the past year, I have talked with a number of families whose relatives served in the war and read the letters those young men wrote home,” Endres said. “They were trying to tell their families about what they were experiencing, yet kept many of the gruesome battlefield details from them.”

Students have been involved from the beginning. Three students, especially, helped with researching and conceptualizing the project: Margie Stahl, a JMC graduate student, and Felicia Wetzig and Philip Shackelford, graduate and undergraduate students in history, respectively. Stahl

PHOTO CREDIT: TOM SONG (ABOVE), MELINDA YOHO (RIGHT) Professor Fred Endres conducts research for a documentary he and several students are producing about Portage County’s involvement in the Civil War. Their work involved combing through documents and photographs, talking with local residents and visiting gravesites.

Check out http://civilwarportage.org to learn more. has created the website.

A visual journalism major, Tom Song, took photographs. JMC students provided the voices for the soldiers’ letters and diaries. Bobby Makar, a recent M.A. graduate, edited the final video. Other JMC students are working on the accompanying website. Professor Gary Hanson is narrating the documentary.

“We have combed through hundreds of sources for information, military records and photographs,” Endres said. He estimates that he has gathered at least 600 old photographs and illustrations, 500 of which appear in the documentary.

The students and Endres also searched for music and sound effects that would be appropriate to the period.

“This is not another history of the Civil War,” Endres said. “This is a story – actually seven stories – of young men from Kent, Mantua,

Randolph and other towns who may have served for one year or four years. It tells of the boredom of camp, the terror of the battlefield, and the incredible homesickness many of the men felt.”

Two of the seven young men in the documentary did not survive the war. One is killed at the Battle of Franklin, Tenn., and one dies as a prisoner of war at Andersonville, Ga. Endres is negotiating to have a PBS channel in Northeast Ohio show the documentary. He also plans to hold a small premiere where all three parts of the project will be unveiled to local historical society members and community residents interested in learning more about the war from the perspectives of local soldiers.

“These men were mostly 18 to 22 years old, pretty much the same as our students. Some had wives, young children, parents who wor-

ried about them. We try to talk about those folks ‘back home’ a bit as well,” Endres said.

The project has involved more than a thousand hours of work.

“This has been the most meaningful story I’ve ever been involved in,” Endres declared. “I can’t believe how personal this story has become to me.”

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JMC News

TV2 expands coverage to local high school sports through new Web reporting initiative

By Anne Dudley Twenty Kent State students in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication covered 16 local high school football teams each week during the fall 2011 season to produce Portage Trail Central (PTC), a student-operated site that focuses on high school sports.

The PTC crew created game previews during the week, provided video highlights, produced voiceovers, and edited and uploaded content to the Web. The group also showcased a “game of the week,” highlighting an outstanding performance. Teams of two or three students attended each game and uploaded highlight reels as early as Friday evening.

“JMC has a ton of students interested in sports reporting and

the reality is, when they get out of college, they will likely be covering high school sports,” said Nathan Edwards, Fall 2011 general manager of TV2.

The idea for PTC came to Edwards after filming a live broadcast of the Kent Roosevelt Rough Riders vs. Ravenna Ravens football game. He said the game generated a significant amount of advertising and interest from the community and made evident a need JMC students could fill.

“I supported the idea because this was an opportunity [the students] were not going to get throughout the rest of the week during regular TV2 episodes,” Edwards remarked.

PTC is searchable and has become a resource for community members and local news coverage.

Edwards said the TV2 staff hopes to incorporate team standings and print articles on the website starting with this fall’s football season.

Jon Jankowski, TV2 sports executive producer, manages PTC, supports Sports Corner on TV2 and directs coverage of Kent State Sports.

“I think for anyone who wants to be a sports reporter, [PTC] teaches you everything you need to know for after you graduate,” Jankowski said.

Beyond just sports reporting, PTC opens the doors for more students to build their skills in multimedia reporting from their first semester on campus.

To keep content fresh on the site throughout the winter, the staff expanded coverage to include boys and girls basketball. Jacob Corcoran, TV2 general manager

for the Spring 2012 semester, said such experience would allow students to acquire a versatile range of shooting and editing skills.

More than half of the PTC team members are underclassmen who volunteer their time to gain experience and build their skills in sports reporting.

With such a young crew, the upperclassmen must lead the underclassmen who have yet to take Broadcast Beat Reporting or Videography Basics. “It’s not the professors teaching our PTC reporters; it is us,” Corcoran said. “We help them understand the people we’re working with and try to make it something they’re excited about.”

Check out the site at www.portagetrailcentral.com.

Students again uncover stories half a world away

Students who were selected for the second International Storytelling class traveled to India for two weeks in March to produce multimedia story packages about life in Delhi, India. The first class traveled to Shanghai, China, last spring. In preparation, members of the class visited an Indian market near Cleveland. At right, Anne Dudley, graduate student in public relations and member of the class, makes a purchase. A story about the trip will appear in the next issue of Jargon. PHOTO CREDIT: MELINDA YOHO 14

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Spring 2012

Visit www.datelinedelhi.org to learn more about members of the class and to see their projects.

JMC News

Faculty member spreads free press principles by training journalists around the world Associate professor Karl Idsvoog picked up some frequent flyer miles during his sabbatical last fall.

He spent much of it training citizen and professional journalists in Botswana, Egypt and Tunisia for the U.S. State Department.

For Radio Free Asia, he trained journalists in Hong Kong and Cambodia.

And although he travels with camera, microphones and a laptop full of software (Avid, Premier, Final Cut Pro, AfterEffects, Photoshop, Motion), he said his most important training device is his ears.

“You have to listen, and you have to remember that when you’re training journalists in another country, you’re the dumbest person in the room,” Idsvoog said.

“Everyone there knows more about the country than you do; everyone there knows more about the reporting obstacles they face than you do. It’s impossible to provide practical and applicable advice if you don’t listen.”

While officials in the United States might be annoyed by a reporter’s questions, the risks elsewhere are greater. A man in Tunisia told Idsvoog the police took his camera and beat him.

Traveling to two countries that have undergone a leadership change, Egypt and Tunisia, Idsvoog was surprised by the difference.

In Tunisia, there was no obvious police presence and the streets felt safe. There were no gates orarmed guards and dogs sniffing for bombs at the hotel. But in Egypt, where Idsvoog has done training before, he traveled everywhere in an armor-plated SUV with bulletproof glass.

“Egypt’s revolution is not over,” Idsvoog said. “It’s just dangerously simmering.”

Radio Free Asia’s focus has expanded beyond radio, and Idsvoog has been helping train RFA journalists in video and social media for the past three years.

At RFA’s Phnom Penh bureau, he focused on investigative projects: illegal logging, hazardous

PHOTOS SUBMITTED

BY KARL IDSVOOG

Associate professor Karl Idsvoog spent his sabbatical last fall training journalists around the globe. One assignment involved working with students in Tunisia following last year’s citizen uprising and subsequent change in the country’s ruling power.

workplace conditions, and problems women face while working in garment factories.

“I’ve read about these factories, but seeing the mass of humanity come to work and to work all day for so little truly makes you question the term ‘civilization,’” Idsvoog said.

In Cambodia, by union agreement, garment workers work six days a week, eight hours a day for $61 a month. To have enough to survive, the workers, mostly young women, share living and commuting expenses.

Living space is cramped. Often five, six or more women share a tiny room. Commuting isn’t just cramped; it is dangerous. Vans are packed with workers and more

ride on the roof. The passengers risk serious injury or death. In Cambodia, riding on the roof of a van is not a safety violation.

“Why is that OK with the U.S. companies who buy clothes from these factories?” Idsvoog asked.

That’s one story Idsvoog tried to help an RFA investigative team produce. But U.S. companies refused RFA’s requests for interviews and would not discuss the topic — one Idsvoog was not about to drop.

He brought it to Kent State.

“I’ve got video of 10 women living in a small single room, the youngest of whom is 15 (http:// vimeo.com/34006479). I have got video to show to U.S. consumers of the young women who have to ride to work riding on the roof of the van,” Idsvoog said. “Do U.S. consumers think that’s OK? My Kent State students will get an answer to that question this semester.”

Journalists, Idsvoog said, do not give up.

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Poynter Workshop

Alumʼs sports career spent following LeBron Windhorst a speaker during 2011 Ethics Workshop

By Anne Dudley Brian Windhorst, ’00, knew what he wanted when he came to Kent State University in 1996.

The 18-year-old moved from his hometown in Akron, Ohio, into his dormitory on a Saturday afternoon in the fall and went promptly to work that evening manning a desk and a phone as a clerk at the Akron Beacon Journal, a job he had already held for two years.

That night, he moved to another level, not only by officially becoming a college student, but also by being promoted to head clerk at the Beacon Journal, all without even attending one class in Taylor Hall.

This was just the start of his journalism career.

As a child and adolescent, Windhorst’s mother coached several successful high school softball teams.

With his proximity and connection to the team, he became a pseudo scorekeeper, statistician and, at one point, the team’s media contact.

Windhorst had played sports himself, but what truly intrigued him was the world around the game. The young man called in box scores, built relationships with local reporters and became a source of knowledge to his mother’s teams all before he was old enough to drive.

Reporters relied on the young Windhorst for the information they needed. “Some of the best relationships I have were from early on,” Windhorst said. While working at the Akron Beacon Journal, Windhorst was colleagues with the very reporters and editors that would later become his professors.

Lucky Octobers

Windhorst’s career in media spans three major news outlets, one of which he worked at for more than half his life upon his departure. When he reached his current position at ESPN.com, changing positions overnight and midseason was nothing new.

Windhorst was ready to accept a job in Decatur, Ill., after his May 2000 graduation when a position opened up at the Akron Beacon Journal.

“Two reporters unexpectedly

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was half my life. The Journal had taken gambles on me and given me good opportunities.”

He enjoyed covering the Cavs, especially during the 2008 and 2009 seasons and swore he would never leave for another newspaper.

But another October was just round the corner.

moves on to president,” he said.

It was a risky move for Windhorst, but he made the byline change again, within a weekend. He had developed a career by covering James, and he knew both James and his story best. And this, if nothing else, was a big story. James had attracted the attention of an entire country almost overnight.

The Decision Changes Sound Advice for Everything LeBron James announced his Future Young Writers left the Journal,” he said. “I had worked there six years already at this point, but it did take a lucky break and a string of events for me to get the job there.”

In October, he started covering high school sports full time at the Beacon Journal. It was then that Windorst began covering LeBron James, who was a student at his alma mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. With some convincing and coercing of his editors, Windorst was able to cover James frequently, following a hunch that James was someone to pay attention to.

In addition to local high school sports, Windhorst was assigned to cover the Kent State basketball and football teams, something he never got the opportunity to do even while attending the university.

His second chance at covering Kent State paid off when the 2002 basketball team went to the Elite 8 in the March Madness tournament.

As his fateful timeline would have it, in 2003, Windhorst began to cover the Cavaliers during James’ rookie year. At 25, with nine years total at the Beacon Journal under his belt, Windhorst became the youngest traveling beat reporter in the NBA. “I struggled the first year at times,” Windhorst said. “I settled into Cleveland. I covered the Cavs for five years and in that time they went from being the worst in the league to going to the finals in 2007.”

In the fall of 2008, he left Akron for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “It was just after I had been [at the Beacon Journal] 14 years and one month. At 30 years old, that

“Decision” to move to the Miami Heat in July 2010. With Cleveland in an uproar, a lot was uncertain, both in Cleveland and Miami.

In addition to working at the Plain Dealer, Windhorst had become a regular contributor to ESPN. As a freelancer, he had written 50-75 stories and provided content on James and the Cavaliers since 2005.

October 2010 brought Windhorst the opportunity to make the life-changing move to the major network and online sports news outlet, ESPN.com, covering the NBA. Windhorst thought the move was an excellent idea because it gave him the chance to continue covering someone with whom he had significant experience and insight.

“It is similar to a reporter that covers mainly one politician who becomes governor and then

Kent State students joining the media workforce today face unique challenges, but also have some ensuing advantages, Windhorst recognized. The first change is from a “deadline world” to a “24/7 journalist world.”

“Whether writing, editing or in Web design, I think students today will have an advantage,” Windhorst said. “People in the field already have to force themselves to adjust.

Students are already used to that.”

However, new college graduates may be more likely to obtain jobs in bigger media outlets because they were born, so to speak, in the unending deadline world.

Windhorst is no different. He came to Kent State prepared for the field he desired to enter and has made a name for himself and career that many would agree will last longer than LeBron’s.

Attack ads, spin, misinformation…

As the election season heats up, join us for the

eighth annual Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop to discuss and debate all of

the “Dirty Politics” as journalists and citizens alike harness new technology to cover those who seek elected office.

This year’s event will once again feature top-notch panelists who will provide engaging analysis and discussion about issues related to the convergence of ethics, journalism, politics and elections.

What: “Dirty Politics?”

Where: Franklin Hall, Kent State When: Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012

Watch http://new.jmc.kent.edu/ethicsworkshop/2012/ for more details about speakers, schedule and registration information.

Homecoming

School welcomes alumni during 2011 Homecoming The 2011 Homecoming celebration once again featured numerous activities for alumni to catch up, network and visit the School’s home in Franklin Hall. JMC director Jeff Fruit poses with members of the Homecoming court from the College of Communication and Information: Dawn Burngasser, Ivy Lumpkin, who was crowned queen, and Darian Thomas.

Friday evening’s reception honored Fast Track awardees Andy Alt (bottom left), Kirk Yuhnke (bottom center) and Taylor Award recipient Stephanie Danes Smith (bottom right). Saturday morning began with the parade followed by brunch in Franklin Hall.

PRSSA hosted a silent auction and raffle. A CCI tailgate party preceded the football game against the Miami Red Hawks.

Save the date!

Homecoming festivities will take place Friday, Oct. 19 and Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012.

Watch www.jmc.kent.edu for more information!

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Study Abroad

Exhibit showcases students’ work abroad

By Anne Dudley A juried photo exhibit spotlighting study abroad students in the College of Communication and Information (CCI) hung in the University Library this academic year.

Forty remarkable photos were selected to provide a glimpse of how CCI study abroad students see the world. Included are images from all over Europe and Asia.

“These photographs, all taken by College of Communication and Information students while studying abroad, show just a fraction of the depth of talent our CCI students possess and the range of experiences they’ve had around the world,” said Deborah Davis, coordinator of international programs for the College.

Davis said it’s not uncommon for CCI study abroad students to be the first in their families to even own a passport.

“Many of our students have no family history of international travel and no easy way to finance such a thing,” Davis said. “But they have been determined to see and understand the world, and they have returned with a global perspective that will permanently change who they are and dramatically increase the contributions they will make to their workplaces and their communities as they move through life.”

Information design major Chloe Makarick echoed this sentiment when describing her own experience.

PHOTO CREDIT: MELINDA YOHO CCI Dean Stanley Wearden and Deborah Davis, coordinator of international programs for CCI, present information design major Chloe Makarick with recognition for her photo in the exhibit.

“There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by since I’ve returned that I haven’t been reminded of my experiences while studying abroad,” Makarick said. “The world is a much smaller place to me now; we’re all connected, and it’s important to be more aware of the people around you.

I went on study abroad hoping to learn more

about other places and other cultures, but I came home and realized how much I learned about myself.”

Learn how you can support study abroad students by visiting www.kent.edu/ccistudyabroad.

Mother, daughter capture images in Europe 30 years apart

By Ryan Collins, UCM From 1982 to 2012, famous Italian sights like Florence’s cathedral, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Colosseum or Venice’s Grand Canal probably haven’t changed much. However, the person behind the lens has.

When Lydia Coutré, junior newspaper journalism major, returned in May from studying abroad with the College of Communication and Information’s program in Florence, Italy, the photos she added to her family’s scrapbooks look familiar.

Coutré’s mother, Rita, backpacked across Europe in 1982. She traveled to cities like Pisa, Rome, Venice and Interlaken, and Coutré wanted to see the same sights as her mother.

Coutré’s mother brought back carousels of 35mm slides from her trip. Coutré originally saw the slides when she was working on a fifth grade project about Italy.

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She said she’s been captivated ever since.

Before Coutré left the United States, she spent hours converting many of the slides to digital files.

She planned to visit the same cities as her mother and retake some of the photos 30 years later.

She thought of the project idea last summer, and her mother loved the idea.

Coutré said her map was marked with some of the spots she needed to visit, but she planned to get directions from the Kent State Florence staff for more elusive locations.

The Kent State Florence program is housed in a 13th-century palace located in the city center.

Students live in apartments near the building, and they have the support of a fully English-speaking staff.

“Everyone says that studying abroad will change you,” she said.

“You’ll come back a completely new, and all-in-all better person.

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY LYDIA COUTRÉ

Lydia Coutré, junior newspaper journalism major, stands on a bridge over the Arno River in Pisa, Italy. She studied abroad in Florence this spring.

Not only am I getting to know myself, but I think this trip is giving me an entirely new way to get to know my mom.”

Coutré blogged about her experience and posted the “30 Years

Later” retaken photos as she traveled at http://lydiaislost.blogspot. com. Her first retaken shot was of Florence’s cathedral, the Duomo.

This story first appeared on www.kent.edu.

FACULTY NOTES

Faculty Notes Professor Ann Schierhorn’s article, “Teaching Collaboration: A Model for Multimedia Projects,” was published in the Journal of Magazine & New Media Research.

Assistant professor Jacqueline Marino was just published on Nieman’s Professor’s Corner. Co-authors Jeremy Gilbert, a Northwestern professor, and Marino wrote about their experiences putting students of journalism and computer science together in the classroom. The article, “The Odd Couple: Computer Science Partners with Journalism,” explains how students and faculty of different disciplines collaborated on digital news products in the course Web Programming for Multimedia Journalism.

Assistant professor Bob Batchelor, Ph.D., discussed “Cult Pop Culture: How the Fringe Became Mainstream,” at the joint Midwest Popular Culture/Midwest American Culture Association Annual Conference in Milwaukee in October 2011. Some 120 panels examined topics across the popular culture universe, from “Mad Men” and Harry Potter to “Twilight” and Facebook.

Mark Goodman, professor and Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism, served on a panel discussion held at the Newseum Dec. 15, 2011, to commemorate the 220th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. He also helped to judge the “Free to Tweet” competition, which awarded $110,000 in scholarships to high school and college students who tweeted in support of the First Amendment on Bill of Rights Day. Adjunct faculty member John Bowen, along with Candace Perkins Bowen, associate professor and director of the Center for Scholastic Journalism, hosted members of the Journalism Education Association’s Scholastic Press Rights Commission at Franklin Hall for a two-and-a-half day retreat in March. They were also joined by Mark Goodman, professor and Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism.

The Journalism Education Association is the nation’s largest organization of scholastic journalism teachers and advisers.

JMC instructor named master of the profession

By Nicole Gennarelli

The University Photographers’ Association of America bestowed one of its five inaugural Master of the Profession awards upon Gary Harwood, instructor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and former university photographer.

According to the UPAA’s website, “To be eligible a member must be in good standing for 10 years, have a history of quality images in UPAA competitions, and exhibit dedicated service to the organization.” Each year the award will recognize two members. However, for its inaugural year, it awarded five individuals.

“The Board of Directors looked at the organization and saw several talented photographers,” said Glenn Carpenter, Board of Director’s president and photographer at Moraine Valley Community College.

Harwood, a member of the UPAA and university photographer for 26 years, said the selection was a complete surprise to him. The organization based the award on his career of work over the years.

“Fifty years is a long time,” Harwood said. “To be among the first five awarded is an honor. I’ve always loved photography, and never thought I’d make a career of it. I’m glad it turned out the way it did.”

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PHOTO CREDIT: BOB CHRISTY

Gary Hanson, a recipient of the 2011 Distinguished Teaching Award, sits with his Broadcast Beat Reporting class.

JMC professor recognized for impact he makes in students’ lives, careers

By Kasey Fahey, UCM Although teaching is a second career for him, professor Gary Hanson has been an inspiration to many students.

Hanson spent 25 years in TV news, but said teaching was what he really did in the newsroom. He has been teaching a lot longer than he has been a professor.

“I spend a lot of time with students, and that’s the most important time of all,” Hanson said. “I really care about journalism. I’m fascinated with the process and how information travels.”

As a result of his passion for journalism, Hanson is one of three recipients of the 2011 Distinguished Teaching Award (DTA).

“It really is humbling when you look at the list of previous winners,” Hanson said.

Hanson teaches Broadcast Beat Reporting and Media, Power and Culture. With an increased prevalence of online courses, Hanson developed the online version of Media, Power and Culture in 2010. The course won a Best of Festival Award by the Broadcast Education Association for interactive multimedia.

Students have also shared their feelings about Hanson’s teaching style.

“I was anxious and nervous when I stepped into Professor Hanson’s Broadcast Beat class,” a former student of Hanson’s said. “His calm voice quickly eased my tightly crossed arms. Personally, he helped me find confidence in my strengths and instincts as a journalist.”

Another former student said in a nomi-

nation letter, “Gary Hanson is an invaluable asset to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. I still hear his voice in my head every time I write a story.”

Hanson was one of the co-creators of a class called International Storytelling. He and several other faculty members traveled with a group of students to Shanghai, China, for 11 days of reporting in March 2011.

This spring, students enrolled in the class traveled to India.

Hanson said he enjoys Kent State because he gets to interact with hardworking, highly motivated students as they prepare for media-related careers. He said he also gets to work with like-minded faculty colleagues who share his passion for teaching.

Being part of the university community is really something special to Hanson. “It has really given me a tremendous set of opportunities,” he said. “The most rewarding thing is seeing the light come on in someone’s eye, that ‘oh yeah, I get it!’ moment.”

Hanson grew up in North Dakota and moved to Ohio to take a position as a producer in Youngstown at WKBN, where he worked for 18 years.

His goal is to make a difference. He said students and parents trust him, and he wants to make sure they’re spending their money wisely. Students pay for access to the faculty, and Hanson said he believes it is his moral responsibility to teach students the skills they need.

This story first appeared on www.kent.edu.

Alumni Notes

JMC alumnus starts own radio show

By Nicole Gennarelli

organizations and would like to provide the next level of service to all the parents and kids, an affiliation with Media Rapids Sports may provide all the answers.”

Even though the world continues to move toward digital communication, the written word will still be valuable, Hallaman said.

“I guess I would say that if you can write and you’re good at it, be true to that and keep cultivating it, because the number of adults in society who can put together good sentences, let alone paragraphs, is diminishing by the day,” he said. “Whatever direction young people are going in this industry, I’d say be versatile, be informed, don’t be shy about promoting yourself, and don’t let yourself get lazy or content.

The Kent State experience was extremely instrumental in paving my way professionally and personally.”

For more information about The Greg Hallaman Show, including sponsorship opportunities, email ghallaman@hotmail.com.

Lois Bowers, ’98, is acting editor-inchief and managing editor of Medical Economics, which has been named 2012 Media Brand of the Year by Medical Marketing & Media.

James Hornyak, ’76, received the Distinguished Sales and Marketing Award from the Akron affiliate of Sales and Marketing Executives International.

Kristy O’Hara, ’04, is the editor of Greenhouse Management Magazine, part of GIE Media. She was married in April 2012.

Christina Stavale, ’10, is the Web content manager for Hiram College.

Allison Pritchard, ‘07, a member of the Honors College and an electronic media production major and writing minor, recently accepted a position as editor and writer for the Lip Smacker Lounge at Bonne Bell in Westlake, Ohio.

ALUMNI NOTES

Greg Hallaman, ’79, hosts, produces and sells advertising for “The Greg Hallaman Show” on 1010XL, WJXL-AM radio, the ESPN Radio affiliate for the North Florida region, in Jacksonville, Fla. and online at 1010XL.com.

Hallaman, originally from Youngstown, graduated from Kent State with a degree in telecommunications and was also a member of the Honors College.

Since then, he has held numerous positions, from writing about the Detroit Red Wings for Inside Hockeytown magazine to serving as a professional hockey broadcaster/public relations director in Indiana, Kansas and New York.

Hallaman’s new radio show debuted last summer and runs from 9 to 10 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. He is also a broadcaster and marketing director for Media Rapid Sports, a company that promotes student athletes via individualized websites, and also by streaming live sports events, for which Hallaman does the play-by-play. “It’s a ‘pay-to-play’ situation down here, so once you convince the station executives

that you have the background and talent to be on the air, which I was able to do with CDs and DVDs from my past positions in sports, plus my resume, you negotiate air time at a price, and then go about selling commercial time within the show that you own,” Hallaman said. “I’m hoping that Kent State alumni who may work for companies with a presence in the North Florida region would have an interest in advertising on the show, or anyone who has a book to promote, services to offer, goods to sell, a cause that needs attention or a website that needs traffic.”

Media Rapid Sports is the best vehicle to help student athletes advance to the next level of competition or receive consideration to play on a college scholarship, Hallaman said.

“The days of sending a highlight video to a coach and having it collect dust on a shelf are gone,” he said. “Our student athlete websites offer the ability to show kids playing their sport, statistics, news coverage, biography, resume and, if desired, interviews with the athlete and/or coaches.

“We shoot game footage and cover entire leagues, so to anyone who represents youth sports

Mandy Jenkins, ’02, is the digital projects editor at Digital First Media in Washington, D.C., and an instructor at Georgetown University. She is married to Ben Fischer, ’04.

Michael Klesta, ’05, is a copy editor at The Motley Fool. He edits and posts financial stories to the website.

Tracy McCool, ’94, was named an evening anchor at FOX 8 News in Cleveland.

From playing aliens to Frankensteinʼs monster, alumnus sets world record

By Kahley Colaluca Bill Blair, ’77, graced the red carpet of the Guinness World Records Museum last October after setting a record for “Most Special Effect Makeup Characters Portrayed in a Career.”

Blair has portrayed at least 202 characters on television, movies and at other events, and the number is steadily increasing.

Blair’s first role on “Alien Nation” was the beginning of a career specializing in alien characters.

Since then, Blair has worked on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise,” “Friends,” “King of Queens,” “Babylon 5,” “Mad Men” and others.

Of the hundreds of characters Blair has portrayed, one stands out

as his favorite.

“My favorite portrayal was Frankenstein’s monster,” Blair said.

“While filming a pre-show that played in several theme parks, I was given the exact original costume that Fred Gwynne wore in all of his seasons of ‘The Munsters.’”

Born and raised in Kent, Blair graduated from a local high school and decided to further his education at Kent State University as an electronics engineering major.

“After my freshman year, I became more interested in music and broadcasting,” Blair said. “Sophomore year I switched my major to telecommunications.”

Blair was grateful for his two most influential professors, John Weiser and Bob West, for motivating him to become who he is today.

“Their approach toward the industry, their experience and their care and concern for the students was outstanding,” Blair said.

“It was a number of years later I was appearing at a convention in Cleveland, and West heard I was going to be there and actually came out to see me.”

During his time at Kent State, Blair worked at Kent Lanes and Twin Star Lanes. He felt he has always kept a close-knit relationship with the community.

A few years after graduating from Kent, Blair moved to Chicago to enter into the world of modeling. It was then that he earned his first bit-part in a movie titled “The Killing Floor.” By 1984, he got his first speaking role in the movie “The Imposter.”

Blair also worked as an enter-

tainer at Adventure Land, the Busch Gardens water park, and also worked as a disc jockey for a cruise ship that traveled the islands of Hawaii. He then landed in his current residence in Los Angeles, where he received his big break on “Alien Nation.”

“It eventually became wordof-mouth through shows and castings that got me involved in special makeup for movies and shows,” Blair said. “It wasn’t long until someone I was working with said, ‘How many shows have you done?’”

After years of compiling all his character portrayals into one piece, he submitted it to the Guinness Book of World Records and was awarded his title.

This story first appeared on www.ksualumni.org.

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Student News

JMC senior transforms from an uneasy high school student to a successful college broadcaster Jeanette Reyes has come a long way.

Earlier this school year, the William Randolph Hearst Foundation awarded her the top national television finalist award.

Reyes, ’12, submitted two stories to the Journalism Awards Program’s Broadcast Features Competition without realizing the award’s prestige.

“I didn’t know much about it,” Reyes said.

“I found out through my JMC professor Gary Hanson and went from there.”

So, she entered into what she thought was an average scholarship competition.

Little did she know, she would receive the $2,600 award for having the first-place feature out of 73 entrants from 43 schools.

“I am still surprised, and I wish I knew what did it,” Reyes said. “It’s a really exciting way to end my year.”

The story was an investigative piece about online job scams, featuring a woman who lost more than $20,000 to a fraudulent online company. Reyes dug deep to reveal the woman’s story, how scams happen and how to avoid them.

To move through to the semifinals, she submitted two additional stories. One of her pieces was about the unreliability of eye-witness testimony in criminal cases, and the other was about interracial adoption.

“It’s a bit nerve-wracking. I’ve always been a competitive person, so it’s more fun than anything else,” she said.

However, Reyes has not always felt so fortunate.

Growing up in Rhode Island

Reyes grew up in a poverty-stricken Latino neighborhood in Providence, R.I. Her parents focused on preserving their Dominican culture.

Each summer, she and her siblings went to visit relatives in the Dominican Republic.

In high school, she shuffled between schools in Ohio and Rhode Island as various members of her family kept relocating.

“I had never been so lost in my life,” Reyes said about the experience. She explained that she struggled to keep up with her school work because each school’s teaching methods varied.

“I didn’t see high school the way other students saw it,” she said. “It wasn’t a home. It wasn’t where my friends were. It was a building. It was, ‘I want to get this over with.’”

Before graduation, Reyes applied to Kent State even though she thought she’d never make it through all four years. She said she wanted to see if she was “college material.”

Making the move

Kent State University accepted Reyes. She decided to go for it.

“Others laughed because I could barely pay for my application,” she said. “I got in the car and drove the 12 hours here, winging it completely. I didn’t

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know what I wanted to do in college, but I finally felt in my element and wanted to try to stay as long as possible. I was certain I would never walk across the stage because my family and I could barely keep a roof over our heads. I was simply curious to see how far I could get, and, quite frankly, I had nothing to lose.”

When the first semester came to an end, she felt like she could handle another one. This time she wanted to make her school her home.

Reyes became president of the Spanish and Latina Student Association, co-hosted “Date ‘Em or Hate ‘Em” on TV2, co-hosted a bilingual radio show on Black Squirrel Radio and reported and anchored for TV2.

“After going full force, I felt like I made up for high school,” she said. “I may have even over-did it, but it was worth it.”

Reyes is now a Kent State graduate. Besides the William Hearst Award, she’s been awarded many other scholarships, including ones from the Ohio Associated Press and the National Association of Black Journalists.

She has landed two internships during her college career. First, she interned with the News Outlet and second with CNN in Atlanta. Working at CNN is her dream career, so this internship meant

By Britney Beaman

PHOTO BY BOB CHRISTY

the world to her. She worked in the special projects unit where she helped find stories, write scripts and transcribe.

Her drive

Her motivation comes from her parents, especially her father. She applied for many scholarships to help them pay for school. This paid off since she’s won every scholarship she has ever applied for.

“When I found out that I had my junior year paid off, I called to tell my parents because they had been working 80 hours a week at the oil refinery,” she said. “When I finally told them, there was a huge sigh of relief and my father said, ‘See, now I can die.’” He always put great emphasis on the importance of education.

Two weeks later, a doctor diagnosed her father with terminal cancer, and her mother was able to take care of him full time.

“My motivation was being able to give that gift to my father,” Reyes said. “I remember thinking that I had to do really well because I always felt indebted to my parents. I couldn’t do anything less than be successful.”

To see more of Reyes’ work, visit her website at http://www.opresume.com/JeannetteReyes/ About.aspx.

Student News

Seeing a need, student inspired to collect shoes for children worldwide

By Ryan Collins, UCM

Watching barefoot Jamaican children play outside and seeing barefoot locals around the island spurred Kent State University student Olivia Sliman to make a difference. Sliman, a junior electronic media production major, traveled to Jamaica in 2010.

“We were driving, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, this bike tire came flying across the road,” she recalled. “We were in the jungle a little bit and we’re looking around.

Ten kids came sprinting down the hill chasing after this bike tire, all with no shoes on this gravel road.”

Sliman wondered about the health risks posed by not wearing shoes.

“These kids are phenomenal soccer players,” she said. “I have no foot skills at all, and to watch these kids play soccer at such an elite level just out on stones … it’s crazy!

It’s like, ‘How could you possibly do that with no shoes on?’”

Helping Others

Sliman contrasted her experience of being an athlete and receiving new shoes every year to that of a Jamaican local who might not have shoes at all. Her trip motivated her to begin

a shoe donation drive, and she ended that effort with 1,011 pairs of shoes collected, many from Kent State students and her home parish in Amherst, Ohio. Sliman did her best to ensure the charity she worked with, Soles4Souls, sent the shoes to Jamaica and to tsunami-stricken Japan, but she kept the cold-weather footwear to donate here in Ohio.

On getting involved to help others, Sliman is clear.

“There are so many opportunities that can be taken advantage of no matter who you are or what you’re interested in,” she said. “There’s everything here. It’s a big enough school where there’s something for everyone.”

Sliman also encourages students to study or travel abroad.

“The stuff we saw was mindboggling to me,” she said. “I had been out of the country before and been on different trips, but to see how badly off some of these people are is sad.”

Spreading the Word

Even though Sliman has received recognition from The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and media around her hometown of Amherst

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY OLIVIA SLIMAN

Olivia Sliman, junior electronic media production major, collected more than 1,000 pairs of shoes for children around the world. are calling her a hero, she is shrugging off the attention.

“I truly didn’t want anything out of this, just to spread the word,” Sliman said. “That’s why I like the recognition. Not for me personally — that means nothing — but just to get the word out that if you have an idea, do it.”

Sliman’s charitable work isn’t ending with shoes. She began collecting T-shirts.

“I have T-shirts from tourna-

ments I don’t even remember going to,” Sliman said. “I don’t wear them. They don’t mean anything to me anymore. It’s time to clean out my closet anyway, so we decided to do shirts.”

A donation box for shirts, coats and tops was set up at the University Parish Newman Center in February, and Sliman accepted donations through April.

This story first appeared on www.kent.edu.

Alumnus opens coffee shop in Acorn Alley Grad studentʼs masterʼs Evan Bailey, operations manager of The Tannery and an assistant professor, is the coowner of Tree City Coffee & Pastry, which opened in January in downtown Kent. He and his partners, Mike Beder and Brian Bower, hoped to create a unique, high-quality coffee shop with the mission of featuring organic and direct-trade products.

“We want to be perceived as a boutique coffee shop, offering the customers the best and freshest quality products possible,” Bailey said.

Tree City offers eight locally roasted coffees, a variety of homemade pastries and sandwiches, some of which feature organic, freshly ground peanut butter. Bai-

project receives recognition

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY EVAN BAILEY ley also hopes to offer wine for retail sale and at regular wine-tasting events.

Tree City is a laptop-friendly environment. The shop features more power outlets than most commercial spaces.

“We decided to plant out-

lets every four feet, double the number that many spaces offer,” Bailey said. “Outlets would normally be found about every eight feet apart.”

To learn more about Tree City Coffee & Pastry, visit www.rootedinkent.com.

Marina Hendricks, MA ’11, the first graduate of JMC’s online master’s degree program for journalism educators, won first place in the 2012 Innovative Outreach to Scholastic Journalism competition.

Her entry was “Social Media Toolbox,” the website she created for her master’s professional project to help high school advisers who needed lesson plans in everything from law and ethics to writing for the Web to get their students ready for an online presence.

The award is given by the Scholastic Journalism Division of the college educators’ group Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Hendricks will present a session about the site and receive her plaque at the group’s annual convention in Chicago in early August.

Her project committee members were associate professor Candace Perkins Bowen, Knight Chair and professor Mark Goodman, and adjunct instructor John Bowen.

View her project at http://hendricksproject.wordpress.com.

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P.O. Box 5190 Kent, OH 44242-0001 100164 School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Assistant professor Stefanie Moore (center) gives a presentation about how public relations and user-experience design complement each other to a packed crowd in the FirstEnergy Auditorium at the fifth annual YouToo Social Media Conference in April. The yearly event explores how innovations in social media are shaping the future of public relations and other communicationrelated industries.