CommunicatorW10

Vol. 15, No. 1

Winter 2010

A publication for alumni and friends of the College of Communications at Penn State

Contents

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CARNEGIE NEWS

Feature: Studio Sets Stage for Success Foster Conference • Davis Symposium • Curley Chats

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FACULTY/STAFF NEWS Feature: A Major Influence AEJMC Activity • Documentary Debut • Impact of IIP

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DEVELOPMENT NEWS Curley Honored as Volunteer of the Year Estate Gift Creates Scholarship • Donor Dinner

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STUDENT NEWS Talented, Well-Prepared McGill Earns Crown AdClub Activity • Graduate Student Class • Webcasts

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ALUMNI NEWS

DEPARTMENTS

From the Dean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Alumni Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 The College: How to Reach Us . . . . 59

Feature: Alumni Prominent on TV in Pennsylvania Black Alumni Reunion • Bookshelf • Alumni Notes

The Communicator is published twice a year by the College of Communications at Penn State.

Dean: Douglas A. Anderson Editor, Layout: Steve Sampsell Publication Policies All items relating to the College and its faculty, staff, students and alumni will be considered for publication.

All correspondence should be directed to: The Communicator College of Communications The Pennsylvania State University 302 James Building University Park, PA 16801-3867 Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity and the diversity of its workforce. U.Ed. COM 11-45

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ON THE COVER: A state-of-the-art television studio has enabled students such as (left to right) Kelly Rohrer, Christopher Hush and Jamie Stover to produce the “Centre County Report” and other programs in quality facilities. (Photo by John Beale)

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Don Davis—energetic, straightforward, firm, focused, precise, visionary and, to borrow the perfect descriptor from his lexicon, authentic—came by those traits naturally. His father, Donald W. Davis Sr., who founded the advertising program at Penn State in 1936 and who taught here until his death in June 1959, long ago instilled in his students the importance of ethical decision making.

Don invested strategically in our College. He backed up his support with active involvement and wonderfully on-target ideas, literally until his death.

was stunned—and shaken—one day early in August when I hung up the telephone after talking with Don Davis, a 1942 journalism graduate.

He had called my office and when I got on the phone, he said, matter-of-factly, that he had been at Massachusetts General Hospital for a week; that he had taken three chemotherapy treatments; that he was in a positive frame of mind; that he was surrounded by his treasured family; and that he was calling some friends to tell them that he possibly was facing the end of his life.

It was classic Don. He was one week into this curve that life had thrown him. He was simultaneously at peace, positive in his thoughts—and realistic in his assessment. He was on the telephone, at age 89, with a crystalclear voice and cogent thoughts, and he was framing sentences with perfect organization and syntax.

A little more than a month after that conversation, Don died. (See story on pages 57-58.)

Don was successful beyond imagination, yet always able to maintain his equilibrium with astounding focus under the most difficult of circumstances.

He often recalled—with great fondness—his days at Penn State and his work on the independent student newspaper, the Collegian. And as the family patriarch, he took great pride in the subsequent generations of Davis family members who attended the university.

I was, and still am, in awe of his accomplishments. But, most of all, I always admired Don for the person he was—for the values he held and from which he never wavered.

I admired his intellect; his unmatched ability to crystallize thoughts, often on the spur of the moment; his ability to size up situations and act accordingly; his ability to inspire and motivate those around him; his loyalty; and his sense of humor.

Don leaves a marvelous legacy in our College, one that will extend forever.

From the Dean

Don was our beacon, our friend, our supporter.

He gave us our moral compass. He personified the leadership characteristics he identified for our students in a May 2001 commencement address. He was the embodiment of creativity, integrity, good judgment, competence, consistency, courage, good health (mental, emotional, physical), authenticity, and passion.

One cannot walk the hallways of our building without noticing the Donald W. Davis Advertising Lab; without hearing about the Donald W. Davis Student Chapter of the American Advertising Federation; without seeing posters about the Donald W. Davis Symposium in Advertising Ethics; without hearing from the Donald W. Davis Professor of Ethics, Patrick Parsons; or without an awareness of his primary legacy: The Donald W. Davis Program in Ethical Leadership.

Don was an extraordinary man, and all of us who knew him are the better for it.

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CARNEGIE CLOSE-UP

Studio Sets Stag

Students who produce the weekly “Centre County Report” include (left to right) Kelly Rohrer, Christopher Hush and Jamie Stover. (Photo by John Beale)

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State-of-the-art facility provides students with splendid hands-on experience, opportunities

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hristopher Hush and his classmates were told they would be working in a brand-new facility during the fall semester, a high-definition, state-ofthe art operation that would include a control room, studio, robotic cameras and work stations just a few steps away from the set itself.

They envisioned the space—some 3,050 square feet, including glass-walled offices for faculty members on the perimeter of the newsroom that would allow efficient interaction with students—but it was not until they moved in and started work that they really appreciated what they had.

“One of the biggest things it did was motivate us,” Hush said. “We had this sense of pride and an urgency to do our best because we were the first class lucky enough to use the facility.”

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Carnegie Close-Up

ge for Success

Carnegie News

The television studio—used exclusively for production were always trying to add another layer—and we had the of the “Centre County Report,” the weekly half-hour capabilities to do whatever they wanted.” news program that airs on Campus Cable and throughDan Devlin Design Group designed the studio set at out Pennsylvania and parts of New York on WPSU-TV, Innovation Park that was installed by Atreus Works. and other student-produced programs—was one of the Also, VDO Design and Animation provided the graphmost visible of recent upgrades designed to enhance ic package and Stephen Arnold Music provided the hands-on opportunities for students in the College of music. Those companies often work with network affiliCommunications. When it became operational, comates, so the quality of the resources available to students munications students had access to two dedicated TV was clear. studios on the University Park campus.

It was not just the studio that enhanced the students’ Along with the addition of the HD studio, the efforts. Some important software upgrades enabled College also crafted agreeHush and his classmates to ments that enabled its stube more efficient as well.

Episodes of “Centre County Report” dents, for the first time, to For example, communiproduce live coverage origications students working and other samples of student-produced nating from other locaon the television news proTV, radio and multimedia efforts tions on campus. Students gram have utilized the can be found at were able to contribute industry standard ENPS reports on air and online system for years but this psucommedia.com online. from Beaver Stadium and past fall they had remote the Trading Room access to the system, and through partnerships with Intercollegiate Athletics and to others working on the show from week to week. the Smeal College of Business, respectively.

“That remote desktop access allowed us to work on Thor Wasbotten, assistant dean for student media things wherever we were and interact so much more and online operations, was pleased students could “ben- efficiently,” Hush said. “Plus, we really felt like a team. efit from the most professional look of any university “I was lucky to be in the last rotation and work as an production facility in the nation,” but he was even hapanchor on the shows at the end of the semester when pier about the students’ response to the space. they started to get even more polished, but the whole “Oh, they were excited because the facility was as semester was the result of everyone working together. good as, or better than, the newsrooms where they That’s probably the most rewarding thing about the interned, and when their parents or industry contacts class. If you look at what we did from week to week you saw their work the professional quality was obvious,” can see the improvement.”

Wasbotten said. “Their dedication was evident in the Ironically, some decidedly low-tech moments top stories they produced and how they presented those sto- Wasbotten’s list of highlights from the inaugural semesries to the audience.” ter in the HD studio and working with improved Because the studio was larger than the previous sturemote capabilities. On election night in November, dio used for the COMM 480 Television News, the when the students had planned an hour of coverage upper-division class that produces “Centre County focusing on Centre County and Pennsylvania races, Report” each semester, enrollment was doubled from some technical glitches hampered remote reports.

10 students to 20.

So, students phoned in their reports and their counThe facility also allowed students to produce “CCR” terparts in the studio adapted. When they wrapped up updates and webcasts online. And nearly every week—as their coverage—which stretched to 90 quality minutes— they explored the capabilities of the facility while focusWasbotten was pleased. ing their own determination and enthusiasm—the stu“We tried a lot of things that were new during the dents tried something different with a broadcast or semester, things that challenged the students, and they improved what they had done the week before. almost always made things work,” he said. “In that case, “The students really drove what happened during the they overcame some troubles and produced a good semester,” Wasbotten said. “They knew it was a hard show. That’s real-life experience.” class and my expectations were high, but once they A combination of academic principles and that expeaccepted that they kept raising the bar themselves. rience make the class valuable, and discussions about Every week they wanted to do something different. making stories fair, including appropriate nuances when “Whether it was a stand-up in a different part of the reporting and thoughtful selection of graphics and studio or using the graphics in a different manner, they video were part of everything the “Centre County

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Carnegie News Members of COMM 480 Television News were the first to utilize the College’s new HD-capable television studio. (Photo by Curt Chandler)

Report” team attempted during its first semester in the facility.

“We got beyond talking about my expectations or their expectations and were talking about what the viewer would want,” Wasbotten said. “Again, that’s something that happens in TV newsrooms all the time, so that’s another real-life experience.”

As the semester concluded, even Wasbotten’s high standards were met.

“I did tell this group we had more students who started out not as strong as we would have liked and they improved much more than students at that level had in the past,” he said. “I think that was because of their work ethic and their determination to improve, and working in this new facility helped fuel their motivation.”

With that as the starting point, more students will get the opportunity for additional success during the spring semester.

First, the size of the class will be increased again—to 30—which will allow the television news students to “stagger” their approach, according to Wasbotten—and expand their offerings. That will include more online updates and even a first-ever Spanish version of “CCR”

HD Channel, Sports Show Coming The year 2011 will provide even more opportunities for students in the College of Communications. First, an allHD channel of student work will be launched on Campus Cable in the spring. That will provide an outlet for “CCR” and a variety of other programs, including student films.

Then, for the fall semester, the College plans to launch a sports-specific, magazine-style show that will address topical sports stories as well as research results from communications students and the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism.

because several students in the class are fluent in the language.

“That’s just a complement to what we’ll do, though,” Wasbotten said. “We’re committed to ‘CCR’ on TV as the core of what we do and all students will work on the show. But when we have talent we can use in a variety of manners and provide additional opportunities for those students, we will always do that.”

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Carnegie News

International Reporting Class Set for South Africa The waterfront in Cape Town might be one destination for members of the international reporting class when they visit South Africa.

Scheduling a class at Penn State can be as easy as an online search, followed by a few clicks of a mouse.

Sometimes it requires a bit more—especially for a selective class like COMM 498B International Reporting.

So, after an submitting some work samples and surviving an interview, Lexi Belculfine, a junior from Aliquippa, Pa., was justifiably pleased when she learned that she was one of 16 students selected for the class this spring.

“The first person I called was my mom,” Belculfine, a journalism major with an English minor, said. “She was happy—she has to be because she’s my mom—but she was also a little worried, and she has to be that way, too.”

Belculfine and her classmates will spend the start of the spring semester working with Tony Barbieri, the Foster Professor of Writing and Editing, preparing for a weeklong trip to South Africa during spring break.

This marks the third consecutive year the international reporting course has been offered, and the third different continent to which Barbieri will lead students. In 2009, the destination was Mexico and last year the class worked in China.

“There were several reasons for choosing South Africa,” Barbieri said. “First and foremost there are great stories there. It is the most important country in sub-Saharan Africa and it is now nearly 15 years

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since it began its transformation from an apartheid regime to full democracy.

“Its economy is the strongest in Africa. It just hosted the World Cup. Some of the problems there are quite similar to those we face in the United States, immigration for example, while others are not, such as widespread HIV infection.”

No matter the destination, Barbieri, the former Baltimore Sun managing editor who also worked as a foreign correspondent in Moscow and Tokyo, invariably maintains the the professional-level class leads to a working spring break experience.

He wants students to enjoy themselves, but never at the expense of getting the story.

Africa and professor of women’s studies, and Rob Crane, a professor of geography who regularly takes students to South Africa.

“Also, we get essential financial support from Larry Foster, John Curley and Helene Eckstein,” Barbieri said.

Preparation for the class actually started late in the fall semester, when Baderoon met with students and talked about what to expect in South Africa.

In the weeks leading up to the trip, students will conduct general research on potential story ideas.

While there, they will complete interviews and research for generally long-form stories that will be published once they return. At the same time, they will file regular online blogs, shorter stories and updates while on location.

“It’s going to be great to combine what we’ve learned in classes and at the Collegian and put those skills to work in another country, an unfamiliar setting,” Belculfine said.

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SELECTED STUDENTS Students selected for COMM 498B International Reporting who will be making the trip to South Africa during the spring semester.

NAME YEAR HOMETOWN Lexi Belculfine . . . . . . . Junior . . . . . . . Aliquippa, Pa. Haley Blum . . . . . . . . . . Junior . . . . . . . . . Reston, Va. Caitlin Burnham . . . . . . Senior . . . . . . . . . . Pittsburgh Kevin Cirilli . . . . . . . . . . Junior. . . . . . Wallingford, Pa. Andrew Colwell. . . . . . . Senior . . . . . . . . State College Jennifer Connor . . . . . . Senior . . . . . . . . Chalfont, Pa. Elizabeth Downey . . . . . Junior . . . . . . . Lancaster, Pa. Amanda Hofmockel . . . Senior . . . Schwenksville, Pa. Christopher Hush . . . . . Junior . . . . Germantown, Md. Michelle Lacroix . . . . . . Senior . . . . New Freedom, Pa. Brittany Marshall . . . . . Senior . . . . Silver Spring, Md. Emily Murray . . . . . . . . Junior . . . . Monongahela, Pa. Alexis Simchak . . . . . . . Senior . . . Nesquehoning, Pa. Audrey Snyder . . . . . . . Junior . . . . Downingtown, Pa. Aubrey Whelan . . . . . . . Senior. . . . . . . . Lansdale, Pa. Latricia Whitfield. . . . . . Senior. . . . . . . . . Philadelphia

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UDC Conference Draws Big Turnout A four-day conference featuring national and international communications activists and scholars addressing “Democratic Communications, Equal Rights & Global Justice” attracted participants from across the country to campus in mid-October.

Twenty-eight panel discussions were conducted during the four-day conference. Focus areas for the sessions included: communication regulation and deregulation; advertising, marketing and consumption; secondary music industries; and critical approaches to television.

College of Communications associate professors Ronald Bettig and Jeanne Hall, both members of the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies, coordinated and organized the event.

The conference also featured Robert W. McChesney as the keynote speaker.

McChesney, the Gutgsell Endowed Professor at the University of Illinois, is the co-founder and president of the organization “Media Matters.” He has authored, co-authored or edited 17 books on media criticism.

The Union for Democratic Communications is an organization of communication researchers, journalists, media producers, policy analysts, academics and activists dedicated to: T critical study of the communications establishment; T production and distribution of democratically controlled and produced media; T fostering alternative, oppositional, independent and experimental production; and T development of democratic communications systems locally, regionally and internationally.

Penn State last played host to the UDC conference in 2002.

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Carnegie News

“That’s pretty much how I’m looking at it,” Belculfine said.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that would not have been able for me if I were not at Penn State, but it’s clearly a business trip.”

Among the 16 students making the trip, several work at The Daily Collegian and eight have a primarily print journalism background. Five are broadcast journalism majors and two are focusing on photojournalism or visual communications. One student brings multimedia expertise to the group.

Fellow faculty members Russ Eshleman, a senior lecturer and associate head of the Department of Journalism, and Marea Mannion, a senior lecturer in the department, will accompany Barbieri and the students on the trip.

In addition, the contingent has received extensive planning and preparation support from Gabeba Baderoon, a native of South

Carnegie News

Class in Israel Provides One-of-a-Kind Opportunity

A first-of-its-kind communications the international travel guide advising office (psr4@psu.edu). class at Penn State—a six-week study Lonely Planet. The guide emphaMore information may be found at abroad program that allows students sizes Tel Aviv as a city that “reveals http://global.psu.edu/ea online. to gather a unique perspective on itself as a truly diverse 21st-century Prior to his arrival at Penn State, Israeli culture and media—will begin Mediterranean hub” and “is also Schejter spent a decade holding this summer. the greenhouse for Israel’s growing senior executive positions in Israel’s The class, COMM 499 Media, art, film and music scenes.” telecommunications arena, includCulture and Society in Israel, will Only 16 students will be selected ing chief of staff and senior adviser be led by Amit Schejter, an associate for the program, and they will earn to two secretaries of education and professor in the College of six credits—equal to two courses— culture, general counsel for Israeli Communications who has public broadcasting and been a faculty member at vice president of Israel's “Participants in the the University since 2004. largest mobile operator.

Students selected for the In addition, he served program will get a multiintensive program will take on and chaired a variety of faceted view of Israel. a six-week course examining public committees, counIsrael is one of the few the Israeli media system and seled media and telecomthe cultural context in munication entities in places in the world which it operates and will Israel and the Palestinian where every major news take part in a series of field Authority and held the post organization has a prestrips. Those include visits to of assistant professor at Tel leading media outlets and Aviv University. ence.” cultural institutions as well His books include “The — Amit Schejter, Wonder as minority media apparaPhone in the Land associate professor of Miracles: Mobile tuses serving Israeli-Arabs, new immigrants and reliTelephony in Israel” (cogious communities. authored with Akiba In addition, students will meet during the six-week program.

Cohen and Dafna Lemish, with Israeli journalists, media makSchejter said the course and trip Hampton Press, 2008), “... And ers, law and policymakers, and forwould provide a strong starting Communications for All: A Policy eign journalists covering Israel. point for students who have never Agenda for A New Administration” “Participants in the program will traveled internationally before. At (Lexington Books, 2009) and get a multifaceted view of Israel. the same time, he believes the pro“Muting Israeli Democracy: How Israel is one of the few places in the gram would allow students who Media and Cultural Policies world where every major news have been to Israel before the Undermine Freedom of organization has a presence,” opportunity to earn credits while Expression” (University of Illinois Schejter said. “They’ll be able to being exposed to aspects of Israel Press, forthcoming). gain an understanding of the multi- not typically experienced by the At Penn State Schejter teaches dimensional aspects of media and average tourist and learning about courses on telecommunications regcombine a comparative view of a the country and its media systems. ulation, media law, the media and media system with an understandStudents selected for the program information industries, comparative ing of the effects of international will pay in-state tuition for their and world media systems and media on local culture. credits. More details about the promedia activism. During the 2010-11 “In addition, students will have gram, including information about academic year, he is serving as a visthe opportunity to experience Israel applying, the cost and sources for iting professor in Ben Gurion and all its diverse cultural offerings financial aid, may be obtained from University of the Negev and as a first hand.”

Julia Law in the Office of Global Mundus Journalism Scholar at the Tel Aviv is a vibrant city that was Programs at Penn State universities of Amsterdam in recently ranked third in the “top (jbk14@psu.edu), or Penny Repsher Holland and Hamburg in ten cities for 2011” list compiled by in the College of Communications’ Germany.

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A documentary about suicide and its survivors produced by a team of senior faculty members and students in the College of Communications premiered during the fall semester and drew big crowds and positive responses.

The initial screenings were conducted in October at Bellefonte High School and in November at the State Theatre in State College. Each attracted capacity crowds, and each was followed by a questionand-answer session with those involved in the production of the compelling film.

The film, “Toward Daylight,” focuses on suicide and survivorship in Centre County. It was produced for the Centre County Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

“Toward Daylight” was directed

by Barbara Bird, an associate professor in the Department of FilmVideo and Media Studies; produced

by Andrea Seeley, who earned her degree in film-video in 2006; and Ken Campbell, a senior film-video major, served as cinematographer.

Film-video alumni Brian Miller, who earned his degree in 2009, and Kenny Dodson, who graduated in May, also assisted with the project.

“As I researched the issue in Centre County, I was amazed by the number of people touched by suicide,” said Bird. “In making the film, we also found a community of people here who felt free to talk about it.”

Susan Kennedy, who helped create the local suicide prevention

chapter and serves as a board member for the group, anxiously anticipated the film’s debut. She was then justifiably excited after it was screened.

“It’s just going to be a wonderful resource for our organization,” said Kennedy. “We’ve been lucky to benefit from such talented filmmakers and to enjoy the support of the College of Communications.”

For her group, the film provides another resource to complement existing programming. Local volunteers have staged annual fundraising walks for suicide prevention programs for several years, and the most recent Community Walk for Centre County Out of the Darkness raised about $38,000.

Suicide is never the final word for those left behind. It alters lives forever and crosses all human boundaries. “Toward Daylight” struggles to find the hope necessary for the living to face, and then overcome, the pain and loss of a loved one to suicide.

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Pockrass Lecture to Feature Scholar from Florida State Arthur A. Raney, a leading scholar of media entertainment, will present the spring 2011 Robert M. Pockrass Memorial Lecture at 7 p.m. April 4, in Foster Auditorium of Paterno Library.

His free public lecture, titled “The Ongoing Morality Play: Media Entertainment and Our Sense of Right and Wrong,” is sponsored by the College of Communications and University Libraries.

Raney is an associate professor and director of doctoral studies in the School of Communication at Florida State University. His research examines the psychological processes associated with enjoying media entertainment, ultimately trying to better answer the question “How and why do we enjoy what we enjoy?”

He examines the role that moral judgment plays in the enjoyment of dramatic, violent, sports and interactive content.

He is the lead editor of Handbook of Sports and Media.

His work has been published in many entertainment and mediaeffects anthologies, as well as Journal of Communication, Media Psychology, Communication Theory, and Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media.

The Pockrass Lecture was named after the late Professor Robert M. Pockrass, a member of Penn State’s journalism faculty from 1948 to 1977. Pockrass, who specialized in public opinion and popular culture, served as the graduate officer and taught radio news writing for the School of Journalism, which later became the College of Communications. G

Carnegie News

Faculty-, Student-Produced Film Draws Praise, Strong Response

Carnegie News

Foster Conference Visitors Offer Advice, Insights Two award-winning journalists shared advice and compelling stories with students during the Foster Conference of Distinguished Writers.

Diana K. Sugg, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and Ken Armstrong, a fourtime finalist for that iconic award who has won numerous honors for his work, delivered free public lectures during the fall 2010 session.

Armstrong, a staff reporter at The Seattle Times and also a Pulitzer Prize winner, presented the first lecture. He has written investigative stories for more than 20 years, producing consistently remarkable work of depth and impact.

His subjects have ranged from failures in the criminal justice system to illegally sealed court records, from Orwellian conditions in the Postal Service to a community’s complicity in protecting wayward athletes. Armstrong previously worked at the Chicago Tribune, where his reporting shaped national debate on the death penalty.

He said all good writing relies first on good reporting, and he told students that the sports adage about keeping your eye on the ball does not apply to journalism.

“For reporters, the opposite holds true,” he said. “If 15 reporters are looking this way and you’re the 16th reporter, try looking that way.

You’ll be surprised what you see.”

Sugg, formerly a medical reporter for The Sun in Baltimore, presented the concluding lecture. She won a Pulizter Prize for beat reporting in 2003 for a series of articles ranging from stillbirths and sepsis to the controversial practice of hospitals allowing families to comfort loved ones in emergency rooms.

That series—her approach to the story and its aftermath—was the subject of much of her talk. She had

Award-winning journalists Diana K. Sugg (top photo) and Ken Armstrong met with students during a reception and then attracted standing-room-only crowds for their lectures.

(Photos by John Beale)

spent months with the family of R.J. Voight as he battled pediatric cancer.

Her ability to connect with Voight’s family and artfully convert what she experienced into compelling stories resonated with students.

Sugg stressed that integrity was an important part of that story—and all stories she writes—because she emerses herself into her work. She

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said Voight’s mother allowed her to follow the family after Sugg lobbied for a brief meeting with her.

Not until after R.J. died did Sugg discover why his mother Michelle allowed her to shadow them and write their story. “She said, ‘It was because I looked into your eyes and decided I could trust you,’” Sugg recalled.

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WONDERFUL WELCOME An annual welcome back session for communications students, coordinated by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and hosted by Assistant Dean Joseph Selden (left), provided free Berkey Creamery ice cream to hundreds of students in September.

Forthright Alums Share Experience, Make Davis Symposium Successful Three recent College of Communications alumni working in advertising brought their real world experiences to the annual Davis Symposium in Advertising Ethics during the fall semester.

In a session titled “The Real World Advertising: What You Need to Know (But Probably Don’t) About Your First Job,” the symposium took a turn from its usual lineup of industry CEOs and issuesrelated topics to present a session specifically for students planning to enter the job market.

Alumni who participated in the session were: T Amanda Dornish (’06), a communications planning supervisor for Zenith GPE who works with Publicis, specializing in tween- and teen-targeted businesses; T Kristin Hoglund (’10), an assistant communications planner for

Zenith GPE who conducts research and helps service client accounts; and T Aaron Reinitz (’06), an account supervisor for VivaKi, where his work involves media technology consulting with online display space for national and global brands.

All three built their careers beginning as active undergraduates and then adding internships and other experiences. As they discussed their developing career paths with a capacity crowd of students at the HUB-Robeson Center Auditorium, what they had done and planned to do resonated with the audience.

“It was a great session,” said Patrick Parsons, the Don Davis Professor of Ethics who coordinated the symposium. “Our alumni had great advice and experience to share.

It’s the type of session we should try to repeat in the future.”

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G The John Curley Center for Sports Journalism conducted its first two online chats during the fall semester.

The first chat, “Who Should be in the Press Box and Why? Issues in Credentialing Bloggers and Journalists,” included panelists Michael Signora of the NFL, Jerry Micco of the Pittsburgh PostGazette, Cheryl Coward of Hoopfeed.com and Malcolm Moran, the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society and director of the Curley Center.

The second chat, “The Intersection Between Fantasy Sports and Sports Coverage: Implications for Journalists and Predictions for Sports Media Organizations,” included Joe Dolan of fantasyguru.com, Nate Ravitz of ESPN.com, Alexandre Simon of the National Hockey League and Moran.

Associate Dean Marie Hardin, an associate professor and associate director of the Curley Center, moderated both sessions.

Archives of the chats may be found at the “Live Chats” link of http://comm.psu.edu/sports online.

G Both traditional and online educational approaches have been altered in a positive manner for the College of Communications during the past year. Specifically, the number of Friday course offerings as part of a traditional Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule have increased with about 20 percent of course offereings now providing that option. Also, there has been a 300 percent increase in course enrollment and a 250 percent increase in course offerings through the World Campus. Those online courses help with student educational challenges that include: economic hardship, inflexible work schedules, disability and more.

Carnegie News

Notes, Numbers

A Major Influence FACULTY/STAFF CLOSE-UP

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Professor Ann Marie Major stays busy teaching, researching and completing volunteer shifts as an EMT based in State College

By Valerie Faustine (’11)

band, Erwin, was sick and at one point they were taking trips to the emergency ne College of Communications room once a month. Then faculty member is using the he collapsed from sepsis. time when she’s not teaching or “I remember not knowresearching to help save lives. ing how to help and realizAnn Marie Major, associate professor ing the most recent emerin the Department of Advertising/Public gency training I had was a Relations and faculty adviser to the CPR class from high Lawrence G. Foster Penn State Chapter school,” said Major. of the Public Relations Student Society of “That’s when I knew I America, is also a volunteer emergency needed to do something to medical technician at Centre LifeLink. be more prepared in an She volunteered more than 650 hours emergency; fortunately, and responded to more than 120 ambuthat is not our situation lance calls in 2010. anymore.”

“The schedule is definitely not easy,” Major has quickly said Major. “But I have always been interbecome a mentor to newer ested in health and medicine and now I members of Centre have the expertise I didn’t previously have LifeLink and she is currentin patient care and how to respond in ly working on being proemergency situations.” moted to field-training offiShe typically works nights on call for cer. As a field-training offieither six- or 12-hour shifts. On football cer she will be training and weekend Fridays, she can be found evaluating incoming EMTs, parked from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. with the a natural role considering ambulance on College Avenue in downher 25 years of teaching town State College to be closer to comexperience. munity members needing assistance— “Whether Ann is acting often for alcohol overdoses. as an EMT, an adviser or “Ann’s willingness to go out into the she’s teaching in the classcold, wet, dark environment that we work Ann Marie Major has been a faculty member at Penn State since room, her multiple experiin to treat people who sometimes do not 1995. (Photo by Mark Selders) ences all interact and supwant us to be there, when she has all the port each other and she takes each role very seriously,” said skills, knowledge and experience to be doing anything else in a Robert Baukus, head of the Department of Advertising/Public warm and dry environment is truly humbling,” said Kent Relations.

“She is always making time for her students and is a Knable, Centre LifeLink EMS Chief. “It is because of people like Ann, who provide these types of services to the community very giving person, which is reflected in her desire to become and ask for nothing back, that Happy Valley is a special place to an EMT.” Major, who has been with the College of Communications live.” since 1995, has also brought her academic work with Centre One factor that drove Major’s decision to get certified was a LifeLink, a non-profit emergency medical service organization, personal and practical reason. More than a year ago her hus-

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Faculty/Staff Close-Up

into her public relations campaign classes. Her students are in charge of working on a public relations program for the organization to raise awareness about what the emergency response teams do in the community.

“We are focusing on raising awareness in the community, especially among students, about what services Centre LifeLink provides,” said Major. “We are also trying to show students that we are there to help and that is all we are concerned with.”

Major is also a member of the Centre LifeLink public affairs committee. This position has facilitated communication between her students and Centre LifeLink because she is able to be the professor as well as the client contact, meaning there is less pressure on the client and everyone saves time.

“The other EMTs tease me because at 11 p.m. on Friday nights my students are texting me asking questions about their assignments In 2010, Major volunteered some 650 hours working in ambulances in State College. that are due on ANGEL at midsix- to 12-hour shifts. The training hours were completnight,” said Major. “Sometimes my students even recoged under constant supervision and a field-training offinize me while the ambulance is parked downtown and cer evaluated her performance at the end of every shift. walk up to chat. I have a lot of fun with it and I think Following her 600 hours as a trainee, she was promy students do, too.” moted to “EMT attendant.”

Her research, which focuses on public communica“The truth is, at some point in our lives we will all tion and response to natural disasters and emergencies be in need of the services of an EMT and I am thankful as well as alcohol overdose and alcohol consumption to Ann and anyone who goes through the enormous trends, has also been enhanced by her experience as an efforts to get certified,” said Baukus. “I respect her as a EMT. As a long-term goal, Major would like to continue colleague and have enjoyed working with her through to work in the field at night studying the alcohol culthe years.” ture on campus and trying to understand what is hapAdditional classes and qualifications Major has pening. achieved include taking a disaster response training “I am not just an academic anymore,” said Major. “I course, The American Heart Association's Advanced am collecting data on the front lines; I am in the field Cardiac Life Support course and three FEMA National talking to students one-on-one in their world.”

Incident Management System courses. She is currently She began her training with a 152-hour EMT Basic enrolled in a paramedic training course. course from September 2009 to December 2009. The “Ann is a great EMT who has challenged Centre course was a blend of book learning and practical expeLifeLink over the last several months not only to rience that concluded with a state test from the improve our service but to take a look at ourselves and Pennsylvania Department of Health. remember why we got into this field,” said Knable.

During the spring of 2010, when Major was on sab“Give me a dozen more Ann Majors and I think we batical, she spent 600 hours working on ambulances in could solve the world’s problems.”

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Faculty/Staff News

Professor Richard Taylor talks to members of the Advisory Committee for State Informatization in China about the government’s upcoming five-year plan—specifically as it relates to information and telecommunications technology.

Faculty Member Addresses Chinese Leaders

When the Chinese government wanted an expert to address information and telecommunications technology as it started crafting its next five-year plan, it reached out to just one person—a College of Communications faculty member.

Richard Taylor, the Palmer Chair of Telecommunications Studies and Law who serves as codirector of the Institute for Information Policy, was the only invited speaker to a planning session organized by the Advisory Committee for State Informatization (ASIC) this past summer.

He addressed 60 government experts and senior scholars, making a presentation about the new U.S. National Broadband Plan and answering questions during a session that lasted more than three hours.

“They were very interested in the U.S. plan as they made their own plans,” Taylor said. “But we discussed a wide range of related topics.”

Taylor’s interaction happened at the highest-possible level. A day after the group meeting, he was invited to address senior staff members of the Internet Society of China, the internal research group for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

“It’s a rare event for an American scholar to be invited for this kind of involvement,” Taylor said. “And it appears it might evolve into a continuing relationship.”

Taylor has directed major research projects and published widely on the implications of investment in information technology on economic development in the AsiaPacific region. He has some 35 years of experience in the telecommunications field. His scholarly work has focused on the impact of investment in information technologies.

Taylor is active nationally and internationally in research, publishing and consulting. In January 2009, he served as co-chair of the annual convention of Pacific Telecommunications Conference.

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The event attracted more than 1,000 attendees—a mix of company officials, consultants, lawyers and scholars. Workshops, speakers, panels and lectures during the conference touched on a wide variety of topics from on overall theme of "Collaborating for Change."

He has been a speaker at academic, governmental, legal and corporate meetings in the telecommunications, cable television, broadcasting and publishing industries, as well as a consultant to non-profit groups including regulators, educators and librarians.

He has organized and chaired a number of major conferences on topics relating to information technology and development and electronic commerce.

In 2002, he was honored by appointment as an IBM Faculty Partner for his work in the area of information metrics.

He is co-author of the book, “Technology Parks of the Asia Pacific: Lessons for the Regional Digital Divide” (M.E. Sharpe 2003).

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Six faculty members from the College of Communications were awarded support for research projects from the 201011 President’s Fund for Research.

To qualify for the grants, faculty members must integrate undergraduate students in their research—providing necessary support and mentoring opportunities for the faculty members and valuable experience for the students. As many as 16 communications students will be involved in the work conducted by the faculty members.

Faculty recipients are: T Denise Bortree, an assistant professor in the Department of Advertising/Public Relations, who will mentor undergraduate student Brenna Thorpe on a project that looks at the corporate environmental responsibility sections of Fortune 500 companies’ websites to identify the topics they are addressing and the claims they are making about their impact on the environment. Thorpe will participate in the content analysis and writing and will be the second author on the piece.

T Lyn Elliot, an associate professor in the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies, who will involve three undergraduate students in a service learning video to be used in fundraising and volunteer recruitment for the Hundred Cat Foundation. The students will serve in key crew positions.

T Kevin Hagopian, a senior lecturer in the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies, who will hire a student to complete a specialized bibliography in support of his book project, “Engaging Student Entitlement in Higher Education.” The bibliography will combine print and web sources in education, communications, psychology, sociology and culture.

T Michel Haigh, an assistant professor in the Department of Advertising/Public Relations, will involve five students in an experiment for her research project, “Inoculating Against Social Media Messages.”

The students will learn about assigning students to conditions, learn about LimeSurvey, serve as a lab monitor/assistant during data collection and then help to

Denise Bortree

Lyn Elliot

Kevin Hagopian

Michel Haigh

Michelle Rodino-Colocino

Mike Schmierbach

edit the manuscript.

T Michelle Rodino-Colocino, an assistant professor in the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies, who will mentor three to five undergraduates on her project, “Communicating the Work Ethic of the Second Gilded Age through Information Technologies.” The students will be asked to find relevant contemporary and historical sources, including promotional campaigns, and to write up and discuss their findings.

T Mike Schmierbach, an assistant professor in the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies, who will involve one undergraduate student, Sean Brooks, who will assist with stimulus and measurement development, data collection, data entry and analysis on the project, “Effects of Customization, Ad Integration and Difficulty on Product Recall and Brand Attitudes.” G

Respected Faculty Member Celebrates 25 Years with University Senior lecturer Susan Strohm, a member of the Department of Advertising/Public Relations, celebrated 25 years of service to Penn State in mid-August.

Strohm, who serves as the honors adviser for the College of Communications, teaches advertising media planning and mass media research methods. Her research

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interests include media and social conflict, health communication campaigns and ethics in advertising. She has been a consultant on national health education campaigns.

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Faculty/Staff News

Faculty Members Earn President’s Fund Support

Faculty/Staff News

College Enjoys Record-Setting AEJMC Performance

College of Communications faculty members and graduate students presented a school-record 39 papers during the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

The 39 papers by Penn State researchers ranked fourth among all institutions that had papers accepted for the 94th annual conference, which was held in August in Denver.

Sixteen faculty members and 24 graduate students contributed to the research papers.

During the past decade, Penn State communications researchers have consistently finished in the top-10 for the number of papers presented at the AEJMC conference—and they have produced quality as well as quantity.

This year’s papers included six award-winning efforts by faculty and students. Top papers were: T “The 2008 Presidential Election, 2.0: A Content Analysis of User-Generated Political

Facebook Groups,” by Julia Woolley, Anthony Limperos and Mary Beth Oliver, second place, Mass Communication and Society Division; T “Online Political Involvement and Connectivity Expectations Toward Presidential Candidates,”

by Keunmin Bae, Pamela Brubaker, Michael Horning and Daniel Tamul, Moeller Student Competition Award winner, Mass Communication and Society Division; T “Reconsidering Citizen Journalism—An Historical Analysis,” by Justin Walden, top student paper, Civic and Citizen Journalism Interest Group; T “Ecopedagogical Potential in Pixar’s ‘Wall-E,’” by Alexandra Smith, second place student paper, Mass Communication and Society; T “Plugging Old-Media Values Into ‘New Media’: Social Identity and the Attitudes of Sports Bloggers Toward Issues of Gender in Sport” by Marie Hardin, Bu Zhong and Thomas Corrigan, top

paper, Commission on the Status of Women; and T “Diffusion of Innovation or Not? Both Cases of Direct t-DTV Adoption With and Without Payment” by Kyung Han You and Hongjin Shim (Yonsei University), top student paper, Media Management and Economics Division.

An analysis of research productivity published in the spring edition of Journalism & Mass Communication Educator listed Colleen Connolly-Ahern, an associate professor in the Department of Advertising/Public Relations, as one of the 35 most productive paper presenters at the conference between 1999 and 2008.

The AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of journalism and mass communication educators at the college level. Its annual conference draws thousands of teachers and researchers from around the world. Several faculty members in the College serve in the organization’s leadership ranks.

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Davis, Elavsky Recognized with AEJMC Teaching Awards

Communication and Society Division and the Graduate Education Interest Group; T Assistant Professor Michael Elavsky, honored in both the Best Practices in Teaching Critical Thinking Competition and as a GIFT Scholar (for a poster presentation with teaching tips); and T graduate students Keunmin Michael Bae and Pamela Jo Brubaker, also Elavsky honored in the Best Practices in Teaching Critical Thinking Competition.

The AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of journalism and mass communication educators at the college level.

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Two Penn State College of Communications faculty members and two graduate students with instructional duties received teaching awards at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in August.

The honors reflect the commitment to teaching at Penn State, Dennis and they were presented during Davis three separate sessions at the 94th annual conference that was held in Denver.

Honorees were: T Professor Dennis Davis, recipient of the Distinguished Educator Award from the Mass

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A College of Communications faculty member took his interest in international environmental communications to the Southern Hemisphere this past summer, spending two weeks conducting interviews and gathering images of archived newspapers in Argentina and Uruguay as he studied a dispute that has produced national reaction in both countries.

Lee Ahern, an assistant professor in the Department of Advertising/Public Relations, found the experience interesting and productive.

“Spending time down there provided access and perspectives that could not be gained from afar,” Ahern said. “It was an invaluable trip that produced important interviews and examples of media for my research.”

Although it was virtually unreported in the U.S. and international press, a major environmental dispute has been straining relations between Argentina and Uruguay for the past five Lee Ahern years.

Following changes in forestry regulations in Uruguay in the 1990s, major international corporations from Spain and Finland announced plans to develop some of the world’s largest (and most modern) pulp mills on the banks of the Uruguay River in Fray Bentos, state of Rio Negro, Uruguay. Although the Spanish firm ENCE eventually gave up plans for a plant in the area, by 2006 the Finnish company Botnia received government approval, and World Bank financial support, for a massive mill.

Environmental groups from Uruguay were not able to ignite significant opposition to the plant, which most Uruguayans view as evidence of economic development, but the reaction across the Libertador General San Martin Bridge in Gualeguaychú, Argentina, was decisive and severe.

Beginning in 2004, the Asamblea Ciudadana Ambiental de Gualeguaychú (Gualeguaychú Citizens Environmental Assembly) released proclamations that the mill would violate international environmental standards and demanded that plans for the mill be abandoned. The “asambleistas” organized a massive and committed protest movement that strained relations between the two countries and escalated the dispute all the way to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

The most aggressive and effective form of protest became the blockade of the bridge. After intermittent blockades in 2004 and 2005 (generally aimed at periods, such as holidays, that would cause the most problems for travelers), the asamblea voted to make the blockade per-

manent in October 2006, and the bridge remained cut off for more than three and a half years.

Argentina has a rich history of citizen protest, and because of past abuses the government is reluctant to repress them. Indeed, for political reasons, local politicians in Entre Rios province and national politicians in Buenos Aires openly supported the demonstrations.

During this early period, the blockades and related protests garnered the asamblea near-constant local and national media coverage.

“From a communications perspective, the strategy was an incredible success,” Ahern said.

“However, framing the issue in nationalistic, usversus-them terms worked to polarize opinion across the Rio de la Plata and move the focus from the environment to politics.”

Ahern is exploring the objectives of strategic communicators involved in the dispute, the resulting national media coverage in both countries, and the implications for public opinion and understanding of the environmental issue.

As a case study in communications, the Botnia pulp mill controversy illustrates the dangers of framing environmental issues in nationalistic terms.

With the assistance of Hector Villaverde (Universidad Católica del Uruguay), Ahern interviewed two former Uruguayan Ministers of the Environment, Uruguayan environmental activists, the public relations officer for Botnia during the crisis, and Rio Negro Governor Omar Lafluf. He also collected systematic and purposeful samples covering the past five years from the leading national newspapers in Uruguay (El Pais) and Argentina (Clarín).

One of the primary ways the print media set the agenda in these Latin American capitals was through their display on ubiquitous street-corner kiosks. Therefore, the content of the front page is of great importance.

Because electronic archives do not provide the context of the page number, headline size, photo or surrounding content, Ahern collected images of the actual publications, a dataset available only through archive research in the region. These images were gathered at the Biblioteca Nacional de la Republica Argentina in Buenos Aires and through the electronic image and print archives at the offices of El Pais, Plaza Cagancha, Montevideo.

Ahern and Villaverde will be transcribing, translating and coding this data for qualitative and quantitative analysis in the months ahead, and expect the research to yield key insights into the roles played by local strategic communicators, the national media and international politics in the social construction of environmental issues.

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Faculty/Staff News

Trip Provides Exposure, Insights for Faculty Member

Faculty/Staff News

Two Share Expertise During Broadband Summit

Pennsylvania state policy measure Act 183, “Broadband Outreach and Aggregation Fund and e-Fund Implementation.”

Panelists included officials from the state public utilities commission, the Pennsylvania Telephone Association and the Office of Consumer Advocate.

In January 2010, the state was Krishna Jayakar awarded a grant to collect broadband mapping data, implement strategies to address gaps and identify barriers to broadband adoption.

The summit provided a free resource for a wide range of people interested in broadband adaptation, deployment and policy.

Conference topics were of interest to state and local elected officials, education entities, hospitals and health care providers, technology councils, non-profit associations, law enforcement and many more.

The goals of the summit were to: create and foster a sustainable dialogue among broadband providers, communities, consumers, and anchor institutions; determine how broadband challenges and opportunities should be approached in a coordinated fashion; and provide a shared learning opportunity to identify and leverage broadband best practices across the state. G

Two Penn State faculty members served alongside officials from the Federal Communications Commission and other national experts during the 2010 Pennsylvania Broadband Summit in September.

The College of Communications professors shared their expertise during the two-day session in Camp Hill. They were: Rob Frieden, the Rob Frieden Pioneers Chair in Cable Telecommunications, and Krishna Jayakar, associate professor in the Department of Telecommunications.

“We’re proud that our faculty members were called on to support broadband policy making in our home state,” said Anne Hoag, associate dean for undergraduate education and outreach in the College of Communications, and faculty director for the summit.

“We have some of the most well-informed and respected experts on broadband matters in the world working on campus, and working with constituents and organizations close to home and much farther away.”

Frieden, an expert on the net neutrality policy debate, moderated a panel on the topic with officials from the FCC, Clearwire and Verizon.

Jayakar, who has researched e-rate funding for education, coordinated a panel addressing the 2004

College Launches YouTube Playlist

Several videos highlighting the College of Communications, its integrity-first approach, its programs, its students and its alumni represent the first featured videos on a communications-specific playlist as part of the Penn State YouTube Channel.

In the coming weeks videos that provide samples of student work and updates about the College will be added to the playlist.

With YouTube, prospective students, current students, alumni, friends, faculty and staff may access videos about the College.

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Find the College of Communications playlist at http://www.youtube.com/user/PennState#p 20

Alumni, faculty and students from the College of Communications discussed their experiences as entrepreneurs during a panel discussion in November on the University Park campus.

The free public event, “Be Enterprising for Career Success,” was part of Penn State’s celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

The session in Carnegie Building was moderated by Anne Hoag, associate dean for undergraduate education and outreach in the College, and included time for questions and answers from the audience. In addition to her leadership role in the College, Hoag teaches and conducts research in the areas of media entrepreneurship, media economics and telecommunications management.

Two communications alumni and three Penn State students were among those included in the discussion.

The alumni were: T Jason Brewer, founder and CEO of Brolik, an award-winning interactive agency in Philadelphia specializing in brand marketing, video production and web development; and T Jarred Romesburg, president and owner of

Romesburg Media Group, a television production company and media-buying firm in Somerset.

Brewer, who graduated with a degree in film-video in 2006, co-founded Brolik in 2004, while he was a sophomore at Penn State.

Romesburg graduated with a telecommunications degree in 1998 and has been honored with the Emerging Professional Award and the Alumni Achievement Award from the College of Communications Alumni Society.

Linda Feltman, a senior business consultant with the Penn State Small Business Development Center and an adjunct faculty member in College since 2005, served on the panel as well.

Student participants included: Alan deLevie, cofounder of Three Screen Games and co-undergraduate director of the Penn State Entrepreneurs Network, an organization designed to promote student-based entrepreneurship across campus; Ethan Hirsch, co-undergraduate director of the Penn State Entrepreneurs Network; and Jessi Janiec, executive director at Happy Valley Communications, Penn State’s only student-run public relations firm.

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After getting yyourself ourself something special on eBay,y,y, go to www eBa www.giveto.psu.edu .giveto.psu.edu and giv givee something special to PPenn enn State.

Do It Online.

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Make Mak e a gift gift to P Penn enn State.

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Faculty/Staff News

Faculty, Alumni, Students Share Entrepreneurial Insights

Faculty/Staff News

NAACP Recognizes Office of Multicultural Affairs

The Office of Multicultural Affairs in the College of Communications was honored as “Most Outstanding Department” during an awards program coordinated by the Penn State Chapter of the NAACP at the end of the fall semester.

“Being named for the NAACP Image Award was certainly a ‘Wow!’ moment,” said Assistant Dean Joseph Selden, who leads the Office of Multicultural Affairs. “This recognition is shared Joseph Selden among the faculty, staff and students of the College of Communications.”

NAACP chapter president Travis Salters, a junior majoring in broadcast journalism and African-American studies, said the Office of Multicultural Affairs edged out nominees such as the University’s Multicultural Resources Center and the Paul Robeson Cultural

Center for the inaugural award.

“It was named Most Outstanding Department due to its dedication to showing the necessity of diversity in the workforce,” Salters said. “In addition, the College has established unbelievable resources that help students throughout their college careers.”

The Office of Multicultural Affairs’ mission includes: fostering the growth of diverse students as young leaders and young scholars; providing cultural programming that promotes a richer understanding and respectfulness of the differences; and supporting a variety of student clubs that allows students to get involved and work together.

“I am extremely happy that the College won the award,” said Salters. “Everyone who tries to make this campus a better place should be recognized.”

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Three Staff Members Earn Deans’ Excellence Awards

Three Penn State staff members were honored with Deans’ Excellence awards during an annual recognition event.

Honorees were system administrator Yu-Tai Chung, staff assistant Stephanie Girouard and academic adviser Kyrie Yu-Tai Chung Harding.

Chung helps maintain computer and network systems in the College of Communications.

He works with all PC-related devices and laboratories, and assists with web-based projects, creating and maintaining applications that benefit faculty, staff and students. He does that—and much more—in an efficient, timely manner.

“Yu-Tai consistently goes well above and beyond the call of duty,” said Jeremy Wright, who supervises systems administration. “His effective response time is terrific. He is one of the most capable multitaskers I have ever come across. He does not hesitate to take action and

Stephanie Girouard

Kyrie Harding

follow up until a situation is resolved.”

Girouard works in the Office of Internships and Career Services, which serves more than 1,000 students seeking for-credit internships and graduating seniors seeking jobs.

In that role, she administers the day-to-day operation of an everbustling office. This past year she also took a leadership role in the development of COMM Career Center, a comprehensive, online source for communications-specific job postings for students.

“Stephanie produced quality work in an efficient manner for those requesting information and

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she does it with a pleasant demeanor. Here efficiency certainly helped us become a stronger unit,” said Bob Martin, assistant dean for internships and career placement. “Frankly, we would not have been able to launch COMM Career Center had it not been for Stephanie’s perseverance and efforts.”

Harding handles her advising duties, working with dozens of students on a weekly basis, and also coordinates the peer mentor program. Under her leadership, the peer mentor program added mentors and served more students than ever during the past year.

“Kyrie provides exceptional customer service. She is sensitive to students’ needs and does her best to help,” said Jamey Perry, assistant dean for academic services. “She has taken the peer mentor program to a new level in one year.”

Each of the three staff honorees received a Penn State clock and a monetary award.

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Faculty/Staff News

STRONG SHOOTERS Faculty and staff from the College of Communications participated in the annual Charity Stripe Challenge on campus, an event that raises money for the Centre County United Way through a free throw-shooting contest. The College raised the most money of any unit on campus in the five-year-old event. Also, the College raised more than $21,000 for the annual United Way campaign and again boasted the highest participation rate among academic units on the University Park campus. Pictured are (left to right): Bob Martin, Julie Evak, Steve Manuel, Kathy Mulberger, Steve Sampsell and Dean Doug Anderson.

Post-Election Panel Draws Big Crowd

Three reporters and a campaign official deeply involved in the November election that determined races for governor and the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania participated in a panel discussion on the University Park campus after the election.

“It was interesting, and we had a big crowd,” said Russ Eshleman, senior lecturer and associate head of the Department of Journalism.

“The panelists provided interesting insights and the students in the audience had strong questions about what happened, why it happened and what it meant.”

The panelists included: T John Micek, Harrisburg bureau chief of the Morning Call in Allentown and author of “Capitol Ideas,” a blog for people who write about or participate in Pennsylvania government and politics; T Laura Olson, a reporter for the Harrisburg-based news and information service capitolwire.com who also has covered the state budget

process and the controversy surrounding Marcellus shale drilling; T James O’Toole, the politics editor for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette who (with the exception of the 1992 campaign) has covered every national political convention and presidential election since 1984; and T Kevin Harley, press secretary for Republican candidate Tom Corbett, who was elected governor.

Harley has worked on many statewide campaigns, and took a leave from his job at the attorney general’s office to work on the campaign.

Eshleman, who teaches basic reporting methods, opinion writing, news media ethics and in-depth reporting, moderated the session.

Before coming to Penn State, he was Harrisburg bureau chief and state political writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer. He covered Pennsylvania governor and U.S. Senate races throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

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Notes, Numbers G Associate Dean Marie Hardin, an associate professor and associate director of the Curley Center, wrote “New scandals, familiar principles,” which appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sept. 10, 2010.

G Associate professor John Sanchez wrote “Native AmericanThemed Mascots: American Indians are Human Beings ... Not Mascots for Sports Teams” in The American Mosaic: The American Indian Experience (2010, Greenwood Publishing Group) G Professor Bob Richards was admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court bar and filed amicus curiae briefs in two pending First Amendment cases.

G Professor Ford Risley, head of the Department of Journalism, served on a panel about Civil Warera journalism at the American Journalism Historians Association convention.

G Carmen Frost and Tarynn Herlocker joined the College as administrative support coordinators.

Development News

Penn State Honors Curley as Volunteer of Year

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enn State has recognized John Curley, an honorary alumnus and volunteer chair of the College of Communications campaign committee, as its 2010 Fundraising Volunteer of the Year. The award, which was presented to Curley on Sept. 24, honors the leadership of alumni and friends in securing philanthropic support for the University.

“For more than 20 years, John Curley has proved that you don’t have to be a graduate of the University to be a dedicated Penn Stater,” said John and Ann Curley have consistently given the College of Communications their time and treasure to Peter G. Tombros, chair of support students, faculty members and programming. (Photo by John Beale) For the Future: The nearly 10 years.

National Council on Penn State Campaign for Penn State Students.

He helped to found the John Philanthropy.

Curley now leads the “Through his volunteer service and Curley Center for Sports College’s campaign committee. his own philanthropic leadership, Journalism, established in 2003 and With his wife, Ann, he is a memhe has helped the College of named in his honor in 2006, which ber of the Elm Circle, the highest Communications to become one of explores issues and trends in sports level of recognition that Penn State the finest programs of its kind in journalism through instruction, outoffers to its supporters.

The couple, America, and he continues to reach, programming and research. who make their home in Potomac, inspire our students, our faculty, “John continues to help both our Md., has endowed several underand our supporters with his dedicaCollege and the University as a graduate scholarships and the John tion and vision.” whole to capitalize on their strengths and Ann Curley Professorship for The first editor of USA Today and and make important connections First Amendment Studies, and they the former president, chairman and with the wider world,” said Dean also are longtime supporters of CEO of Gannett Co. Inc., Curley was Doug Anderson.

“We are extraordiPenn State Intercollegiate Athletics appointed to the College of and other programs across the Communications Board of Visitors in narily fortunate that a professional of John’s caliber and standing in the University.

1989, and he has continued to serve world of journalism has chosen to “John has set a powerful example the College throughout the last two share his expertise and experience through his generosity and leaderdecades. with our students.

Through his servship,” said Penn State President In 1999, the graduate of ice and philanthropy, he has also Graham Spanier.

“We are delighted Dickinson College and Columbia had a profound impact on the to have this opportunity to honor all University was named an honorary future of our institution.” that he has done for Penn State and alumnus of Penn State for his As a volunteer, Curley chaired the College of Communications, achievements and service. Curley the College’s Board of Visitors for and we are deeply grateful that he currently holds the position of dismore than a decade, and he served continues to serve his adopted alma tinguished professional in residence on the Grand Destiny campaign mater with such enthusiasm and and professor of journalism in the executive committee and the grace.”

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A $200,000 gift from the estate of a owner of Marti French Village Real Scholarship endowments. passionate Penn State alumna has Estate in Westport, Conn., before The Trustee Matching created a Trustee Scholarship in her retiring to Boca Raton, Fla., where Scholarship Program at Penn State, name. she was active with the Music Guild created in 2002 by the Board of The Marjorie Mousley French, of Boca Raton and the Boca Bridge Trustees, aims to ensure that a Penn Class of ’48, Trustee State education is Scholarship was creatDuring the 2009-10 academic year, 85 communications accessible to qualified ed with the gift, students, regardless students received support from Trustee Scholarships. which has already of their financial been paid in full to means. the University. So, students from and Ladies Luncheon Club. She Under the program, the the College of Communications was also a supporter of The Youth University matches approximately 5 will benefit from it this academic Orchestra. percent of the principal of each gift year.

She died Aug. 10, 2009, at the annually and combines those funds Marjorie Mousley French, known age of 82. She was survived by two with income from the endowment to her friends as “Marti,” earned sons, a daughter, six grandchildren to effectively double the financial her journalism degree at Penn State and three great grandchildren. impact of the scholarship. in 1948. As an undergraduate, she The scholarship created by her A $50,000 gift payable over five worked as photo editor of the Penn estate is the 29th Trustee years or less will establish a Trustee State yearbook, La Vie. She was also Scholarship in the College of Scholarship. a devoted Penn State football fan, a Communications. During the 2009Donors may designate their gift passion she carried throughout her 10 academic year, 85 communicato any campus or college and may life. tions students received awards averspecify a major field of such as a Marti crafted a long career as aging $1,250 from existing Trustee first preference.

Investing for the future Even in challenging economic times, a Penn State degree remains a sound investment—and so do the income-generating gift structures available to the University’s alumni and friends. Charitable remainder trusts and charitable gift annuities can help you to protect the value of your assets while ensuring that new generations of students have access to the same world-class education that was the foundation of your own success.

To learn more about these opportunities, please contact: Brian Casey Gift Planning Officer Office of Gift Planning Toll-free: 888-800-9170 E-mail: bsc14@psu.edu Web: www.giftplanning.psu.edu

Kevin Musick Director of Development College of Communications Phone: 814-865-8801 E-mail: krm2@psu.edu Web: www.comm.psu.edu

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Development News

Passionate Alumna’s Estate Endows Trustee Scholarship

Development News

Gift Creates ‘Spectacular’ Broadcasting Complex

A significant gift to Penn State will create a state-of-the-art production center in Rec Hall to provide handson experience for students pursuing careers in sports broadcasting.

Richard and Susan Barry provided the gift for the Steve Jones Student Sports Broadcasting Complex—named for long-time Penn State broadcaster and College of Communications instructor Steve Jones.

The gift is one of the largest in the history of Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics, and it continues the philanthropic leadership of Rick and Sue Barry. Rick Barry graduated from Penn State in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, and his career in the financial industry has included posts at Merrill Lynch and Robertson Stephens Investment Management.

He retired earlier this year as the managing member and portfolio manager of Eastbourne Capital Management, a California-based investment firm he founded in 1999.

The San Rafael, Calif., couple is among the University's most generous supporters, and their past commitments include gifts for the Abram Nesbitt III Academic Commons and the John R. Murphy Student Services Center at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, where Rick began his Penn State education.

"We are excited to provide the funds for what we feel is a very important space both for athletics and academics," said Rick Barry, who first met Jones while both were Penn State students. "To have the complex named after someone that I was so close to while at the Wilkes-Barre campus and have watched grow into a legend in Penn State sports broadcasting history is a thrill for me.

A significant gift has created the Steve Jones Student Sports Broadcasting Complex, which will be housed in Rec Hall. Jones (inset) has served as the play-by-play voice for nearly 1,000 Penn State basketball and football games during his career.

(Photo by Greg Grieco)

“What Steve Jones has added to the legacy of Penn State broadcasting throughout his professional career, in addition to what he has been able to pass on to the next generation of broadcasters as an instructor in the classroom, is the essence of what this complex is all about."

The Steve Jones Student Broadcasting Complex will be housed in historic Rec Hall, located on the west side of Penn State's campus, and it will comprise two control rooms, an editing lab, an HD viewing room and Rec Hall's first dedicated media room.

“This project is a perfect match for its namesake,” said Tim Curley, Penn State director of athletics.

“Steve’s passion for his career as well as his dedication to teach the next generation of sports broadcasters and producers is unparalleled.

This facility will enable Steve’s legacy to live on in the students who will learn there through these hands-on experiences.”

“The Steve Jones Student Sports Broadcasting Complex will be a spectacular additional home for real world experiences for students in the College of Communications,” said Dean Doug Anderson.

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“We have scores of students majoring in broadcast journalism, along with dozens more who are enrolled in our John Curley Center for Sports Journalism, who are interested in sports broadcasting or production.

“The opportunities we are able to offer our students have grown immensely over the past decade, but this facility will take us to a new level because our students now will be able to produce live sporting events for a national audience. And it is truly fitting that the students will be able to gain fabulous experience in a facility the Barrys have chosen to name for one of our most energetic, respected and valuable instructors.”

A 1980 Penn State graduate with a degree in speech communication and broadcasting, Jones began doing radio play-by-play of Nittany Lion basketball games during his undergraduate career. He became the voice of the men’s basketball team in 1982 and debuted on the football broadcast with the 2000 Blue-White Game. In all, he has done radio play-by-play for nearly 1,000 Penn State basketball and football games.

His responsibilities at Penn State

Ford Foundation Grant Boosts Institute for Information Policy The Institute for Information Policy at Penn State has been awarded a grant to conduct research that will help guide policy decisions and promote dialogue among academics and policymakers.

A $300,000 grant from the Ford Foundation will be used by the Institute to create a network of scholars who will publish concrete and compelling research, which will be made accessible to policymakers and the public in a timely fashion.

“On numerous occasions in the past few years we have heard the pleas of senior administration officials for contemporary and relevant research that can guide their communications policy decisions,” said Amit Schejter, an associate professor in the College of Communications and co-director of the Institute for Information Policy. “The challenge of making such research available, accessible, useful and timely is the result of the different cultures of academics and policymakers.”

“Academic research, while focused on topics of interest to the researchers, tends to be lengthy, opaque, produced gradually and subjected to extended review,” said Richard Taylor, the Palmer chair of telecommunication studies and law and co-director of the Institute for Information Policy. “Policymakers need research to be briefly summarized, address current issues in terms they understand and be available in real time. This project is designed to bridge that gap and to stimulate new voices.”

Key components of the two-year grant are an expansion of the IIP’s existing network of scholars, who will participate in semiannual forums to report on focused policy issues, and the creation of an online, peerreviewed communication and information policy journal to promptly and widely disseminate the results.

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“It has long been a challenge to meet the needs of these different groups, but this grant will allow that to happen,” Schejter said. “It will fulfill the needs of policymakers with important and timely information and reward the authors with the type of recognition valued by their institutions for granting promotion and tenure.”

A dozen leading and up-and-coming scholars participated in the first forum conducted as part of the project (focusing on “The Broadband Act of 2011”), which was conducted Sept. 28-30 in Washington, D.C. Those participants were selected from more than three dozen applicants from around the world.

A second forum is planned for the spring of 2011 and the online journal will be officially launched at that time as well.

The Institute for Information Policy, founded in 1997 and housed in the College of Communications, conducts sponsored research and collaborative programs on the social implications of information technology, with a special emphasis on the potential of information technologies for improving democratic discourse, social responsibility and the quality of life.

Faculty and students associated with the IIP actively participate in national and international dialogues with corporate leaders and policy makers.

Researchers associated with the IIP are among the leading information policy scholars in the nation because they have published numerous articles, have authored or edited books, have taken part in professional conferences and have been visible in the national policy discourse. G

Development News

also include hosting the “The Penn State Football Show” and the “Penn State Basketball Show” call-in programs every Thursday during the fall and winter, as well as producing the “Inside Penn State Athletics” segments for the Penn State Sports Network five days a week.

“I am truly humbled by the Barrys’ thoughtfulness,” said Jones.

“While I am honored that this facility will bear my name, this project is really about the students.”

One of the complex’s two control rooms will be dedicated to producing live, in-game elements to be displayed on Rec Hall’s videoboards.

The second control room will replicate an environment typically found only in remote production vehicles like those utilized by the Big Ten Network.

Each control room will be equipped with the same state-of-theart switcher, character generator, replay machines and cameras found on remote TV trucks covering sports around the country.

The complex’s HD viewing room will contain areas to view the live events produced in both control rooms and will also be available for project review, class presentations and guest speakers. The state-of-theart editing lab will enable students to produce elements used both ingame during Rec Hall events as well as feature content used in online HD webcasts and on the Big Ten Network telecasts.

The complex is among numerous upgrades planned for Rec Hall, including two new videoboards. The boards will create an energetic atmosphere with multiple live camera feeds, instant replays, dynamic animations, team logos and real-time statistics for all events. They will be more than 10 feet high and 25 feet wide.

The renovation is scheduled for completion by June 2011.

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Development News

Donor Dinner

Annual Donor and Scholarship Recognition Dinner draws capacity crowd of benefactors and scholarship recipients to Nittany Lion Inn

1 Alumnus Andrew Schultz (above) gave the keynote address to an enthusiastic audience of nearly 350 students, alumni and friends such as: Bob O’Leary (1, seated); Donald Bellisario (2, standing left); Eric Rabe (3, seated right); Larry and Ellen Foster with Foster Professor Tony Barbieri (4); Bill Jaffe (5, standing) with Skip and Kathleen Collins (5); and Mark Brownstein (6, left) and Ben Bronstein (6). Assistant deans Jamey Perry (7, foreground) and Bob Martin ended the evening with some pushups reminiscent, partially, of the Nittany Lion mascot.

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Development News 3

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Photo Perspectives: COMM Students in introductory photojournalism courses get to cover many events on campus—everything from lectures to sporting events—and several of the firsttime photographers captured strong sports images during the fall semester.

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Photos by: 1) Alexis Evans, from a wome August, from a football game against Tem UMBC; 4) Liz Murphy from a women’s so ning goal to clinch the Big Ten Conferenc Hampton from an exhibition basketball g football game against Northwestern that

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en’s basketball game against Gannon University; 2) Amanda mple; 3) Shannon Simcox, from a men’s soccer game against occer game when Ali Schaefer (clenching fists) scored the wince championship with just 17 seconds remaining; 5) Shavon game against East Stroudsburg; and 6) Tom Ruane from the produced coach Joe Paterno’s 400th career victory.

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Development News

HONOR ROLL The College of Communications received 1,606 gifts (not counting pledges and bequests) during the period between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010. Of those, 1,500 were from individuals; 54 were from corporations; 42 were from foundations; and 10 were from organizations.

The contributions totaled $1,931,400. The Honor Roll recognizes alumni and friends who made gifts of $100 or more to the College during the fiscal year. The information has been provided by the Office of University Development.

DEAN’S CIRCLE

Thomas and Kirsten Verducci Christopher Wheeler

(Greater than $2,500) LaVonne Althouse Douglas and Claudia Anderson Martin Aronoff Jeffrey and Lori Baum Donald and Vivienne Bellisario Mark and Amy Brownstein George and Ann Bodenheimer Warren Carmichael Kathleen Wooley Collins and John Collins Kerby and Judith Confer John and Ann Curley Emily DeRocco Elizabeth Fetter Lawrence and Ellen Foster Judith Hardes Marie Hardin Thomas and Nancy Hayden Jay Jackson Anne Hoag and J. Paul Rutter Bill and Honey Jaffe Jayne Jamison and Edward Bisno Rehela Khan David and Susan Lipson Michael and Patti Marcus Frederick and Ann Martelli Christopher Martin Julia Ibbotson Martin Mary and Joseph Meder Robert O’Leary George and Ann Richards Robert Richards Richard and Arlene Small James Wiggins and Christine Fleming

DEAN’S ASSOCIATES ($1,000 to $2,499) Richard and Antoinette Bange Anthony Barbieri Roger and Vera Beidler Rob Boulware Jeanne Chapkovich William and Cathleen Christopher Anne and Kenneth Chubb Charles Curley Stanley Degler Helene Eckstein Judith Friedman Mark and Beverly Greenwald Kenneth and Robin Rimmler Heim Gilbert and Patricia Kindelar Bridget Klaka Steven and Janice Livingston Thomas and Edith Ortenberg Eric and Luisa Rabe Shellie Roth Paul and Nancy Silvis Stewart and Ann Snoddy Barry and Marylouise Uhlig

COMMUNICATIONS PARTNERS ($500 to $999) John Beauge Nicholas and Amy Fellin Caputo William and Lois Clark John and Maureen Collins Robin Deacle Jay Grossman and Dorothy Daub

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Wayne Hilinski Donald King Ronald Kolb John and Lucille Leach Christopher and Lisa Lydon Norman and Mollie Miller Srinivas Murti Patricia Green Penman Steven and Debra Chipman-Polachi David Retz Bradley Risch and Deborah Rihs Robin Ward Savage and Michael Savage Frederick and Christine Thieman Andrew Walker

Deborah Meder and Larry Gohn Norman and Betsy Murray Marian J. Myers Sanford Padwe Steven Plumlee and Carey Turner Stephanie Podey Timothy W. Potts Betty Ramos Mark Cutkowsky and Pamela Reasner Benjamin S. Rupp Harry Burkhart and Kathleen Ryan Richard and Mary Anchel Sabel Fuyuan and Robyn Shen Kathleen Kirsch Smith and Ralph Smith Robert and Kay Troxell William and Mona Signorino Wunderlich A. Phillip and Mary Ann Zimmer

CARNEGIE CLUB ($250 to $499) Ian and Lee Alexander Christopher A. Arantz Mark Ashenfelter Michael and Joyce Bussler David and Jane Conley Richard L. and Lyn Kibler Culver Cheryl A. Dunlap Carole Feldman Johan F. and Emily Firmenich Gene and JoAnn Foreman Katherine Fox Matthew and Lauren Frazier Kim C. Friedman Paul and Catherine Greenland William J. Hackett Stephen Heiser Matthew Herb and Lori Shontz Susan K. Hirtle Rebecca Jones Richard and Ann Jones Jeffrey and Maryann Klick Lawrence E. Koziarz Joseph L. Krushinsky Wendy Lichtenstein Christopher and Elizabeth Loder James and Donna Mansfield Abby Mayer

CENTURY CLUB ($100 to $249) Tiziana Aime David and Erin Alderfer Michael and Johanna Altland Justin B. Anderson Andrew and Kendra Aucker Ali M. Audi Melvin and Joan Hartman Axilbund Henry and Chrstine Baer Robert and Martha Gingras Baisch Michael and Diane Bauhof Hilary S. Becker Pierre and Mary Suhrie Bellicini Karen M. Bernardo Brian and Julie Bialkowski Charles Bierbauer and Susanne Schafer James and Amy Blew Kathryn L. Blum Paul Boynton and Diane Rosse John and Lisa Pierce Breunig Lesley A. Brown William and Kathy Brown Sarah G. Carberry Mary Beth Casey Kelly M. Chubb

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Development News

HONOR ROLL

Development News

HONOR ROLL Curtis and Inez Hare Michael E. Hayes Sally A. Heffentreyer Keith G. Hegner Heather A. Heigele Carl and Phyllis Hamilton Heller Chad Hershberger and Sarah Voorhees Frederick Herzog Todd and Pamela Hevey Brian and Sharon Higgins Karen Perillo and Steven Hockstein Richard and Lisa Hoffman Joshua D. Howard Robert and Sheila Hull Holly and James Humphrey Richard and Dorothea Hyk Matt Jackson Eric and Candice Jania David Jefferis Lynn Johnson Robert and Mary Joyce Robert Junas Elizabeth Kahn Glenn N. Kaup Joseph and Ann Kasenchak Timothy and Linda L. Kearns Mary E. Kearney Jacqueline Kehoe Brenda A. Kelly Dan and Susan L. Kennedy Brian J. Kim Earle and Marsha Church King Margaret Kippax Joseph and Karen Klein Gregory J. Kloss Christin and Holly Knecht Dennis and Patricia Knecht Frank and Karen Koncki-Dooley Carl and Lisa Lahr Mark and Donna Burke Landon Douglas C. Le Bow Robert and Brenda LeVine Susan Silverberg Lewen and Barry C. Lewen Christopher and Sabrina Liller

Albert and Mary Ann Cmar Cipicchio Darcee L. Clark John and Valvria Blanding Clark Melissa Cohen Clifton W. Colmon Charles Conwell Richard Cook Nancy J. Coopersmith Sean and Patrick Corcoran John and Vicki Cousley Carlyn Crout Victor and Toni Danilov Christopher and Suzanne DeJohn Jonathan and Judith Blackwell Detwiler Vincent and Bridget Driscoll Robert and Constance M. Dougher Harold and Patricia Downey Jull L. Dubin James and Mary Lou Dunlap Douglas Eroh Richard R. Evans Gary Ezard Patrick M. Fabricatore Ronald and Lori Falcone Cynthia Farrell Mike and Doris Feinsilber William and Karen Finerfrock Michele M. Fizzano-McFarland Eliza Flanagan Mary Anne Fleming Earl Flick Kevin J. Flintosh Robert and Patricia Fraser Mark and Sharon Freeark Myron R. Gersh Reed and Eileen Gidez Jennifer A. Gottlieb Asher L. Gray Gerald and Stephanie Foti Greco Richard S. Greco Susan Jacoby Groom William A. Guhl Mark and Denise Hakowski Michael G. Hanusin

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Ralph and Nancy Schumack Kevin and Noreen Stock Schwartz John and Rebecca Schweinberg J. Michael and Victoria Shanahan Daniel M. Silver Delores Simon Christopher and Lisa Novajosky Smith Jenna Spinelle James and Barbara White Stack Kelly B. Stazi John and Regina Steiner Loretta Stempinski Daniel Stewart and Michelle Bressler Sean and Kathryn Stickel Taylor E. Strimple John and Barbara Sturgeon Norman and Susan Styer Matthew J. Sullivan Alecia Swasy Judith Weinstein Termini Bradley and Sharon Stenzler Tessler Lewis and Ann Thompson Jonathan and Debra Thurley Michael and Donita Art Todd Robert and Helen Toothman Timothy Trego Michael and Linda Trobich Richard and Esther Van O’Linda Kimball and Mary Andrews Wall Alexander and Nancy Ward Morris and Catharine Starbird Ward Thomas P. Waring Charles E. Warner Robert Wechsler Eric and Joanne Weidman Thomas and Jaime Weiss Steven Wernikoff and Betshy Katten Richard and Sheila Young William Young Denise Beth Zaraya S. Charles and Patrice Bradley Zdeb

Mark and Stacey Lima Vincent and Heather Loss Nancy E. Luse Jon and Cari Lynch Robb Petroff and Ashley Manion Patrick and Helia Maritato Carleen R. Martin Scott and Ann Rittenhouse Martin Terri L. Maruca Mark Sunshine and Christy McElhaney Joyce McKeever Thomas and Andrea McNulty Jerry and Louise Medley Kimberly E. Mehle Stephen and Enid Milner Arthur and Marjorie Miller Douglas and Anne Miller Jonathan and Corinne Mirer Joseph and Lillian Mittleman Gary and Wendy Mondello James and Frances Tancredi Murtha Kevin amd Leeshaun Musick David and Michelle Neuman Susan H. Nichols Christopher and Esther Northrup George and Sara Carson Peck Thomas and Rebecca Peeling Scott Pellis Kathleen Peters Robert and Jean Allen Petersen Kimberly D. Peterson Sean and Gayle Bodin Petty Matthew J. Poletto Michael Poorman Colleen P. Regan John and Mona Rice Andrew H. Richards Beth A. Robinson Samuel and Mary Rogers Sherry A. Rolley Terrence and Karen Rooney Michael R. Rose Joseph and Maureen Quinn Salamon Donna Farris Sanders

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Development News

HONOR ROLL

Development News

HONOR ROLL CORPORATE AND FOUNDATION GIFTS

Heidebrecht Family Charitable Trust Honeywell Hometown Solutions Interstate Advertising Managers’ Association Robert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust McClatchy Company Mid Atlantic Newspaper Services Inc. Murray Overhill Pharmacy Inc. Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Rutgers University Social Science Research Council United Way Special Distribution Account Yellowbrickroad Communications

Academy Foundaton Accenture Foundation AT&T Foundation AT&T Mobility Dauer Family Foundation Inc. Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund Gannett Foundation Inc. Harmelin Media Harmelin & Associates Inc. William Randolph Hearst Foundation

Alumni, Colleagues, Friends Support Nichols Scholarship

Gifts from nearly three dozen colleagues, friends and Penn State alumni helped make the John Nichols Trustee Scholarship a reality—and create an immediate impact.

The establishment of the fund was announced in September as a surprise coinciding with the Nichols’ retirement. Support for the fund has already helped further enhance his legacy because two students have received support from the endowment for the 2010-11 academic year.

Nichols served 33 years at Penn State, first coming to the University as a junior faculty member out of graduate school at the University of Minnesota and consistently rising through the ranks and becoming one of the most respected faculty members on campus.

He helped shape the creation and progress of the College of Communications, consistently served on committees across campus, was honored for his teaching and chaired the University Faculty Senate.

“I doubt that any member of the University Park faculty served the University in such far-reaching and dedicated fashion,” Dean Doug Anderson said.

The scholarship in Nichols’ name was the 28th Trustee Scholarship created in the College since the program’s inception in 2002. Under the program, the University matches approximately 5 percent of the principal of each gift annually and combines those funds with income from the endowment to effectively double the financial impact of the scholarship.

A $50,000 gift payable over five years or less is the minimum to establish a Trustee Scholarship.

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John Nichols accepts a congratulatory hug from Provost Rodney Erickson during a retirement event—part celebration, part roast—at the start of the fall semester. (Photo by Steve Manuel)

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Talented, Well-Prepared McGill Earns Crown

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or the second time in four years, a Penn Stater won the writing portion of a national championship often referred to as "the Pulitzers of college journalism."

Andrew McGill earned the national championship in the William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program after completing three stories in three days during a head-to-head, on-location competition with seven other writing finalists in New York City in June.

“It was definitely not expected.

People at my table said when it was announced I didn’t react,” McGill said. “I think I was sort of shocked.

When I realized what had happened I was just worried about not tripping up on stage.”

Neither the stage nor the assignments that preceded it stopped McGill, though.

His performance in a monthly competition for spot news during the 2009-10 academic year earned McGill a spot in the national championship for the second time in three years. He finished second in 2008 and that experience helped him know what to expect this time.

“You just have to pace yourself because you have to write three stories,” McGill said. “Plus, when you get the on-the-spot assignment you have to start tracking down sources right away.”

McGill was among 25 students who competed in the national championships. The students earned spots in the championships with top monthly performances during the contest year, which stretched from mid-October until mid-May. Some 1,105 students from the country's 110 accredited programs entered the writing, photojournalism, broadcast and multimedia competitions.

The finals included eight writing

Andrew McGill

students, along with six in photojournalism, five in radio, five in television and one in multimedia.

Writing competitors knew of two assignments in advance—a profile and a spot-news feature about the same famous individual, in this case New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Students were able to conduct supporting interviews and prepare for an interview with Bloomberg before they arrived in the Big Apple.

Once on site, they drew the bigger, on-the-spot assignment.

McGill prepared for the competition efficiently and effectively. He could not focus exclusively on the advance assignments because he graduated with a degree in journalism in mid-May and started a full-time job as a general-assignment reporter at The Morning Call in Allentown, on June 1. Along with the competition, he was writing about other news in southeastern Pennsylvania.

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Student News

Student News

After all the contest stories were completed, judging was conducted by Jeff Cohen of the Houston Chronicle; Peter Bhatia of The Oregonian in Portland, Ore.; and Jennifer Sizemore of MSNBC.com and NBC News.

The results were not announced for more than 24 slow-moving hours until all the competitors met for a dinner attended by 190 representatives from universities across the country, Hearst Foundation and corporation officials, and previous Hearst award recipients on the 44th floor of the Hearst Tower in New York City.

First, the finalists (those not in the top three) were revealed and McGill's name was not among that group— meaning he had finished at least in the top three.

“As they talked about the top three, they referred to the third place finisher's accomplishments and said ‘she,’ so I knew I was at least second,” he said. “The same thing happened with second place, another ‘she.’ After that, I don’t remember anything until I had to worry about getting on stage.”

Dean Doug Anderson said he was proud of McGill's first-place finish and the manner in which he represented the College.

With his victory, McGill joined Halle Stockton, a journalism graduate who captured the writing national championship in 2007, as recent winners from the University. Overall, eight Penn State students have earned spots in the national championships in the past 10 years.

McGill, from Wyncote, Pa., worked throughout his college career at The Daily Collegian. He served as an administration reporter, police and courts reporter, investigative reporter, metro editor and, finally, managing editor.

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Student News

TAKING THE HEAT Students Michael Young (left)

and Carley Lang respond to questions during a “hot seat” exercise conducted by senior lecturer Steve Manuel as part of COMM 471 Public Relations Media and Methods. During the semester-ending assignment, the students serve as a spokesperson for the Marine Corps regarding a controversial event in Japan. Questions come from members of the news media and faculty members who volunteer their time to put the students’ skills to the test while under the lights in the College of Communications’ television studio.

(Photos by Steve Manuel)

AMPAS Grant Program Supports Five Student Interns

A $5,000 grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences provided an opportunity for five film-video students from the College of Communications to complete competitive, high-level internships with film companies for movie studios last year.

The five students who received support were: T Adam Eshleman of State College, who worked at Continuum Pictures in Los Angeles; T Daniel Finer of Pittsburgh, who worked at Sony Pictures in Los Angeles; T James Gibbons of Hawley, Pa., who worked for Scott Rudin Productions in New York City; T Adam Rutter of Altoona, Pa., who worked at Stuber Pictures in Studio City, Calif.; and T Samantha Shapiro of Langhorne, Pa., who worked at Pressman Films in New York City.

During the past seven years, 35 Penn State students have completed

internships with production companies or studios, or in other areas of the motion-picture industry—as a result of support from the program.

“Their grant remains a huge boost for our film program, its faculty and, obviously, its students,” said Dean Doug Anderson. “Our faculty members in the College of Communications do a splendid job preparing film students and the grant paves the way for opportunities students previously could not accept.”

Since 1968 the Academy Foundation, the educational and preservation wing of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has distributed more than 400 grants to a variety of film-related non-profit organizations, schools and colleges.

The institutional and internship grants reflect one of the Academy’s fundamental purposes—to foster educational activities between the public and the film industry, and to encourage an appreciation of the

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motion picture as an art form and a vocation.

In 2010, the Academy Foundation distributed $500,000 to 73 institutions.

With support from the program for the seventh year in a row, more Penn State students again had an opportunity to enhance their educational experience.

The University was one of just 21 schools nationally to gain financial support from the Academy Foundation to further internship programs.

In the past several years, Penn State students supported through the program have also completed summer internship at the following places: The American Pavilion, Camelot Pictures, Double Feature Films, Killer Films, Los Angeles Film Festival, NFL Films, Public Road Pictures, Sony/BMG Feature Films, Thunder Road Pictures and The Weinstein Company.

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Fourteen Penn State students went to the largest annual meeting of public relations students in the United States in October.

They networked, made a presentation to their peers and brought home six awards.

Jessi Janiec, Lottie Rummel and a dozen other PRSSA members spent five days in Washington, D.C., at the PRSSA 2010 National Conference. The event kicked off with chapter development sessions, one of which was presented by Penn State.

Five students presented the session titled “PRomote and PRogress Your Chapter—Tactics to Build and Maintain a Successful Chapter.”

Using their own experience, knowledge and some humor from “The Office,” they taught fellow students what it takes to make their chapters grow.

“We focused on recruiting tactics, ways to maintain membership, such as a point system and a committee structure and the benefits of PRSSA,” said Rummel. “It was a complete success.”

While it might not seem like much, being chosen to present the chapter development session is a competitive process that requires a great deal of planning. Only four of the nation’s 284 Public Relations Student Society of America chapters were selected to lead a session.

Janiec and Rummel began to prepare last year by creating a detailed outline of the presentation, documenting what would be presented and producing a preliminary slide show. They submitted the bid in April and were notified of their selection in June.

“As the second largest PRSSA chapter in the nation (with 250 members), we felt Penn State would have a lot of experience and infor-

Chapter to Host Regional Event Beginning Feb. 11, PRSSA chapters across the nation will host regional activities—basically a smaller-scale national conference—and this year Penn State will be one of those sites.

Andrea Crawford and six other members of Penn State’s Lawrence G. Foster Chapter led the effort to host the event. Over the summer, Crawford and her board spent time creating sample promotional materials, press releases and social media accounts.

They also sent surveys to PRSSA members and College of Communications faculty.

In early September, they submitted their bid form and, after that, Crawford completed a phone interview with the national organizers who were making a decision about the site. She was notified of Penn State’s selection two days later.

“It’s a very competitive process,” said Crawford. “We’re the only school that was selected in Region 10, which includes all schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Long Island, New York.”

Penn State organizers believe they

mation to share with other chapters.

Many chapters have told us at previous events that they could use our help, and we want to continue to be a resource for other chapters,” Rummel said.

Planning for the conference itself started in August, when Rummel, the vice president of Penn State’s PRSSA chapter, dealt with logistics, including a decision about how many members could attend.

“We chose enough representatives to attend all of the necessary workshops throughout the weekend in order to bring back valuable information to our chapter,” said Janiec, who helped with the process.

“They each deserved to attend the

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have a practical theme for their event, too. “The Reality of PR: A Survivor’s Guide to the Public Relations World” will focus on preparing students for their post-graduation entry into the field of public relations.

“We’ll be providing professional speakers from a variety of fields to help students get a feel for what they’ll be facing when they enter the field,” Crawford said. “It’s also an opportunity for students to network with other students, as well as public relations professionals.”

Still, some work remains to make the regional activity, which will be held March 25-26, reality. Although the dates and locations have been chosen, many details remain, including how to drive attendance to the event.

“We’ll be sending out registration forms in January and will be asking for volunteers from our PRSSA chapter closer to the date of the conference,” Crawford said.

—Carley Lang (’11 Adv/PR)

Student News

PRSSA Chapter Shines at National Conference

conference because of the amount of time, enthusiasm and dedication they put into our chapter.”

Thanks to the hard work of those 14 members and the rest of the chapter, Penn State’s PRSSA chapter received six awards at the conference—including the Teahan National Chapter Award for Community Service, which recognizes voluntary projects executed by a PRSSA chapter that benefit its local community.

The chapter and its members went above and beyond to receive the prestigious award, participating in nine different philanthropic events throughout the year.

—Ca rley Lang (’1 1 A dv/P R)

Student News

Student Firm Grows, Provides Tangible Experience

More than a year ago, three commuments and critiques of all the formal DeRosa. “When I’m discussing nications students started to research potential new projects with clients documents that Jessi needed to subwhat it took to organize and run a mit to become an official organizaI’m always keeping in mind that this public relations firm. tion. As the firm became a reality, I is a student-run business, and I want Today, thanks to their time and offered input into the client and my team members to get as much as effort, Happy Valley account executive responsibilities,” they can out of the experience.”

Communications—Penn State’s stusaid Feltman. “This year we have Experience is exactly what Happy dent-run public relations been working out procefirm—has become a reality. dures for selecting and “I’m always keeping in mind that In the summer of 2009, accepting clients, making Jessi Janiec, Lottie Rummel sure the transition of offithis is a student-run business, and I and Laura Peck decided to cers runs as smoothly as poswant my team members to get as create a student-run public sible and trying to ensure much as they can out of the experirelations firm. Three months that the legacy of HVC does later, they began to recruit not end when those leaders ence.” staff members. in May.” — Kristin DeRosa graduate “When we originally startIn just a year’s time, ed, we had no idea the Happy Valley amount of applications we Communications won Best would receive. We received over 100 Social Media for its EcoCAR camValley Communications’ staff memapplications in the first semester,” paign, wrote a press release for bers get. From writing press releases said Janiec, the current executive SleepPhones that was covered in to planning events, students get a director. “It was the experience a lot Passport, a travel magazine, and taste of everything the world of pubof students seemed to be looking helped increase the amount of walklic relations has to offer. for.” ers for the Out of the Darkness Walk And for some students, that expeOne of those eager students was by more than 250 participants and rience helps them achieve their ultiKristin DeRosa, who applied as a mate goal: landing a job after gradua- the money raised by nearly $10,000. sophomore.

“Seeing those 800 people show up tion.

Her first position was as an at the Out of the Darkness Walk and Peck, one of the firm’s founders account associate on the Out of the hearing the total at the end of the and a 2010 Penn State graduate, was Darkness team, a nonprofit organiza- hired by Burson-Marsteller, a global day was the most rewarding part of tion that works to increase suicide last year’s campaign,” said DeRosa. public relations firm. Thanks to her awareness and prevention in Centre “It really showed me that even experience with Happy Valley County. though it was stressful at times, in Communications, Peck was able to “I assisted in creating a new pubthe end this was something we were prove that she was qualified for the all dedicated to and it had a great lic relations campaign for Out of the job.

Darkness,” said DeRosa. “I worked result for the community.”

“HVC was a great experience to on press releases, pitch letters, PSAs Happy Valley Communications talk about in interviews,” said Peck. benefits both sides involved.

“Not only did it showcase that I and street team efforts.”

Organizations and businesses gain After a year of hard work, DeRosa understood the day-to-day workings greater recognition in the communiof a student-run firm, but being a was promoted to account executive and is now the head of a team that ty, and students get real experience founder showed that I had strong working for a firm. leadership skills and, more imporserves Out of the Darkness and “Get out and gain experience. tantly, that I took initiative.”

Global Entrepreneurship Week at The more quality experience you Their initiative and enthusiasm is Penn State. have to talk about, the better. what inspired Linda Feltman, a sen“As an account executive, I am Everyone needs help communicating ior business consultant with Penn working directly with clients on a their message,” said Peck. “After all, State’s Small Business Development daily basis, hearing what they’d like that’s what public relations is all to see happen and showing them dif- Center, to become Happy Valley about.”

Communications’ faculty adviser. ferent ways that my team can help — C a rl e y L a ng ( ’ 11 Ad v /P R ) “In the beginning, I offered comthem achieve those goals,” said

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Student News

VALERIE VISITS Alumna Valerie Plame (’85 Adv), center, the former CIA operative who published a book and was the subject of a movie (“Fair Game” with actress Naomi Watts playing Plame) this past year, met with students in the College’s Washington Program during the fall semester.

Telecommunications Major Serves as Student Marshal

Alumni Chapter of Wisconsin Scholarship.

He also served as the video executive for the independent Penn State Dance Marathon (THON) organization FOTO. “I made videos for the group and promotional material that’s used to recruit members,” said Milnes. “We were fortunate enough to have FOTO’s video broadcast live last year on the THON webcast that was viewed by more than 400,000 people.”

Milnes’ proudest accomplishment at Penn State was his involvement with a team that implemented the primary stages of a telemedicine system in a small village in eastern Africa.

“The system was named Mashavu, which is Swahili for ‘chubby cheeked.’

“Our team won many awards and even published an award-winning paper in the International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering,” said Milnes. “It was a terrific opportunity for me to enhance my telecommunications education.” G

A telecommunications major from Milwaukee, Wis., served as student marshal for the College of Communications during fall commencement exercises Dec. 18, at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Jason Milnes completed his college career with a 3.93 grade-point average. Faculty marshal Krishna Jayakar, associate professor in the Department of Telecommunications, escorted Milnes.

“Dr. Jayakar was a spectacular professor. He Jason Milnes taught me everything I know about the telecommunications industry,” said Milnes. “I really appreciated his enthusiastic method of teaching.”

Milnes took two classes with Jayakar, who teaches telecommunications management and media economics.

During his time at Penn State, Milnes received several scholarships, including the Bradford Brian Communications Scholarship and the Penn State

Latest news about the College ... http://comm.psu.edu 41

Student News Students Produce Annual Homecoming Parade Webcast Collector Bob Swaim pedals one of his more unusual bicycles during the Homecoming parade. (Photo by Annemarie Mountz)

Students from the College of Communications applied what they’ve learned in the classroom when they produced their sixth consecutive live webcast of Penn State’s annual Homecoming parade in October.

Students from two separate classes taught by Maria Cabrera-Baukus handled the production. Students in COMM 498B Webcast Production presented the parade itself while students in COMM 383 Production Administration produced supporting features and segments of the broadcast that focused on different aspects of Homecoming and what goes into organizing the event.

“In my classes I strive to provide the students with ‘real world’ situations. The idea is to have the projects reach beyond the walls of the classroom,” said CabreraBaukus, a senior lecturer in the Department of Telecommunications. “Producing the magazine show about Homecoming and webcast of the Homecoming parade does just that, giving the students a real experience and a real taste of what a production like this is like.”

THON Webcast Set Feb. 18-20 The annual live webcast of the Penn State Dance Marathon (THON), produced by students throughout the 46-hour event, will be available beginning Feb. 18.

Check http://comm.psu.edu for details.

More than two dozen communications students gained hands-on experience while producing the webcast. Jalelah Ahmed, a senior broadcast journalism major from State College, and LaSaundra Powell, a junior broadcast journalism major from Brooklyn, N.Y., served as hosts of the live coverage of the nation’s largest Homecoming parade.

Other faculty and staff from the College of Communications involved in the parade webcast included: Matt Jackson, an associate professor and head of the Department of Telecommunications, and Chris Maurer, Mozley-Bryan and Mike Zelazny, who provided technical support.

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Student News

LOVIN’ LUKE Luke Russert (center) of NBC News and XM Radio met with students in the College’s Washington Program during the fall semester.

Millennials Episodes Debut on BTN Two season-premiere, fall-semester episodes of “We Are: The Millennials,” the magazine-style, news-and-information television program produced by Penn State communications students, debuted back-to-back Nov. 29 on the Big Ten Network.

The episodes—which were shot on location at the Hintz Family Alumni Center and the HUBRobeson Center, respectively—aired consecutively for the first time ever on the network.

Along with airing back to back, the episodes were the first in the series that were completely shot on location.

“Although we enjoyed the studio setting, we felt that moving the shoots to various places on campus would give the show a more diverse look, and would give the viewers a better feel for the subject matter and for Penn State as a whole,” senior Nick Mittereder said.

“We Are: The Millennials” is a 30-minute program produced by students enrolled in COMM 498E Big Ten Network. Taught by Christopher Yorks, senior producer/director at Penn State Public Broadcasting, the course prepares students for a career in television production. The course is a partnership between the College of Communications and Penn State Public Broadcasting.

“This class is the most important class I've taken in my time here at Penn State. Absolutely nothing will make you work your tail off more than realizing that your work is going to be aired nationally on the Big Ten Network,” said Mittereder of Pittsburgh, one of the student producers for the series during the fall semester.

A different set of students will take over the program for the spring semester.

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Notes, Numbers G Elmo, the popular red muppet from “Sesame Street,” joined the ComRadio Morning Show for an exclusive interview on Nov. 11.

The interview, conducted on a day when public schools across the United States were off, came in two parts. The first part was with Elmo—the cute, furry, red muppet everyone knows and loves. After the interview with Elmo, the man behind the muppet, Kevin Clash, spoke about the behind-the-scenes aspect of both Elmo and “Sesame Street” in general. The interview, along with all episodes of the Morning Show, can be found online by searching psumorningshow on Facebook.

G More than 120 students participated in Election Day coverage for “Centre County Report,” ComMedia and ComRadio the first Tuesday in November. Much of their work remains availalble at http://commedia.psu.edu online.

Student News

Ph.D. Student Wins Top Paper Award

A paper by a doctoral student in the College of Communications was selected as the winning entry for the O.S. Braunstein Student Paper Prize, an annual award presented by the Pacific Telecommunications Council.

Sangyong Han earned a monetary award and support for travel expenses to present his paper at the PTC conference in January in Honolulu, Hawaii. The paper, which focuses on a portion of the Digital Copyright Act of 1998, was included in a conference session about consumer behavior.

Han, originally from the Republic of Korea, completed his master's degree in telecommunications from Indiana University in 2009. He earned his bachelor's degree in public administration and public policy from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in 2000.

He has seven years of work experience in the field of telecommunication in Korea.

His primary academic interests include media economics, new media industry and media policy. His research at Penn State has focused on the social and economic impact of information and communication technologies.

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2010-11 NEW MASTER’S DEGREE STUDENTS

Michelle Asmara

Kelly Chernin

Jackie Dunfee

Integrated Undergraduate/Graduate Program

Bachelor’s, American University

Integrated Undergraduate/Graduate Program

Julia Fraustino

Amirah Heath

Heather Hottle

Bachelor’s, University of Scranton

Integrated Undergraduate/Graduate Program

Bachelor’s, Penn State

Nicole Lawrence

Jessica Ruiz

Sabrina Stewart

Tian Zhang

Bachelor’s, Ithaca College

Bachelor’s, Pontifical Catholic University, Puerto Rico

Bachelor’s, Claflin University

Bachelor’s, Tsinghua University

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Student News

2010-11 NEW DOCTORAL DEGREE STUDENTS

Erin Ash

Melanie Formentin

Eun Go

Eun-Hwa Jung

Bachelor’s, College of Charleston; master’s, Penn State

Bachelor’s and master’s, University of South Florida

Bachelor’s, Ewha Woman’s University; master’s, University of Florida

Bachelor’s, Kookmin University; master’s, University of Florida

Andrew Kegerise

Keunyeong Karina Kim

Chenjerai Kumanyika

Ju-Young Lee

Bachelor’s, Lebanon Valley College

Bachelor’s, Ajou University; master’s, Kansas State

Bachelor’s, Penn State

Bachelor’s and master’s, Ewha Woman’s University

Lian Ma

Brandie Martin

Drew Shade

Mu Wu

Master’s, Penn State

Bachelor’s and master’s, Iowa State

Bachelor’s, Utah Valley University; master’s, Virginia Tech

Bachelor’s, Northwest Normal University; master’s, Cleveland State

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ALUMNI CLOSE-UP

Television Tradition

Phil Dubrow serves as general manager at WTAJ-TV in Altoona, which has 17 Penn State alumni on its staff.

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By Lyndsie Smyser (’11)

s Phil Dubrow neared the end of his senior year at Penn State, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. A native of Philadelphia, he wanted to sell advertising for a Pennsylvania television station.

He applied to stations all over the state and was offered a position as an account executive at WTAJ in Altoona.

“I graduated on a Friday, and I started on Monday,” Dubrow said. Dubrow (’95 Brcab) is now the general manager of WTAJ. Dubrow wasn’t always so confident about his chosen career path. “I thought I wanted to be on-air,” he said, but his internship in on-air sports at WPVI in Philadelphia pushed him to look into other areas of broadcasting. He realized that the behind-the-scenes aspect of the industry was more his style.

“It’s really a large organization working for one final product,” he said. At Penn State, Dubrow worked at campus radio stations WEHR and WPSU, where he realized his passion for selling advertising. “It was the thrill of the chase,” he said.

For Kelli Passow, her career in television began at a job

Ambitious, talented alumni make hiring decisions easy for station managers throughout Pennsylvania.

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Alums at Home at WPSU Some College of Communications graduates didn’t even have to leave the University Park campus to find a career in television. Penn State’s own public broadcasting station, WPSU, employs some two dozen Penn Staters.

Dick Knupp (’81 SpCom), a video editor at WPSU, compiled the list of alumni, which exceeds the number of College of Communications alumni employed at any commercial television station.

WPSU is the only public television station in Pennsylvania that is licensed to a college or university.

It airs regular PBS programs in addition to content produced in University Park.

For Whitney Chirdon (’00 Media Studies), a producer at WPSU, the decision to stay at Penn State was easy.

“It was my goal the whole time,” she said.

Chirdon worked at a student-run radio station, and the employees of WPSU acted as mentors, providing her with technical training and helping her to decide upon a career path. “I learned so much from so many people who are still working at WPSU,” she said.

Chirdon worked in the State College area for about a year-and-a-half after graduating. As soon as a job opened up at WPSU, she applied and was offered the position. “People knew me there and recommended me,” she said.

Cole Cullen (’96 Brcab) returned to Penn State to work at WPSU as a lead editor. He had spent nine years in the television industry when he and his wife, who is also a Penn State graduate, decided to move back to State College to start a family. “We always wanted to live in this area,” Cullen said. Cullen has worked at WPSU for five years.

Cullen is an alumnus of the Penn State Blue Band.

He played drums for all four years of his college career.

The week that he started at WPSU, Jeff Hughes, who was also in the Blue Band, suggested that they work on a documentary together about the band. Cullen said that he really enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect with the Blue Band. “It was great to be in that environment again,” he said.

In addition to the opportunity to work with the Blue Band, Cullen enjoys the extra sense of Penn State pride at the station. “On Fridays during football season everyone is wearing their football garb,” he said, “It’s nice to work with people who have that Penn State pride.”

Ted Krichels, the general manager of WPSU, said that pride translates into a stronger workforce.

“Given our close working relationship with the University, having employees who understand and appreciate Penn State is very helpful,” Krichels said.

“Primarily though, Penn State is an excellent source for skilled, educated and creative people.”

—Lyndsie Smyser (’11)

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Alumni Close-Up

fair in the HUB during her senior year at Penn State.

Hoping to find a job before graduating in the spring of 2003, Passow, an advertising major, handed a copy of her resume to WHP, a TV station in Harrisburg. She was offered a position in its sales department, where she still works as an account executive.

Passow said the biggest thing that Penn State taught her was how to communicate with potential employers.

She learned how to set herself apart from other job applicants.

“My boss told me that my handwritten thank-you note was the reason he hired me,” said Passow, a native of Marysville, a small town just outside of Harrisburg.

Passow said her advertising classes and the internships that she completed at WPRR, a radio station in Altoona, and at Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Co., helped her to understand the advertising and broadcasting industries.

Their stories are just two examples of the many Penn State alumni who have carved successful careers at Pennsylvania TV stations. An audit conducted in July by the College of Communications found that 121 Penn State alumni are currently working at Pennsylvania TV stations. Seventy-three of them are College of Communications graduates.

Penn State alumni work at 28 TV stations located in every major city in Pennsylvania. Dubrow’s station, WTAJ in Altoona, has the most alumni with 17. WNEP in Scranton has the second highest number of Penn Staters with 12, and WHTM is third with nine alumni employed at the station.

In addition to the large number of alumni working at Pennsylvania TV stations, a related College of Communications audit found that there are 136 Penn State alumni employed at Pennsylvania radio stations, 59 of whom are College of Communications graduates.

The audit and survey combined results from the Penn State Alumni Association database, individual information from radio and TV stations, and interviews with executives and human resources directors at stations across the state to produce the list of alumni working in radio and TV in Pennsylvania.

Alumni with degrees in journalism, telecommunications, broadcast-cable, broadcast journalism, advertising, public relations, media studies, mass communications, and film and video from the College of Communications currently work in television in Pennsylvania.

The power of blue and white is strong. Dubrow said that WTAJ has a tradition of hiring a lot of Penn Staters.

“We have had a great track record from Penn State graduates,” he said. Dubrow said that WTAJ often hires from its intern program, which is comprised of primarily Penn State students.

Because WTAJ is a local news leader in the State

Shapiro (’77 Journ), who began College area, Dubrow said that it her career at WTAJ in Altoona is beneficial to have so many Penn after graduating, was an intern at State alumni at the station. For WTAJ during her time at Penn example, Chris Owens, the direcState. “Internships are clearly tor of the Penn State football show gateways to jobs,” she said.

“Nit Wits,” and Baylor Long, the Shapiro often travels to Penn producer of WTAJ’s morning State to cover stories and says that show, are both Penn State alumni. it helps to be familiar with the They often reach out to their concampus. As a health reporter she tacts at the University to get spealso covers stories at Penn State’s cial guests such as football players Hershey Medical Center. “It’s and quarterbacks coach Jay hard not to do something about Paterno.

Penn State somewhere along the At WHP in Harrisburg, Passow line,” she said. also finds that it helps being a Shapiro said she doesn’t find it Penn State graduate. She said she difficult to be unbiased when can’t go anywhere without finding reporting on Penn State. She credsomeone who likes Penn State or its classes she took as an underwent to Penn State. Often times, graduate as part of the reason for when she goes to talk to potential her strong reporting ethics. clients, she learns that they went “We learned enough about to Penn State. This makes it easy that at Penn State,” she said. “If it for her to make conversation. was a controversial story I would “Even if we were there decades be sure to make it clear that I was apart it gives us something in coma Penn State graduate.” Shapiro mon,” she said. said also that controversial stories Passow said that working with have come up about Penn State other Penn State alumni at WHP and that she didn’t personally makes her feel like she is part of a cover them. “There are a lot of bigger family. “It was really reassurstories that I have an opinion on, ing,” she said. Passow said the but I am careful to remain unbiparking lot is filled with Penn ased,” she said.

State license plates and stickers.

Shapiro isn’t the only Penn “We are definitely a Penn State proud office.”

State alumnus who is in often in Susan Shapiro works as a news anchor for WGAL. the position to report on her For Dick Schrott, the general alma mater. Tom Sredenschek has been covering sports, manager of WJAC in Johnstown and a member of the including the Penn State beat, since he was a student. He College of Communications Board of Visitors, the trainsays that reporting bias isn’t an issue. ing that students receive at campus facilities such as “I’ve always been clear to separate my lines,” said Innovation Park makes Penn State alumni stand out.

Sredenschek, now a senior sports producer at WTXF in “The hands-on experience that students get with the Philadelphia. equipment there is very valuable to us,” Schrott said.

The biggest thing that helped him to succeed in televi“And the experience that the College of Communications sion was his internship at KYW in Philadelphia, provides being a top-notch school.”

Sredenschek said. “It lets you apply what you learn in Doug Anderson, the dean of the College of class, and it lets you learn the hands-on skills,” he said.

Communications, said that the College is proud to have “You realize that what you learn in a class or from a text such a strong presence in the TV and radio industries. book actually applies.”

“We stress a broad-based education that includes relevant Sredenschek graduated in 1985 with a degree in experience in the classroom and in the field,” he said. telecommunications. At Penn State he covered football Susan Shapiro is very familiar with the importance of and basketball for the campus radio station, WPSU. He fieldwork. She has worked in television for more than served as the station’s sports director for three years. three decades. Shapiro is a news anchor and a health “Those type of things are crucial,” he said, “You get the reporter at WGAL in Lancaster, where she has been for look and feel of the real world, it’s huge.”

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Rob Boulware Selected as Alumni Fellow

A communications expert with impressive credentials, ever-increasing responsibilities and a never-ending willingness to support the College of Communications and its students was honored as a Penn State Alumni Fellow, the highest award given by the Alumni Association, in October.

Rob Boulware was one of 23 most recent recipients of the award. Since the award was established in 1973, only 665 alumni have been honored with the title of Alumni Fellow, designated a permanent and lifelong title by the Penn State Board of Trustees. Those 665 hon- Award winner Rob Boulware (second from right) with (left to right): Penn State Alumni Association orees represent one-eighth President Barry Simpson, Dean Doug Anderson and President Graham Spanier. (Photo by Steve Tressler) of one percent of all public and media relations, and lege or campus as leaders in their 514,000 living Penn State alumni. community relations.

Before joining professional fields and accept an “Alumni are the University’s most FedEx, he managed communicainvitation from the President of the valuable resource,” said Roger L. tions and community relations and University to return to campus to Williams, who earned three degrees was the company spokesman for share their expertise with students, from the University and serves as Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania and faculty and administrators. Each executive director of the Penn State Columbia Gas of Maryland.

Alumni Fellow received a commemAlumni Association. “The Alumni Boulware also previously worked as orative award, designed and hand Fellow program gives us the opportumedia relations coordinator for the cast by alumna Jeanne Stevensnity to showcase the significant conPittsburgh Steelers and the San Sollman, an acclaimed sculptor and tributions Penn Staters make to our Diego Chargers.

He worked as a an Alumni Fellow herself. nation and the world. media relations assistant at six The Penn State Alumni “At the same time, we are giving Super Bowls.

Association is the largest dues-paythese shining stars a chance to share At Penn State, Boulware was the ing alumni association in the world their expertise with students and fac1984 IC4A long jump champion. with more than 164,000 members. ulty-staff while on campus.”

With his selection, Boulware Established in 1870, the Alumni Rob Boulware (’86 Journ), the became just the 44th graduate from Association strives to connect alumCollege of Communications’ honthe College of Communications to ni to the University and to each oree, works as manager of issues be honored as an Alumni Fellow. other, provide valuable benefits to and crisis communications for The program is administered by members and support the FedEx Ground, headquartered in the Penn State Alumni Association University’s mission of teaching, Pittsburgh. in cooperation with the University’s research and service.

At FedEx Ground, with a workacademic colleges, campuses and For information about the force of 70,000, Boulware is responthe Office of the President.

Alumni Association, go to sible for strategic development for Alumni are nominated by a colhttp://www.alumni.psu.edu online. G issues/crisis management plans,

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Alumni News

Alumni News

Alumni News

Alumni Society Board Recognizes Award Winners

Three communications alumni and one faculty member from the College of Communications were selected for awards recognizing their accomplishments and contributions to the College, the University and beyond.

Those selected were: Rennie Dyball, an author and reporter for People magazine; Joe Krushinsky, vice president of Maryland Public Broadcasting; Thomas Loebig, director of digital media content and operations for AccuWeather; and Michael Elavsky, an assistant professor in the Department of FilmVideo and Media Studies.

The awards, sponsored by the College’s Alumni Society Board, were presented Sept. 27.

Dyball (’02 Journ) was selected for the Emerging Professional Award, presented annually to alumni who have graduated in the past 10 years with a record of professional achievements and/or distinguished community service.

Along with her work as a reporter and writer for People and People.com, Dyball has authored two books. She writes about music celebrities, and has authored cover stories for the magazine as well as celebrity features, human interest stories and movie reviews. Her latest book, “A Famous Dog’s Life,” will be published in the spring of 2011.

Krushinsky (’85 Broadcasting/ Telecom), who has worked in public broadcasting for more than 20 years, earned the Outstanding Alumni Award. The award is presented to a graduate of the College who has demonstrated excellence in the field of communications, contributed significantly to their profession, and gained an exemplary reputation among colleagues and students within their community.

At Maryland Public

Award winners (left to right) Rennie Dyball, Michael Elavsky, Joe Krushinsky and Thomas Loebig.

Broadcasting, Krushinsky serves as chief development officer, chief communications officer and as a member of the senior management team.

Before joining Maryland Public Broadcasting, he worked in public broadcasting in Washington, D.C., New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He has earned numerous awards for his work and regularly assists the American Cancer Society, having served as volunteer chair and host of the society’s telethon in Pennsylvania since 1987. He was twice named American Cancer Society volunteer of the year, and twice earned the organization’s leadership award.

Loebig (’80 Journ) was selected for the Achievement Award, which recognizes a graduate or friend of the College whose significant contributions to the College and/or University, in terms of time and talent, have brought distinction to themselves, the College and University.

As director of digital media content and operations for AccuWeather, Loebig manages all of the organization’s digital media,

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including video, news and social networking for platforms such as AccuWeather.com, the AccuWeather television network and AccuWeather.com mobile. He also oversees the on-air look and production of AccuWeather’s digital weather channel. He worked as a news director for several television stations before joining AccuWeather.

Loebig is actively involved at Penn State. He enjoys mentoring students and participates in annual career nights and resume workshops.

Elavsky, an award-winning scholar and respected teacher, was selected for the Excellence in Teaching Award.

The award recognizes faculty who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, contributed significantly to the growth of students’ learning and gained an exemplary reputation among colleagues, students and alumni. Nominees were judged on their ability to inspire students and improve the classroom environment, their breadth and depth of knowledge of their subject and their dedication outside the classroom. G

More than a half dozen books have been written about legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, and the latest takes a slightly different approach by sharing stories from 38 colleagues, contemporaries, former players and friends.

“They Know Joe” was coauthored by Neil Rudel (’78 Journ) who serves as managing editor of the Altoona Mirror and has covered Penn State football since 1977, and Cory Giger, the award-winning Penn State beat reporter for the Altoona Mirror who has covered the Nittany Lions since 2006.

The 144-page book includes forewords by President George H.W. Bush and former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden.

Chapters that follow relate insights and memories from former college football coaches (including Lou Holtz, Johnny Majors, Tom Osborne and Vince Dooley), media personalities (people such as Beano Cook and Chris Fowler), numerous former Nittany Lions players and several family members and friends.

Rudel and Giger conducted dozens of interviews for the book.

They then crafted each chapter as a story about Paterno from a different person’s perspective.

From those different but unified pieces, an enjoyable, entertaining and readable book emerges.

The book may be purchased at paterno.altoonamirror.com online. It costs $14.99 in paperback and $34.99 in hard cover. G

Abdullah Named to Alumni Society Board

Gary Abdullah (’74 Journ), whose professional experience includes broadcasting, marketing and writing, is the newest member of the College’s Alumni Society Board.

Abdullah has spent most of his career at Penn State, working in public television and radio, Independent Learning and Public Information.

For the past dozen years, he has been a writer/editor in communications and marketing for

the College of Agricultural Sciences.

He is a former secretary-treasurer of the State College Chapter of the NAACP, past president of Penn State’s Forum on Black Affairs and is a bass guitarist with Urban Fusion, a jazz-fusion and R&B quartet.

His wife Lydia (’75 Acct.) is a longtime employee of Penn State, and their son Gary Jr. (’03 Telecom, ’07 MA Telecom) is also a graduate of the College. G

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ALUMNI BOOKSHELF

Places of the Underground Railroad A Geographical Guide

Rae Hallstrom (’76 Journ) (2010, Greenwood)

T Hallstrom, an award-winning writer, Ameriku artist, former radio talk show host, patent-holding inventor and engineer, served as a co-author for the book that focuses on cities and towns (organized alphabetically through the 422-page book) that played a role in the history of the Underground Railroad.

How to Build a Fire

And Other Handy Things Your Grandfather Knew Erin Bried (’96 Adv/PR) (2010, Balentine Books)

T Bried, a writer at Self magazine, provides practical advice on a variety of topics in a book that has earned abundant critical praise. She wrote an earlier book—“How to Sew a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew”—that offered advice from everything from rolling a pie crust to dancing the waltz.

Alumni News

Alum, A Veteran Sportswriter, Co-Authors New Paterno Book

Alumni News

RAUCOUS REUNION Assistant Dean Joseph Selden (left) talks with members of the United Soul Ensemble outside Carnegie Building during the well-attended Black Alumni Reunion that was held at the start of the fall semester.

Recipient Repays Support from Film Endowment

A recent graduate gave back to the endowment fund that supported her senior film project.

As a student, Erica Sperber (’10 Film-Video) earned support for her project from the Samuel D. and Lillian K. Abrams Senior Film Endowment. The fund was created

by Gerald Abrams (’61 Bus) and his mother Lillian in memory of his father and her husband Samuel Abrams. The fund exists to assist in financing required senior projects.

Since the creation of the endowment, Abrams has requested that recipients make an effort—if they are able—to make a contribution back to the fund within 10 years of graduating. The repayment is not required.

It is simply a request that after graduating and moving on in their careers the grant recipients will make an effort to support upcoming film-video seniors.

Sperber has already repaid $200 of her $453 grant less than a year after graduating.

“My group and I are happy we are in a position to pay back the grant so soon after graduation,” said Sperber. “We feel fortunate to have jobs in this unstable economy that

allow us the opportunity to give back to Penn State a little at a time.”

The repaid grant money goes into the Senior Film Endowment to give more seniors the necessary financial assistance to create their films.

“It is important to repay the grant we received because we want future senior film groups to be free to make the films they want without worrying about the budget and finances,” said Sperber.

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“We want to do our part to put a little money back into the system so other students have the same opportunities that we did.”

Sperber worked as producer and production manager of “Iowa is Closed Today,” which was written and directed by Ryan Quinn (’10 Film-Video) and included a crew of other film-video students.

The film was recently named best short film at the REEL Independent Film Festival and Extravaganza in Washington, D.C. It was also honored as best student film at the Eighth Annual Pocono Mountains Film Festival.

“We put our all into this project and have been blessed with the rewards coming out of it,” said Sperber. “We are thankful that Penn State allotted us funds to make a project so near and dear to our hearts; we could not have done it without the Penn State film department and we are forever grateful.”

Sperber now works in the technical operations department at FOX News Channel and Business Network.

— Va le r i e F au s t i n e ( ’ 11 A d v / P R )

Sue Paterno (seated left) is interviewed while alumnus Bob McKinnon watches.

Alumnus Chronicles SuePa’s Giving

Alumnus Bob McKinnon (’90 Adv), president of Yellowbrickroad Communications, was on campus in September, leading a crew that taped interviews with Sue Paterno that later aired on the Big Ten Network.

Segments were taped at the Nittany Lion Shrine, Rec Hall and Pattee-Paterno Library.

Paterno, wife of football coach Joe Paterno, was included in the Give Big segment of the Oct. 8 “Big Ten Tailgate,” which aired on the Big Ten Network. She was profiled for her dedication to Special Olympics of Pennsylvania.

The Give Big segments are designed to highlight members of Big Ten communities who display dedication, hard work and teamwork toward a higher goal in their communities. They focus on people who display genuine dedication and a longlasting involvement with a cause.

Paterno has long been associated with Special Olympics and in April 2010, on the day after the annual Blue-White Game, her determination helped make the first annual Special

Olympics 5K at Penn State possible.

The run ended on the 50-yard line in Beaver Stadium.

McKinnon’s company works with government organizations, nonprofit groups and corporations to create communications programs that improve the lives of children and their families. McKinnon has years of experience designing social change programs for a range of organizations, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the International Olympic Committee, the Boys Club of New York and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

In 2009, McKinnon compiled and edited a book, “Actions Speak Loudest,” that featured 32 essays from a diverse group of headliners—from President Jimmy Carter to Rachel Ray. Each chapter pairs a 1,000-word essay with a poignant photograph and closes with two-page calls to action that give readers practical advice on how to become involved in effecting change in their own communities and on the national level.

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G Jayne Jamison (’78 Adv), the vice president and publisher of Seventeen magazine, was honored Nov. 15 by the American Jewish Jayne Committee as a Jamison recipient of the AJC National Human Relations Award.

Jamison is the chair of the College of Communications’ Board of Visitors, and has been recognized by Penn State as a Distinguished Alumna and an Alumni Fellow. In 2008, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in New York City named her “Survivor of the Year.”

G Veteran journalist John Severance (’85 Journ) was named editor of the Los Alamos Monitor, effective Dec. 1. Severance had most recently worked as editor of the Mountain Mail, a weekly newspaper in Southern New Mexico. He has worked for papers in Palm Beach, Fla., Lexington, Ky., and State College.

Severance lives in Sanfa Fe, N.M., and owns a small horse ranch with his girlfriend Jill, a horse trainer and restaurant manager. When they were living in Kentucky, they trained a stakeswinning horse that earned more than $200,000.

Severance grew up near Washington, D.C. G “Cost of a Soul,” a film by Sean Kirkpatrick (’06 Film-Video), made its world premiere at The Cinequest Film Festival and was nominated for both the Audience Award and the Special Jury Award.

Alumni News

Notes, Numbers

Alumni Notes 1960s

Stu Chamberlain (’65 Journ) won his 10th Writers Guild of America award for the ABC Radio program “Paul Harvey: An American Life.”

1970s

Archie DiFante (’75 Journ) works as a research archivist for the Air Force in Montgomery, Ala. The position has made him the subject of news media reports at times, specifically in instances when he has assisted German agencies in locating and defusing unexploded bombs from World War II. Kay Stephens (’77 Journ) is a news reporter for the Altoona Mirror. At the annual convention of National Federation of Press Women, she placed second in the investigative reporting category and received an honorable mention in the news reporting category.

1980s

Diane Salvatore (’81 Journ) is the editor-in-chief of Prevention magazine. Previously, Salvatore was the editor-in-chief of Ladies’ Home Journal.

Tony Phyrillas (’83 Journ) received a first-place award for column writing in the 2010 editorial contest sponsored by the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors.

He is a city editor and political columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. Kathy Knaub-Hardy (’84 Comm) is a freelance writer for trade magazines, covering topics ranging from radiology and medical technology to family entertainment. Contact info: good.inc@verizon.net Lisa Bosak Lucas (’85 Telecom) is an executive producer for Animal Planet. She oversees a number of

Alumna Lisa Lucas (’85 Telecom) joins host and extreme angler Jeremy Wade during a production of the River Monster “Killer Snakehead” episode in Florida.

the network's series and specials, including “I'm Alive,” “Pit Bulls & Parolees,” “Stranger Among Bears” and “River Monsters.”

Lydia Reeves Timmins (’87 Telecom) is an assistant professor at the University of Delaware. She received her Ph.D. in mass media and communication from Temple University in May 2010.

George Gabel (’88 Telecom) is an administrator at Camp “Positive” Motivation in the Virgin Islands.

1990s

Bill Reader (’92 Journ, ’00 MA Media Studies) is an associate professor with tenure at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. He co-authored “Moral Reasoning for Journalists: Second Edition” (Praeger, 2008).

Valerie Francois (’93 Journ) is director of strategic marketing and communications for The Ranney School in Tinton Falls, N.J. She is a former member of the College's Alumni Society Board. She was for-

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merly senior program and educational outreach manager at Siemens Foundation.

Jessica Rubin Cohen (’94 Adv) launched the website www.bucksmontmom.com. She lives in Richboro, Pa. Contact info: Jessica@bucksmontmom.com Chad Hershberger (’94 Journ) and wife Sarah welcomed daughter Clair Margaret on Dec. 29, 2009. He is executive director of Camp Mount Luther and serves as part-time director of communications for Upper Susquehanna Synod, ELCA. In addition, he teaches communications courses part-time at Susquehanna University and Pennsylvania College of Technology.

They live in Millmont, Pa. Kelly (Tabay) Hainer (’98 Journ) is an executive producer for WEWSTV in Cleveland, Ohio.

Ira Rosenweig (’99 Film-Video) is a producer and director for Wavemaker.

Erin Trench (’00 ) was appointed to the board of directors of Meeting Professionals International.

Scott Berchman (’02 Flim-Video) is director of video production and online media at Sonoran Studios.

Patrick Raring (’02 Media Studies) is a captain in the U.S. Air Force.

Courtney Brooke (’03 Journ) is a communications specialist for Comcast Cable.

Jeff Sechler (’03 Telecom) is an IT consultant for the College of Liberal Arts at Penn State. He published his first book, “A Young Adult’s Guide to Safety in the Digital Age,” in September 2010.

Goldie (Braskey) Van Horn (’03 Journ) and her husband William (’02 Bus) welcomed daughter Caroline Victoria on Sept. 6, 2009.

Contact info: goldievanhorn@gmail.com Daniel Hausmann (’04 Journ) is a reporter for Dow Jones & Co. David Rousch (’04 Journ) is a teacher at Harry S. Truman High School in the Bronx, N.Y. He also is a freelance reporter, anchor and assignment editor for News 12 the Bronx and News 12 Brooklyn.

Brian Gardner (’05 Journ) is an assistant professional with Kimberton Golf Club.

Katy Lindenmuth (’05 Journ) is deputy copy chief with Cosmopolitan magazine.

Diana Peters-Wilkosz (’06 Adv/PR) is a senior media planner/buyer for the Pittsburgh office of Mullen. She was recently nominated for the BizMark Award in the category of

Well-Prepared Alumna Welcomes Opportunity as Miss Black USA For Osas Ighodaro, competing in pageants is nothing new. Since age 15, Ighodaro has participated in many competitions, developing her talents and selfesteem along the way. Her most recent achievement was being crowned Miss Black USA. “Participating in the Miss Black USA pageant was certainly a goal of mine,” said Ighodaro (’05 Journ). “I always wanted to be part of a pageant that celebrated and valued Osas Ighodaro me for who I am.”

After graduating from Penn State, she pursued an acting career, starring in feature, independent and short films.

Ighodaro used her acting skills to perform a monologue, “What If I am a Black Woman,” for the pageant.

“I wanted to perform something that would be memorable, but that would also send a positive message,” she said. “I performed the monologue in four dialects to showcase that even though black women are diverse, we all are beautiful in our own ways.”

Winning the title of Miss Black USA comes with many responsibilities, including working as a celebrity advocate for the Heart Truth Campaign to raise awareness of heart disease, the No. 1 killer of women in the United States.

“I hope to use my crown to raise awareness by reaching women at a

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much younger age so that we can prevent the disease later. I want to encourage women to lead a healthy lifestyle and know their risk,” she said.

Using her title to give back is especially exciting for Ighodaro, who has always believed in the importance of community service.

As a global ambassador, Ighodaro plans to travel extensively to raise awareness for both heart disease and her personal cause, malaria awareness.

Her parents, Joseph and Patricia, are originally from Nigeria, making Ighodaro the first Nigerian-American to be crowned Miss Black USA. “I am extremely excited about the opportunity to travel to the continent of Africa and return to my roots,” she said.

As Miss Black USA 2010, Ighodaro serves the global community and acts as a role model for others—especially women and young girls. Her goal is to make an impact on their lives and promote their self-confidence and happiness.

“Spreading the idea that positivity is not just a feeling, but a state of mind, is very important to me.

Having a positive mindset can take you so far in life,” said Ighodaro. “I want to inspire them to never give up on their dreams.”

— Carley Lang (’11 Adv/PR)

Alumni Notes

2000s

Alumni Notes

Advertising Agency Employee of the Year.

Gina Zammit (’06 Adv/PR) works for Wine Cork Media as an online TV host and writer. She traveled to Seoul, Korea in July to host the “Sell Your Seoul” campaign for the tourism board.

Allison Busacca (’07 Journ) is a copy editor with the BBC’s travel web site.

Erica Tempesta (’07 Journ) is working with Teach for America teaching English at a high school in Houston.

Brian Sein (’07 Journ) is an assistant editor with the Philadelphia Eagles Television Network.

Mia Aquino (’08 Journ) is a researcher on the national desk for CNN. Amber Backes (’08 Adv/PR) is a contact center representative for the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Jennifer Beaumont-Schroeder (’08 Ad/PR) is a goalkeeper coach for Xcalibur Field Hockey. Her responsibilities include creating practice plans and supervising more than 20 goalkeepers during practices and tournaments.

Michael Tomko (’08 Journ) is completing his third year a staff writer at GoDuke.com, where he serves as managing editor of GoDuke Weekly.

He as been accepted to The Medill School at Northwestern University and will begin his graduate studies there in June 2011.

Stef Davis (’09 Journ) is a reporter with WBRE-TV in Wilkes-Barre.

Brandon Taylor (’09 Journ) works as an editor at the Beijing Review.

2010s

Katelyn Bennett (’10 Visual Journ) is a photo editing intern with AOL. Rich Coleman (’10 Journ) works as a reporter at the Las Vegas Sun. Eric Jou (’10 Journ) works as a reporter with China Daily.

Katy Hopkins (’10 Journ) is doing a post-graduate internship with U.S. News & World Report.

Chase Kenderes (’10 Journ) is a producer of the Pittsburgh Pirates pre- and post-game shows on WPGB and the Pirates Radio Network.

Walter Kruhoeffer (’10 Telecom) works at WeatherNation in Excelsior, Minn. His responsibilities include video and audio post-production and web design work.

Demetria Giles (’08 Journ) is an early childhood educator with KIPP DC: LEAP Academy. She also serves as a Saturday School coordinator, Professional Learning Community facilitator and mentor teacher.

Lauren Kuefner (’10 Adv/PR) is an ad operations associate for Time Inc., CNNMoney.Com. Contact info: kuefner@gmail.com

Heather Hottle (’08 Journ) is a copy editor at the Centre Daily Times in State College.

Erin Lane (’10 Journ) works as an economist with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Corey McLaughlin (’08 Journ) works as a writer for Lacrosse Magazine.

Ashlee Leuschner (’10 Adv/PR) is an account coordinator for News America Marketing.

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sws102@psu.edu Lauren McCormack (’10 Journ) works as a reporter for the Daily Local News in West Chester.

Andrew McGill (’10 Journ) works as a reporter at the Morning Call in Allentown.

Natalya Stanko (’10 Journ) is doing a post-graduate internship with Sierra magazine.

Chris Stewart (’10 Journ) works as a reporter at CBS 3 in Springfield, Mass.

Lauren Sujkowski (’10 PR) has worked this year for the office of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix. She was also named the fifth winner of the Tim Mickle BCS Internship.

Rachel Thomas (’10 Media Studies) is an assistant at Long Story Short. She resides in Washington, D.C. Ryan Quinn (’10 film-video) won a pair of festival awards for his film, "Iowa Is Closed Today." His film earned "Best Short Film" at the REEL Independent Film Festival & Extravaganza in Washington, D.C., and "Best Student Film Award" at the Pocono Mountains Film Festival.

Quinn works as a film editor for Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics.

John Walk (’10 Journ) works as a reporter at the York Dispatch.

Jacob Wilkins (’10 Journ) works as a play-by-play announcer for the Hudson Valley Renegades minor league baseball team.

Donald W. Davis Jr., a Penn State alumnus and longtime supporter of the College of Communications and University who steadfastly believed in “doing the right thing,” died peacefully Saturday, Sept. 11, at his summer home in Chilmark, Mass., surrounded by his loving family. He was 89.

Davis (’42 Journ), retired president and chief executive officer of The Stanley Works, was a former resident of New Britain, Conn. In his retirement years, he resided in Hobe Sound, Fla., and Chilmark.

He was born in Springfield, Mass., in 1921, to Donald Walter and Laura Mansfield Davis. At age 15, he and his family moved to State College, and his father, a communications professor, established the advertising program at Penn State. Under his leadership, enrollment in advertising courses grew to be the largest in the country, and he established a commitment to ethics that remains a defining characteristic of the program more than 70 years later.

Davis honored his father’s memory with the creation of the Donald W. Davis Symposium in Advertising Ethics and by establishing the Don Davis Professorship in Ethics. He also endowed a Trustee Scholarship in his sister’s name, the Maralyn Davis Mazza Trustee Scholarship.

“Establishment of the professorship in ethics is the result of the convergence of a number of factors,” said Davis, who cited his father’s legacy of emphasizing ethics when the professorship was created in 2005. “There has been an increased interest and attention of society generally concerning ethical behavior, resulting from the excesses of the dot-com revolution, recent corporate scandals and excessive executive compensation. Ethical dilemmas exist every day for com-

Alumnus and benefactor Donald W. Davis Jr. always believed in “doing the right thing.”

municators, from the always present tensions between news and partisan opinion to the conflict between a communicator’s own sense of social responsibility and the motivation for commercial success.”

Doug Anderson, dean of the College of Communications, said Davis was one of Penn State’s greatest graduates.

“Don was one of the College’s best friends and supporters,” Anderson said. “I have never known anyone quite like Don. He was a brilliant leader, unselfish, articulate, astute, devoutly loyal to the things he held dear, compassionate and rock solid in all he did. His legacy in the College will extend forever.”

After Davis earned his degree from Penn State, he joined the Navy and became a first lieutenant during World War II. Upon his return, he entered Harvard Business School on the GI Bill, graduating with a master’s degree in business administration in 1948.

He joined The Stanley Works in 1948 as general manager of labor relations. His career at Stanley would span 40 years as he progressed to executive vice president

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and director in 1962, and to president and chief executive officer in 1966. At age 44, as the youngest president in Stanley’s history, he initiated putting The Stanley Works on the New York Stock Exchange, which resulted in the opportunity for extraordinary domestic and international growth.

Davis transformed the company into an aggressive leader in the globally competitive tool and hardware industry. During his tenure, Stanley made more than 25 acquisitions and penetrated new markets. He helped pioneer the do-it-yourself industry and even penned the company slogan: “Stanley helps you do things right.”

His leadership style was characterized by his natural charisma, ability to connect with his audience in a clear and straightforward manner, as well as his vision, steadfast integrity and lifelong community involvement.

He went on to serve as chairman of the board from 1977 to 1989.

Along with serving as chairman for the National Association of Manufacturers, the Connecticut Business and Industry Association,

Alumni News

Alumnus, Longtime Supporter Donald W. Davis Dies at 89

Alumni Notes

and the National Institute for Dispute Resolution, he served on multiple other boards.

Upon retirement from Stanley at the mandatory age of 70, Davis headed up a group of retired executives who traveled the globe working with entrepreneurs in underdeveloped countries. He went on to teach leadership, ethics and public policy for more than 20 years at MIT’s dual master’s degree program, Leaders for Manufacturing, based on his personal mantras of what it takes to be an ethical and effective leader.

He was an avid athlete: a passionate tennis and squash player, fisherman, sailor, skier and swimmer. He wrote three children’s books and a book of poetry. At home, he was a family man, gardener and down-to-earth philosopher.

To his extended family, he was the personification of his favorite sayings, the three Zs, which are zip, zest and pizzazz, and the three As, which are attitude, awareness and authenticity. Whether he was captaining a family fishing expedition on his boat Cravin’ It, demonstrating the finer points of wielding a clam rake, cooking up enough blueberry pancakes to feed an army or sharing the wisdom of his years with his grandchildren, he was the heart and soul of his loving family.

I Chance Bruce Conner (’74 Journ), a novelist, journalist and writing coach, died at his downtown Denver home in October. He was 58.

Conner, who was starting a new career as a writing teacher and tutor at Metropolitan State College and the Community College of Denver, published his first novel in 2009.

“Career Killer—A Journalist's Wild Ride with Scotch, Sex and the Sundance Kid” examined the rise and fall of a talented but flawed reporter covering events that

IN MEMORIAM I Thomas V. Kelly (’47 Journ), a native of Washington, D.C., who worked as a journalist in the city and served as a community leader for years, died June 17, 2010, as the result of a heart attack. He was 86.

Kelly worked for the Washington Daily News in the 1950s and 1960s.

He covered two presidential administrations (Eisenhower and Kennedy) as well as the congressional hearings led by controversial Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

He was the husband of Marguerite Kelly, who wrote for The Washington Post style section and the father of Michael Kelly, who was killed in 2003 while covering the U.S. invasion of Iraq for Atlantic Monthly.

In 1965, Kelly became the editor of a monthly Canadian magazine and worked as a freelance writer for publications such as The New York Times, People magazine and the Nation. Later in his career, he was a feature writer for the Washington Times.

He was a respected and talented writer, but he was just as well known as a fixture in the Capitol

Hill neighborhood where he lived most of his life. In fact, he spent all but 11 years of his life on the same block on Constitution Avenue.

Part of that time away was spent at Penn State, and after he earned his degree he worked in Louisiana (at the Baton Rouge State-Times and New Orleans Item) before returning to Washington, D.C. He was well known for writing annual Christmas plays and casting neighborhood children to appear in them. He and his wife were known for hosting huge parties at their home, and the residence became a de-facto community hub.

Kelly was born Aug. 2, 1923. He graduated from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., and worked at The Washington Post as a copy boy before enlisting in the Navy. During World War II, he served on the Navy’s last sail-powered ship—the USS Gueinevere, a triple-masted ship that escorted ships across the Atlantic Ocean.

At the time of his death, Kelly was working on a book about the life and death of his son.

I Wilson L. Barto Sr. (’51 Journ) died Monday, Nov. 1. He was 83. An Army veteran from World War II, he was survived by his wife, June, as well as his daughter Gwen (and her husband Brent), his son James (and his wife Susan), four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Conner himself covered, including the Oklahoma City bombing trial and JonBenét Ramsey murder.

Conner was born in 1952 in Washington, D.C., and moved with his family to State College, where he graduated from State College Area High School and Penn State.

His career as a reporter and editor spanned more than 30 years and included working at the Pennsylvania Mirror, Colorado Daily, Boulder Daily Camera, Rocky Mountain News, USA Today, Denver Post, Centre Daily Times

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and Winter Park Manifest.

He left daily journalism to work as communications director for three congressional campaigns in Colorado and to focus on writing novels. At the time of his death, Conner was in the final editing stages of his second novel, “Career Inferno.”

Conner loved hiking in the Colorado mountains, dogs of all varieties, the Colorado Rockies and Penn State football.

Blog, Newswire Provide Regular College Updates A blog and a monthly e-mail update provide alumni and friends with easy access to the latest information about the College of Communications.

A link to the blog may be found on the College page at http://comm.psu.edu online, and it gets updated several times each week.

The brief monthly notes, part of Penn State Newswire and PSUTXT system, provide a paragraph or so of information on a handful of topics. Each bit of news ends with either contact details or a URL where readers can get more information.

For Newswire subscriptions visit, http://newswires.psu.edu/ Also, please pass along updates to your e-mail with the College of Communications when you can.

Individual entries on the blog preview upcoming events or provide description of and reaction to recently completed activities in the College.

The Newswire, one of just a handful for individual colleges at Penn State, focuses on Collegerelated activities as well as news about alumni, students, faculty and staff.

It also includes important dates and events at Penn State in general. Those range from the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts to athletic events, the start of academic semesters, commencement activities and the timing of finals week.

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