CommunicatorW11

Vol. 16, No. 1

Winter 2011

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

Contents

17

4

12

CARNEGIE NEWS

Feature: Internship Program an Ongoing Success Story PCN Partnership • Curley Center Provides Opportunity

16

FACULTY/STAFF NEWS Feature: Pioneering Film Faculty Member Retires Documentary Honored • Staff Awards

28

DEVELOPMENT NEWS Page Center Thrives with Support • Honor Roll Student Earns Scholarship • Travel Fund Established

46

STUDENT NEWS College Among Leaders in Producing Minority Graduates PRSSA Students Win Award • Marshal Selected

54

ALUMNI NEWS

46 DEPARTMENTS

From the Dean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Alumni Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 College Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Contacting the College . . . . . . . . . .67

Jaffe Named Volunteer of the Year Heisse Leads National Group • 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 12-43

41 ON THE COVER: More than 10,000 Penn State students and community members converged on the Old Main lawn for a candlelight vigil on Nov. 11. The vigil was organized in large part by two communications students. For more about the vigil, related hapenings and how communications students played a role during the fall semester, see pages 32-37. (Photo by Jill Knight)

I

f I had a dollar for every time during the past 12 years I saw Bob Martin dash downstairs to the Carnegie Building lobby at 3 p.m. to grab a quick lunch, I could make a sizable contribution to the College’s internship endowment fund.

Bob, our assistant dean for internships and career placement, isn’t heading to lunch in the middle of the afternoon because he didn’t arrive at work until 12:30. On the contrary, he is routinely at his desk by 8 in the morning to meet practically non-stop with students, respond to e-mail, send email, take and make telephone calls—always striving to better serve our majors and the companies that hire them.

When he comes up for air, it’s mid-afternoon. With his work ethic, it is no wonder that Bob has facilitated the placement of our students in nearly 6,000 for-credit internships since he joined the College in October 1999.

I arrived on July 1, 1999, and I am proud to say that Bob was my first hire. I’m embarrassed to admit, though, that we didn’t have money in the budget for the position. We gambled that, somehow, we’d find funds to cover the hire. Fortunately, we did.

And talk about hiring the right person.

In 1994-1995, just five years before Bob joined us, the College facilitated the placement of 60 students in for-credit internships.

In his first year, Bob placed 275 students in forcredit internships. The next year, in 2000-2001, he placed 359—a 31 percent increase.

He and his office topped out in 2009-2010 when they placed 659. [See story on pages 4-7.]

And lest you think that Bob has simply created a robotic but extremely effective assembly line, think again.

Our students receive incredible personal attention—day in and day out—in our Office of Internships and Career Placement from Bob; Colette Rodger, manager of internships; and Stephanie Girouard, administrative assistant and technology whiz.

Stephanie keeps her computer smoking while managing the flow of scores of students each day; Colette counsels a steady stream of internship applicants daily; and Bob packs his long days with quick visits by students who drop in unannounced with questions, along with scheduled 60- to 90-minute one-on-one networking and job-seeking strategy sessions with seniors who are in the market for post-graduation positions.

When Bob is not looking students in the eye from across his desk, he is touting his program at Spend a Summer Day sessions for hundreds of rising high-school seniors who are making

From the Dean

campus visits; holding evening resume-writing workshops; energizing our majors at internship information sessions; serving as a faculty adviser to two student organizations; toiling as business adviser to ComRadio; or teaching a fall-semester three-credit course in broadcast/cable sales and promotion.

Bob’s generosity to the College and its students goes beyond the 60-hour weeks he unselfishly works; it extends to his financial support of the internship program he oversees. He and his wife have made a personal commitment, through the establishment of the “Bob and Marylou Martin Internship Award,” which annually will honor and recognize students who are participating in summer internships.

We might not have had money in our budget earmarked for an internship director when we hired Bob a dozen years ago, but as I look back on it, it might well have been the best investment we’ve ever made. He has made it pay quarterly dividends— without fail—for our students.

3

CARNEGIE CLOSE-UP

Excellent Experience

State College radio station WBHV-FM (B-94) regularly utilizes numerous interns, especially for its “Morning Zoo” program, led by P.J. Mullen (front row, second from right). Students help produce the show, work at remote broadcasts and learn more about the business of radio broadcasting.

Internship program thrives thanks to commitment of faculty/staff, support from donors and efforts of motivated, well-prepared students

W

hen the email hit his in box, its subject line caught Eric Rosini’s attention, just as planned.

While Rosini still has the email, he also has that subject line burned in his memory. It was phrased as a question: “Do You Want to Be Part of the Best Morning Show in All of Happy Valley?”

Rosini’s answer was an enthusiastic “yes,” and after an interesting application process—which included a group interview with a Christmas theme in the late summer—he was one of 13 College of Communications students chosen for a for-credit internship at WBHV-FM (B-94) during the fall semester.

Rosini enjoyed every moment of the experience.

“If I could have scripted it, I would not have done anything differently,” said Rosini, of Clifton Heights, Pa., who graduated with a degree in telecommunications in December.

After starting his career at Penn State Brandywine, he arrived at the University Park campus and initially focused on his grades. As a result, he did not apply for an internship until he moved closer to graduation but the experience ultimately helped him determine his career path.

Interns at B-94 work on the station’s morning show, staff remote broadcasts and handle a variety of other duties.

4

Eight endowments in the College of Communications support students who are selected for internships. During the past year, 61 students received support through the competitive process.

Here’s a look at the funds, their market value and how many students they supported in the past year.

College of Communications Alumni Society Neal J. Friedman Internship Fund $289,762.96 / 24 recipients College of Communications Internship Grant $25,208.83 / three recipients Honora and William Jaffe Scholarship in Communications $53,634.19 / five recipients Marvin and Josie Krasnansky Internship Grant $162,445.90 / 13 recipients A.W. (Dude) McDowell Memorial Scholarship $143,232.56 / four recipients Dorey Scheimer has completed several internships, including a fall semester stint with Cox Television in Washington, D.C., where she helped cover stories in the nation’s capital.

Morgan Signs/Barash Advertising Internship Award in Advertising $10,585.26 / one recipient

“It was interesting to see it all come together when we first started, and then to help make it happen as the semester progressed,” said Rosini, who earned three credits for his work. “I was pretty sure I’d like it, and completing the internship helped a lot. I loved it.

It’s exactly the kind of thing I want to do.”

Rosini’s internship experience—and that of more than 500 communications students a year—are made possible because of the Office of Internships and Career Placement. Led by Assistant Dean Bob Martin, the staff works to match students with internship sites all year round.

During the just-completed fall semester, a record 161 students completed for-credit internships. In the past 12 years, the number of internships for fall, spring and summer has increased steadily—from 275 in 1999-2000 to 659 during 2009-10 (see chart, page 6).

“We have an expansive database of contacts and locations students can utilize when they’re looking for internships,” Martin said. “We encourage students to complete multiple internships. We want to put them in the best position possible.”

Along with Martin, the office includes Colette Rodger, manager of internships, and Stephanie Girouard, administrative assistant. They work closely together to provide much more than just contact infor-

Gregory Michael Schiff Memorial Scholarship $58,758.74 / five recipients Robert K. Zimmerman Memorial Internship Endowment $50,678.25 / five recipients PA Association of Broadcasters Internship in Honor of Bob Zimmerman No market value, but annually funds $3,000 per year as part of a 10-year commitment. / one recipient

mation for internship sites.

The office evaluates sites from year to year, remains in almost constant contact with recruiters, and sorts and sends information about internships and related opportunities to students on a daily basis.

“It’s great to have that kind of support,” said Dorey Scheimer, a broadcast journalism major from Mt. Lebanon, Pa., who spent the fall semester in Washington, D.C., completing an internship with Cox Television. She has also completed internships at the Centre Daily Times in State College, B-94, WJAC-TV in Altoona/Johnstown and with “American Idol.”

“Not all of those were for-credit, but ‘American Idol’ was, and the office always seems like it’s there to

5

Carnegie Close-Up

STRONG SUPPORT

Carnegie Close-Up

)!!" help students in every way,” Scheimer said. (!!"

“They encourage students to do more than one '!!" internship, and I’m glad I did that.”

Support for the &!!" internship program also comes %!!" from alumni and benefactors.

Endowments to help students with $!!" expenses while they’re completing #!!" internships have grown to nearly $1 million in the past !" decade (see box, #***+$!!!" $!!!+$!!#" $!!#+$!!$" $!!$+$!!%" $!!%+$!!&" $!!&+$!!'" $!!'+$!!(" $!!(+$!!)" $!!)+$!!," $!!,+$!!*" $!!*+$!#!" $!#!+$!##" page 5), with 61 students drawing For-credit communications internships—like those completed by Eric Rosini (inset) during the fall semessupport from the ter at State College radio station B-94—have increased steadily during the past 12 years, from 275 in funds in the past 1999-2000 to a record 659 in 2009-2010. year alone. decade, Penn State has had 67 students selected for Such support is necessary because students who highly competitive Dow Jones News Fund editing embark on internships usually incur housing and livinternships, the second-highest total in the country. ing expenses. Plus, many communications-related Overall, internship sites range from on-campus locainternship sites typically do not pay—even though a tions at Penn State to professional settings in New student completing a for-credit internship must pay for York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and many, the academic credits. many more. With an expansive database of more than “We’re lucky to have the endowments, and we hope 3,000 internship sites, students can select locations they continue to grow because internships are a vital that interest them and then work closely with Martin, part of the educational experience and preparing stuRodger and Girouard to find an opportunity that dents to get jobs,” Martin said. “Generally, companies matches their interest. that are closer to entertainment do not pay—places like In that way, using a strategy that Martin emphasizes movie studios, production companies and television with every student, those seeking internships become networks. informed and prepared partners in the process.

“They have highly coveted positions, so they know “They’re empowered because they have options,” they do not need to pay because they’re going to get Martin said. “Hopefully, they’ll have choices and they applicants no matter what. With support from endow- can find something that interests them.” ments, we can help some students accept opportuniIf those interests become a reality, completing an internship can help students confirm what they ties they might otherwise not be able to accept.” believe is a career interest, or discover that a selected At the same time, Penn State students have proven position might not be exactly what they like. their value. The number of students earning intern“All my internships have been enjoyable, and I’ve ships with major companies has grown significantly as liked each one I was able to work with, but you do disa result. cover what you might not like as much when you go For example, last summer Penn State had five interns at ESPN and six at mlb.com—in both instances through the internship,” Scheimer said. “I’ve known since I was in fourth grade that my interest was broadthe most of any school in the country. In the past

6

Commitment to Two Distinct Career Fairs Provides Huge Opportunities for Students Students seeking internships and employment have a competitive advantage in the College of Communications if they participate in a pair of communications-specific job fairs each spring.

“We’re committed to providing those for students, and the number of recruiters we get for them grows every year. I do not know of another communications program in the country that conducts two major job fairs just for its students,” said Bob Martin, assistant dean for internships and career placement. “And those are in addition to the University-wide career fair that happens every fall.”

The two communications job fairs— JobExpo.Comm(unications) and Success in the City—are conducted during the spring semester.

This spring, JobExpo.Comm(unications) will be held March 23 and Success in the City on April 20.

The events differ in location, with the former more of a regional event conducted on campus and the latter featuring national, Fortune 500-type recruiters in New York City.

“We’re simply not able to get some recruiters to come to campus, so we decided to take our students to them,” Martin said. “It’s been a huge hit with recruiters and students to have Success in the City right there in New York City.

“It’s a busy and special day for students and it’s easy pickings for recruiters because we’re putting top-notch students right in front of them, in some cases just a few blocks away from their headquarters.”

In 2011, JobExpo.Comm(unications) brought 56 companies and 106 recruiters to campus.

Meanwhile, when students arrived in New York City (and the hundreds of students typically converge as part of a convoy of as many as a halfdozen buses), the students were greeted by 133 recruiters from 57 companies.

“We’re always working to grow our numbers,” Martin said. “That’s in terms of companies and recruiters, as well as students. In the communications field, companies are coming to us because they’re looking for talent at that time, so we try to put students in the best possible position to get a job— and having two job fairs is a big part of that.”

G

7

Carnegie Close-Up

cast journalism, and the internships helped me focus that and understand that my passion would be as a producer.

“I like being able to have a little more control over what ends up on the screen and in shaping stories.”

An emphasis on internships represents an integral part of the wellrounded educational approach prac- Bob ticed in the College. Administrators Martin know hands-on, real-life experience can complement classroom instruction in a powerful manner—and that approach has proven worthwhile in the past dozen years.

“Internships help complete our mission,” said Dean Doug Anderson, who made Martin his first full-time hire after he came to Penn State in 1999. “We’re commitColette ted to an approach that allows stuRodger dents to leverage what they use in the classroom with internship opportunities to make them marketable when it comes time to look for a job.”

Scheimer said her broadcast journalism classes—COMM 360 Radio Reporting and COMM 465 Television Reporting—were vital “prerequisites” for her TV-related internships. They were not required, Stephanie but she wisely waited to apply for Girouard the opportunity with Cox Television until she had completed key classroom work.

“I could not have done the internship at Cox without those classes,” she said. “They helped ease the transition. It was a demanding internship, but my experience in class and my time at WJAC helped make it so much better. I was able to contribute right away.”

Cox Television owns 11 TV stations across the United States and its bureau in the nation’s capital helps feed those stations stories of national or local interest—everything from national news to local newsmakers visiting Washington, D.C. “Going there after being at WJAC just gave me a better sense of what kinds of things local stations want from the D.C. bureau, so I was able to help with stories and provide insights,” said Scheimer, who will graduate in May. “It was a great experience, because I was prepared.”

G

Carnegie News

A look over the director’s shoulder in the control room shows on-air options and participants during a taping of “Journalists Roundtable” conducted on campus in November. Participants included: Knight Chair Malcolm Moran; Anne Richards, a senior majoring in broadcast journalism; Centre Daily Times reporter Anne Danahy; and PCN moderator Corinna Wilson. (Photo by Curt Chandler)

PCN Partnership Provides Unrivaled Opportunity

Tand Pennsylvania Cable

he College of Communications

Network (PCN) have partnered to launch a Centre County Bureau, creating the only newsroom for a statewide network on a college or university campus in Pennsylvania.

The bureau, located in the ComMedia facility at Innovation Park, is staffed by two student interns each semester. The students each have the opportunity to learn the inner workings of newsroom production, from research to shooting and editing footage for use on air at PCN. Students selected as the program’s first interns are Cassandra Hom, a junior from Lafayette Hill, Pa., and Alexandra Marzella, a sophomore from East Brunswick, N.J. The College currently operates a

24/7 newsroom at the all-digital, high-definition facility where students produce news programs and webcasts, including the “Centre County Report” that airs on Campus Cable and on WPSU-TV. “We’re excited about our partnership with PCN,” said Dean Doug Anderson. “We are particularly pleased that our students will profit from the partnership, just as we are pleased that the relationship will enable PCN to provide even stronger coverage of events and newsmakers in this region.”

In 1979, PCN began with an educational mission that used cable technology to offer distance learning, making it one of the first in the nation to offer such a public service.

“Now it is even more exciting to

8

see us move into this educational partnership which marks yet another first,” said Brian Lockman, PCN president and CEO. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for our network to expand its coverage and bring events of statewide importance from Centre County to those throughout the state.”

Under the arrangement, Penn State faculty from disciplines across campus and the University will have more opportunities to share their knowledge through guest appearances and interviews on PCN programs.

In November, PCN conducted an episode of its popular “Journalists Roundtable” from the Innovation Park facility. Typically the show originates from the network’s facilities in Harrisburg, but

Carnegie News

the agreement with Penn State allows the show to more frequently include guests from central Pennsylvania.

As part of the agreement, PCN shows will originate from the oncampus studios on a regular basis.

In addition, the on-campus presence will help support PCN’s visits to campus in March as it covers state championships in all four classifications for girls’ and boys’ basketball, which are contested at Penn State.

“ComMedia exists to create professional opportunities for our students both on-air and online. This is a win-win situation for both PCN, which will be able to provide coverage in an important part of the Commonwealth, and our students, who will have opportunities to cover events for a statewide audience,” said Thor Wasbotten, assistant dean for student media and online operations.

The bureau opened in midSeptember.

The College is the largest nationally-accredited journalismmass communication program in the country. It offers baccalaureate degree programs in advertising/public relations, film-video, journalism, media studies and telecommunications; a master's degree program in media studies; and a Ph.D. program in mass communication. It also houses seven institutes, centers or research labs, as well as a strong array of special programs and endowed lecture series.

PCN is a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization funded by cable television companies.

Network programming is distributed on more than 150 cable systems in Pennsylvania. PCN receives no state or federal funding.

A complete listing of PCN affiliates and network channel designations may be found at www.pcntv.com online.

G

P.J. Crowley addressed a standing-room-only audience in the HUB-Robeson Center Auditorium when he presented the Ben Bronstein Lecture. (Photo by Steve Manuel)

Guest Lecturer: Ethics, Credibility Vital For Career Success in Public Relations Rarely without an opinion, especially about how do deliver a message, P.J. Crowley was a perfect selection to deliver the Ben Bronstein Lecture in Ethics and Public Relations during the fall semester.

Crowley, the former U.S. government spokesperson who criticized the Army for its treatment of a military prisoner accused of leaking classified documents to the media, discussed that incident and other topics during his presentation and question-and-answer session.

Crowley continually stressed that integrity and trust cannot be sacrificed when dealing with the public.

“You can never, ever, mislead,” he said. “All you have is your credibility.”

Crowley said he would not change the way he reacted in the situation that cost him his job. He also emphasized two things that aspiring public relations professionals should always look for—a boss they trust and a work environment that values the role of open and proactive public relations.

Crowley said the faster-than-ever 24/7 news cycle has challenged companies and institutions as well as public relations professionals. He

9

stressed preparation as the key to avoid being at a disadvantage when delivering a message.

A former assistant secretary of state for public affairs and spokesman for the U.S. Department of State, Crowley was at the center of a heated incident in March when he criticized the Army’s treatment of military prisoner Bradley Manning, who was accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks. Crowley’s critical remarks, made during a seminar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, led to his resignation.

During the 2011-12 academic year, Crowley is serving as the Omar Bradley Chair in Strategic Leadership in the Penn State Dickinson School of Law. While in residence, he will conduct classes in the law school, at the School of International Affairs at Dickinson College and at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle.

The lecture was created with an endowment from alumnus Ben Bronstein (’61 Journ), a longtime supporter of the University who was the founding director of public relations at the Penn State College of Medicine and Hershey Medical Center.

G

Carnegie News

MEMORIAL MOMENTS Undergraduate students Anne Richards (top) and Alli Hedges (left) were among 15 from the College of Communications who traveled to Shanksville, Pa., for the dedication of the Flight 93 Memorial as they covered the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Several faculty members accompanied the students on the trip, including Curt Chandler, who took the photo of Richards, and Will Yurman, who took the photo of Hedges discussing her story with Chandler. During the spring semester, Chandler will teach an advanced multimedia reporting class that will allow students to hone their journalism and storytelling skills across a variety of platforms.

10

Carnegie News

International Reporting Class Focuses on Brazil

Undergraduate communications SELECTED STUDENTS students have covered international Students selected for COMM 402 International issues as part of a semester-long Reporting who will be making the trip to Brazil during reporting class each of the past the spring semester. three years.

This spring, the class—COMM Name .......................Year-Major ................Hometown 402 International Reporting—will John Andreadis ...........senior-journalism...........Bethlehem, Pa. return with another challenging and Alexander Angert.........senior-journalism...............Weston, Fla. timely destination: Brazil.

Chloe Elmer.................senior-journalism .....Downingtown, Pa. “Brazil is an emerging economic Cassandra Hom...........senior-journalism.......Lafayette Hill, Pa. Tony giant. It’s the largest country by popu- Barbieri Jill Hunt .......................junior-journalism ...........Davidson, N.C. lation and land mass in Latin Kelley King ..................senior-journalism........North Wales, Pa. students in the Roger Kristof ...............junior-journalism ............San Francisco America, and a major competitor to class typically Catherine Marvin.........senior-journalism ...........Westfield, N.J. the United States in several commodifocus on their Casey McDermott ..........senior-SOCBA ................Carnegie, Pa. ty exports, mostly agricultural,” said destination Paige Minemyer ..........junior-journalism ..........Johnstown, Pa. Tony Barbieri, the Foster Professor of country and its Kyra Nelson .................junior-journalism................Philadelphia Writing and Editing in the culture. They Folashade Olasimbo ....senior-journalism .....................Houston Department of Journalism. He creatlearn as much Kelsey Penna ...............junior-journalism...............Fairview, Pa. ed the international reporting class Erika Spicer .................junior-journalism ................Carlisle, Pa. as they can and has led the previous trips to Jennifer Swales ...........junior-journalism............Boalsburg, Pa. about the peoSouth Africa, China and Mexico.

Somer Wiggins ...........senior-journalism .............Lansdale, Pa. ple and news“Brazil contains a vast portion of worthy issues as the Amazon River, with all the ecologof those skill sets, though. they plan for the trip and prepare to ical and environmental issues—climate “You never know what’s going to focus on reporting once they arrive. change, conservation, disappearing happen once you get there, and that’s For his part, Barbieri has one rainforest—and it’s also home to Rio exciting,” said Paige Minemyer, who recurring mantra regarding trips for de Janeiro,” Barbieri said. “Plus, San was thrilled to be selected for the the international reporting class—it’s Paulo is the largest city in the Western class.

And it’s not an easy process. all business.

Hemisphere, 20 million people, and More than 70 students applied.

Although the travel occurs during the country will host the World Cup “It gets much, much more difficult spring break, he insists it’s a working in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in every year,” Barbieri said. “We had to trip.

2016. Amid all that, there are stunmove to a bigger room for the inforWhile there, students typically craft ning contrasts of wealth and poverty, mational session and the quality of blog entries, online stories and multiand huge disparities in living stanour students makes it really hard to media reports while conducting interdards.” get it down to 16.” views and research for longer-form stoAlong with Barbieri and 16 stuFor the driven and motivated sturies they will produce when they dents, the traveling party for the trip dents selected, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime return home. Once back on campus, will include Curt Chandler and Judy opportunity.

Minemyer, an editor for their stories appear on ComMedia, Maltz-Schejter, both of whom are senThe Daily Collegian, has never traveled the showcase site for student work, ior lecturers in the Department of outside the country. and they create a separate newspaper Journalism with strong professional “It’s a great opportunity,” she said. with stories from the trip. resumes.

In addition, stories are typically car- “It’s a little scary with the unknowns Barbieri has tapped several on-camof travel and the Amazon, but it’s ried nationally as part of an exclusive pus experts to prepare for the trip. something I love. What else would I relationship with McClatchy Specifically, Joe Bishop from the really be doing during spring break Newspapers.

College of Earth & Mineral Sciences This year’s class includes three pho- anyway? I’m not one of those people has been especially helpful because of tographers and students with a mix of who would be shipping myself off to his research regarding the Amazon Mexico to tan. skills in broadcast, multimedia and and rainforests.

“I’d rather be doing something like print journalism. None of the stuFor the first half of the semester, G dents anticipates focusing on just one this.”

11

Carnegie News Foster-Foreman Conference guests Paige St. John (left photo, center) and Isabel Wilkerson (right photo, right) talk with Larry and Ellen Foster and a pair of students, respectively, during a reception before the first of their on-campus presentations. (Photos by John Beale)

Conference Presents Pair of Pulitzer Prize Winners

A pair of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists visited the University Park campus at Penn State for the renamed Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers, interacting with students and participating in free public presentations and question-and-answer sessions in early October.

The two-day event featured Isabel Wilkerson, author of “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration,” and Paige St. John, an investigative reporter for the Sarasota (Fla.) HeraldTribune.

Wilkerson earned a Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for her coverage of floods in the Midwest and for her profile of a 10-year-old boy who was responsible for his four siblings. St. John was honored in 2011 for investigative reporting in her series “Florida’s Insurance Nightmare.”

The conference has welcomed 33 Pulitzer Prize winners since its inception in 1999.

Legendary journalist and awardwinning Penn State faculty member Gene Foreman, who has guided the conference since it was created and whose connections and universal respect in the journalism community have enabled the twice-a-year

event to attract the best writers in the nation, was honored as well.

Starting with the fall conference, the event has been renamed as the Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers. It was previously known as the Foster Conference.

“It’s an appropriate and deserved honor,” said Doug Anderson, dean of the College of Communications.

“Gene Foreman has been the driving force, the heart and soul, of the conference. Because of him, scores of the best writers in the nation have visited campus and thousands of students have benefitted from their expertise and presence.”

A gift from Penn State alumni Larry and Ellen Foster, who rank among the most consistent and loyal supporters of the University, made the conference possible in 1999.

Larry and Ellen Foster commented: “Gene Foreman has attracted to Penn State a remarkable array of distinguished writers and journalists, more than 30 of whom have won Pulitzer Prizes. We have attended many of the programs and heard students say how inspired they are to be better writers and journalists. No other College of Communications has a program quite like the one

12

Spring Session Set Visitors for the Spring 2012 session of he Foster-Foreman Conference, scheduled March 1314, will be George Dohrman of Sports Illustrated and Joby Warrick of The Washington Post.

Gene Foreman has put together. It is an honor to have him as co-sponsor.”

In the College of Communications alone, the Fosters previously have provided funds to endow the Larry and Ellen Foster Professorship in Writing and Editing and to support the twice-ayear conference; they have made major contributions to enhance Carnegie Building's lobby, main conference room and student services area; they have created the Lawrence G. and Ellen M. Foster Scholarship Endowment; they have created the Lawrence G. and Ellen M. Foster Trustee Scholarship Endowment; they have provided a lead gift to establish the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication; and they have provided significant support for the new multimedia newsroom at

Circle Award for nonfiction. She interviewed more than 1,200 people to tell the epic story of the six million African Americans who left the South between 1915 and 1970 for new lives in the North and West.

Wilkerson told students “The Grapes of Wrath” was the inspiration for her book, and she stressed the importance of solid reporting for anything—from a brief police story about an accident to a book that required her to dedicate years of her life to the reporting and writing process.

She said writing can be difficult at times, and emphasized that those difficulties are necessary to produce a perfect final product.

For her Pulitzer Prizewinning effort that was honored this year, St. John conducted a two-year investigation of insurer reliability and created a database that showed the industry was shortchanging consumers while escaping any meaningful government oversight. During the process, she met dozens of roadblocks while trying to secure information and interviews.

She persisted, though, and found sources willing to talk about the topic. She also made a confusing topic easy to understand.

“Numbers themselves don’t tell people anything,” St. John said.

“Interview your database like you would a person. Ask, ‘What does it mean?’ Put it into a human perspective.”

She has been a working journalist for more than three decades, covering Florida politics, the environment and natural disasters. Her prior posts include statehouse bureau chief for Gannett News Service, environment reporter for The Detroit News, and Traverse City, Mich., correspondent for the Associated Press.

G

13

Verizon President Cites Leadership, Collaboration

Carnegie News

Innovation Park.

Foreman worked 41 years in newspaper journalism—not counting eight summer jobs in high school and college, or his carrier route before that. He was the managing editor of three newspapers: the Pine Bluff (Ark.) Commercial, the Arkansas Democrat in Little Rock and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Also during his career he worked as a reporter and assigning editor at the Arkansas Gazette in Little Rock, as a copy editor at The New York Times, and as the senior editor in charge of news and copy desks at Newsday on Long Island.

He spent 25 years at The Inquirer under various titles—managing editor, executive editor and deputy editor. He also was a vice president of the company. He served as a Pulitzer Prize juror three times.

Gene He was the inaugural Foreman Foster Professor of Writing and Editing at Penn State, teaching at the university from 1998 to 2006.

He was twice honored for excellence in teaching. Since his retirement from full-time teaching, he has served as a visiting professor and has continued to coordinate the conference that now bears his name.

This year’s speakers maintained the level of excellence of previous visitors for the event.

Wilkerson, who spent most of her career as a national correspondent and bureau chief at The New York Times, was the first black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in journalism and the first black American to win for individual reporting. She has also earned a George S. Polk Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Inspired by her own parents’ migration, she devoted 15 years to the research and writing of “The Warmth of Other Suns,” which won the 2010 National Book Critics

Penn State alumnus Dan Mead, the president and CEO of Verizon Wireless, told a mostly student audience during the Palmer Chair Lecture in Telecommunications that their career success might be dependant on more than what they can do alone.

He further emphasized that message when he said Verizon was working with other companies to collaborate on a “single global standard” for technologies that serve consumers.

Dan “We are part Mead of a global ecosystem,” Mead said. He said growth in sensor, smart-phone and tablet technologies relies on a solid communications infrastructure.

Mead’s message, “Technology Leadership and Collaboration in a Connected World,” and visit were coordinated by the Department of Telecommunications. He has served as president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless—the largest wireless company in the United States with 106 million wireless connections and $63.4 billion in annual revenues—since 2010.

Mead earned a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s degree in quantitative business analysis and finance from Penn State.

The Palmer Chair Lecture is made possible through the $1.5 million Chair funded in 1988 by State College residents and cable television pioneers James R. and Barbara R. Palmer.

G

Carnegie News

ESPN EXPERTISE Ben Houser, a senior producer for ESPN, met with broadcast journalism students and answered questions on topics ranging from interview preparation to production challenges, during a campus visit when he also toured the state-of-the-art television studios in the College of Communications.

Many College Faculty, Grad Students Active Participants at NCA Convention Thirty-nine College of Communications faculty members and graduate students chaired sessions, participated as respondents or presented papers during the annual National Communication Association (NCA) convention in November.

Eight faculty, 13 graduate students and 18 alumni contributed to the papers and research presented at the conference in New Orleans.

“The conference—which brought together thousands of scholars from all over the world—was a terrific showcase for the work our scholars are doing,” said Marie Hardin, associate dean for undergraduate and graduate education in the College of Communications. “Our strong presence at NCA and at other major conferences in the field is evidence of the quality of our program.”

NCA is the largest national organization to promote communication scholarship and education. A nonprofit organization, NCA has more than 8,000 educators, practitioners and students who work and reside in every state and more than 20 countries.

The NCA serves the scholars, teachers and practitioners who are its members by enabling and supporting their professional interests in research and teaching.

Dedicated to fostering and promoting free and ethical communication, the NCA promotes the widespread appreciation of the importance of communication in public and private life, the application of competent communication to improve the quality of human life and relationships, and the use of knowledge about communication to solve human problems.

For more information about what Penn State scholars presented at this year’s conference, visit http://www.natcom.org/convention/ online.

Communications researchers at Penn State regularly participate in large numbers at events coordinated by others organizations, including the Association for Education in Journalism in Mass Communication (AEJMC) and the Internataional Internaional Communications Assocation.

(ICA).

G

14

Scholarship Sessions Include Key Advice

The College of Communications conducted three scholarship information sessions at the end of the fall semester to help students prepare for the application process that takes place during the spring.

The sessions provided information on the importance of a quality application, the awarding process and other details. Fewer than half of students who apply for scholarships get awards each year.

Alumnus Robert O’Leary (’71 Adv), a business and communications consultant from Greenville, S.C., who created the Robert J. O’Leary Trustee Scholarship, told students why he created his endowment, and about the rewards and benefits of connecting donors to their scholarship recipients.

In addition, three previous scholarship recipients offered advice about the application process, how to write genuine and informative thank-you letters and the connections they have built with donors.

G

The Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication housed in the College of Communications awarded 10 grants totaling $55,600 for research on ethics in the practice of public relations to 16 scholars from around the nation as part of its most recent funding cycle.

Eight of the 10 grants focus on ethical practice in the use of social media.

“We are excited about the potential of these projects,” said Marie Hardin, director of the Page Center.

“The highly interactive nature of social media raises new ethical concerns. Practitioners and scholars need to understand social media’s impact.”

The Page and Johnson Legacy Scholars for 2011-12 and their project titles are: G Thomas Bivins, Tiffany Gallicano and Yoon Cho (Oregon), “A Survey of Readers to Determine Ethical Guidelines Regarding Ghost Blogging”; G Renita Coleman (Texas), “How Many Words is a Picture Worth?

The Effects of Photos vs. Vivid Writing on Ethical Reasoning”; G Homero Gil de Zuniga, Tom Johnson, and Renita Coleman (Texas), “The Dialogic Potential of Social Media: Assessing the Ethical Reasoning of Companies’ Public Relations on Twitter and Facebook”; G Marcia DiStaso and Denise Bortree (Penn State), “The Ethics of Social Media Measurement on Facebook and Twitter”; G Tina McCorkindale (Appalachian State), “Clouded Transparency: An Analysis of the Perspectives and Policies of Social Media in Organizations”; G Marcus Messner (Virginia

Commonwealth), “To Tweet or Not to Tweet? An Analysis of Ethical Considerations in Social Media Campaigns of Non-Profit Organizations”; G Kati Tusinski Berg (Marquette) and Kim Bartel Sheehan (Oregon), “Social Media as a CSR Communication Channel: Understanding Firms’ Decision Processes”; G Richard Waters (University of San Francisco), “The Impact of Organizational Disclosure in Social Media Success: Building the Framework of the Theory of Engaged Communication”; G George Anghelchev (Penn State), “Implicit Ethics and Cultural Differences in Public Evaluation of Corporate Responsibility: The Case of Environmental Accidents”; and G Kirsten Johnson and Tamara Gillis (Elizabethtown College), “Markers of Credibility and Mainstream Media Representatives: Developing a Social Media Credibility Inventory.”

“We hope that the contributions of the eight social media grants can be compiled into a book useful for public relations and communications practitioners,” Hardin said.

“Our two other grants look at equally important issues.”

This marked the seventh year of grant proposals awarded by the Page Center. Since its founding, the Page Center has funded 87 scholars and awarded more than $370,000 in grants.

The next round of grant proposals has a focus on teaching. Specific dates, application guidelines and additional information may be found at www.thepagecenter.org online.

G

15

Notes, Numbers G Senior lecturer Steve Manuel, a former public affairs officer for the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Marine Corps spokesman who teaches public relations and photojournalism, authored the initial blog entry as CNN launched “Schools of Thought,” a blog covering education from a variety of perspectives that includes people, policies and practices, in late November.

G Rob Frieden, the Pioneers Chair in Cable Telecommunications, served as a moderator of a panel on Smarter Lives presented at the International Telecommunication Union’s World Telecom Forum in Geneva. The session focused on “smart homes,” those that connect domestic devices and appliances so they can communicate with each other and with the household.

The home becomes reactive as appliances on home networks can be controlled by voice, remote control or computer.

G Joshua Meyrowitz, a leading media scholar, presented the Robert M. Pockrass Memorial Lecture during the fall semester.

His free public lecture was titled “Life in an Age of Digital Transparencies: Surveillance, Sousveillance, and Peerveillance.”

Meyrowitz is a professor of media studies and chair of the Department of Communication at the University of New Hampshire, where he teaches courses in mass media, analysis of news, media criticism, media theory and communication theory. He is the author of “No Sense of Place,” published

by Oxford University Press, which won the Golden Anniversary Book Award from the National Communication Association and earned the Book of the Year Award from the National Association of Broadcasters and the Broadcast Education Association.

Carnegie News

Page Center Awards Latest Grants For Focus on Social Media Ethics

FACULTY/STAFF CLOSE-UP

A Pioneer Departs

Colleagues and friends congratulate Dorn Hetzel (left) during a reception in his honor at the Nittany Lion Inn. (Photo by John Beale)

Penn State film founding father Dorn Hetzel retires from the University

D

orn Hetzel, the longest-serving faculty member in the College of Communications and a pioneer of the film program at Penn State whose family has been connected with the University since the 1920s, retired on Sept. 30 after 36 years of service.

Hetzel, associate professor of film and video, joined the Penn State faculty in 1975, even before the College of Communications was formed.

Throughout his career, he was a guiding force, calming voice and valuable resource during the growth of the communications program in general, and the film-video program in particular.

“Dorn was the single most important figure in bring-

ing the film program to the College of Communications and building it into the rich program that it is today,” said John S. Nichols, professor emeritus of communications who served as associate dean for graduate studies and research in the College before his retirement after 33 years of service in 2010. “He saw the diversity that film could bring and was diligent in seeing it through.”

Hetzel was among a group of administrators, faculty members and alumni who helped create what eventually became the College of Communications.

“I was invited back to Penn State to accept a fellowship, and I remember I’d asked about the film program and was shocked to learn that there was nothing,” said

16

Faculty/Staff Close-Up

Hetzel shares a hug with faculty members Mary Beth Oliver and Chuck Ungar. (Photo by John Beale)

Distinguished Alumnus Gerry Abrams, a 1961 Penn State graduate and an Emmy Award-winning Hollywood producer. “Soon after that, Dorn and I joined forces to try and see if we could change that.”

Hetzel also played a key role as four departments— advertising/public relations, film-video and media studies, journalism and telecommunications—were created within the College in 2000.

“Dorn has been a valued and influential member of the College’s faculty since its inception,” said Dean Doug Anderson. “His careful, thoughtful and kind approach has served him, and the College, well during his years as associate head of the Department of FilmVideo and Media Studies.”

During his career, Hetzel was honored for his teaching on several occasions while maintaining a robust professional resume. His work focused on both documentary and narrative films as well as photography. His credits include work as a writer, editor and director.

Support for his productions came from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Science Foundation, the Louis B. Mayer Foundation and the Walt Disney Lund Foundation, among others.

Fellow faculty members appreciated Hetzel’s accomplishments and leadership as well as his leadership style.

“He is the zen-master, spiritual leader, guiding voice,” said Rod Bingaman, a senior lecturer in the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies. “He has the ability to diffuse tensions and find common ground. He plays a big role in making sure everyone’s needs are met and

that what emerges is the best possible outcome.”

“He’s very good at seeing the small moments of brilliance in students’ films,” said Maura Shea, also a senior lecturer in the department. “There’s a lot of personal pain and anguish, as well as ego, that comes with teaching undergraduates.

“But he’s brilliant at managing that and helping them hone their craft.”

Abrams, who was named an Alumni Fellow in 1981, said he watched Hetzel in classes and found him to be a clever teacher.

“He manages to make every student believe that they are as smart as he is—until the reality that they’re not finally sinks in. Dorn is a fabulous teacher,” Abrams said.

With Hetzel’s retirment, a chapter of his family’s personal connection with the University comes to an end.

Still, the Hetzel name has an endearing and well-earned place at Penn State.

His grandfather, Ralph Dorn Hetzel, was the 10th president of the University, and is revered as a prudent man who deftly steered the institution through the Great Depression and the years encompassing World War II. The Hetzel Union Building (HUB) was built and named for him in 1953. The facility was renovated to keep up with growing student enrollment four times from 1973 to 1997, when it became the HUB-Robeson Center with the integration of the Paul Robeson Cultural Center.

— Kate Cav erno ( ’11 Adv /PR, Englis h)

17

Faculty/Staff News

Student-athletes at Penn State have earned a six-year Graduation Success Rate of 88 percent for those entering from 2001-02 through 200405. That’s higher than the national average of 80 percent for all Division I institutions during the same time period. (Photo by Mark Selders)

Research: Best Practices for Academics Often Not Used

Msports programs have not used ost universities with big-time

all the tools at their disposal to protect academic integrity and improve transparency and accountability of intercollegiate athletics on their campuses, according to a national survey conducted by the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) and researchers at Penn State.

Concerned with the mounting problems facing college sports and their impact on academic standards and values, COIA developed best practices to more fully integrate athletics into the educational mission of universities.

Its best practices include: G adopting policies that ensure that student-athletes are held to the same academic standards as non-athletes and are mainstreamed into the academic life of their universities; G faculty exercising direct oversight of academic matters related to student-athletes; and G making athletic budgets more transparent while aligning them with

the mission and values of the academic institution.

COIA, an alliance of university faculty senates founded in 2002 to provide a faculty voice in the national discussion about the future of intercollegiate sports, consulted with the NCAA and other national groups to develop its best practices, which were published in Framing the Future: Reforming Intercollegiate Athletics in 2007.

Researchers at the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism, housed in the College of Communications, surveyed schools participating in the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2009 to determine the extent to which they implement COIA’s best practices.

The results appear in a recent issue of the Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, along with detailed case studies of six universities that most fully implemented those best practices.

The COIA/Penn State survey found that only a minority of faculty governance bodies at FBS schools

18

monitor the academic qualifications of student-athletes admitted to the universities, their choice of majors and courses, terminations of athletic scholarships and other important academic matters. One-third of the faculty senates did not review the academic progress of student-athletes.

Few faculty governance leaders were consulted before major athletics decisions, such as construction projects or the transfer of funds from the academic budget to athletics, according to the study.

The recent spate of athletic scandals has intensified the national debate about whether individual universities have sufficient leverage to effectively tackle the problems or whether a national solution—through the NCAA or government regulation—might be necessary.

“While the problems facing athletics are far greater than any university can solve individually, there still is plenty that faculty can do to protect academic integrity at the campus

The push for campaign finance reform may be driven by a tendency to overestimate the power of political messages to influence other people’s opinions, according to researchers.

In an experiment, people who viewed negative political advertising said the advertisements had little effect on their own opinions, but Fuyuan believed the ads would have a Shen greater influence on others, said Fuyuan Shen, an associate professor in the Department of Advertising/Public Relations.

“People have a tendency to overestimate the effect media messages have on others,” Shen said. “The perception is that negative messages, like television violence and pornography, in mass media affect others more.”

Shen added that when the message is socially desirable, such as donating money, the perception is reversed—and people think the message has more of an effect on themselves than on others.

“There is a gap in perception,” he said.

The exaggerated perception of media power may prompt people to believe that media censorship and campaign finance reform are necessary to limit media influence, according to Shen.

“People have a tendency to overestimate the media’s impact, especially when we don’t necessarily level,” said John S. Nichols, COIA co-chair and one of the Penn State investigators. “The faculty are the guardians of academic values and standards and should not forfeit their responsibility regarding intercollegiate athletics.”

The Penn State researchers took a closer look at the six universities that scored the highest in the survey and found that all six have established structures for faculty oversight of intercollegiate athletics.

At several of the schools, top faculty leaders were directly involved with the campus athletics board, which has regulatory authority over academic standards in the athletics

like the message,” said Shen. “And this belief could have larger behavioral implications on censorship and the regulation of media content.”

In the experiment, the researchers, who reported their findings in the Journal of Political Marketing, showed 129 students negative television advertisements Frank created by MoveOnPac.org for the Dardis 2004 presidential election. The ads focused either on then-President George W. Bush’s character or on political issues, such as the Iraq war and the environment. About 45 percent of the participants identified themselves as Bush supporters and 55 percent considered themselves opponents of the president.

Both supporters and opponents indicated that the effect of the ads on others was significantly greater than their own reaction to the ads, said Shen, who worked with Frank E. Dardis, a associate professor in the Department of Advertising/Public Relations, and Heidi Hatfield Edwards, an associate professor at the Florida Institute of Technology.

The experiment also indicated that watching more negative ads increased the effect. People who watched from three to five ads perceived that the influence of the advertisements was greater on others compared to people who just viewed one ad. G

program at most universities. Those interviewed for case studies at the six universities stressed, in particular, the importance of having oversight committees to regularly evaluate the admissions standards and academic progress of student-athletes.

The six universities are the University of Houston, University of Illinois, University of Maryland, Oklahoma State University, University of South Carolina and Southern Methodist University.

“COIA’s best practices are not a recipe for automatic success,” said Thomas F. Corrigan, lead Penn State researcher for the case studies. “But the six schools that we studied do

19

have established mechanisms for greater transparency and accountability in their athletic programs.”

At some of these universities, the oversight structures and evaluation procedures were introduced after the athletic program had been sanctioned by the NCAA for rules violations or in response to troubled periods in the athletic-academic relationship at their campuses.

“The faculty seem to take a greater role in monitoring athletics after scandals jeopardize the academic reputation of their institution and COIA’s best practices provide a framework for faculty oversight,” said Corrigan.

G

Faculty/Staff News

People Believe Political Ads Have an Impact ... On Others

Faculty/Staff News

Service Learning Opportunities A Regular Part of College Classes

When more than 1,600 participants raced through the Beaver Stadium Tunnel and onto the Nittany Lions home field to benefit Special Olympics Pennsylvania last April, Brezden Van Orden decided to walk instead.

After all, she’d been on the run for the event—doing promotions and coordinating Faculty members like Maria Cabrera-Baukus regularly help students apply classpre-registration activities—since the early fall room concepts to real-world situations and find success. (Photo by Mark Selders) semester. where students trade their time and creative energy for “After 10 months of an extensive public relations the chance to work with non-profits and other goodcampaign, the day of the event was extremely relaxing,” cause programs. Hundreds of students, most through she said. upper-level courses, organize campaigns or produce She was introduced to the run through an advanced media projects for beneficiaries such as the Sierra Club, public relations course, where she and other students designed an awareness campaign for it. Van Orden con- MidState Literacy Association, Centre County Office of Children and Youth Services, Centre Peace, Big tinued her Special Olympics work through an individual study course with assistant professor Denise Bortree Brothers Big Sisters, the Veterans History Project, 4-H and other extension programs in the state. in the spring.

Senior lecturer Maria Cabrera-Baukus, whose pro“Overall, the experience was truly unforgettable,” duction students produce a live webcast of the Penn said Van Orden, who graduated in May. “Some of my State Dance Marathon (THON) each year and confondest memories from my time at Penn State are worktribute video interviews to the Library of Congress’ ing on the Beaver Stadium Run committee.”

Veterans History Project, said service-learning projects Van Orden’s work, and that of other public relations give students “real-world” experience while providing a students, has been far more than an academic exercise. greater good—and that students are attracted to that TJ Mayo, who oversees Special Olympics activity in opportunity.

Centre County, said the students’ efforts on the Beaver “It’s a really good feeling to know that you’re helpStadium event paid real-world dividends. Runner particing,” she said. “Students want to make a contribution.” ipation doubled from the inaugural run in 2010, and so The involvement of about 100 communications studid the dollars raised—more than $80,000. dents in the webcast production for THON each year Students in COMM 473 Public Relations Campaigns may be the College’s most high-profile service-learning have also designed other initiatives around the Special effort.

Students in Cabrera-Baukus’ class plan for the Olympics, bringing fresh ideas “that would cost thouevent and then supervise a large crew of volunteers sands for public relations campaigns,” Mayo said. through the entire weekend.

The students get feedback He rattles off evidence of an A+ effort: a 93 percent from viewers around the world. increase in volunteer inquiries in four months and the Other projects with a lower profile (such as the recruitment of 16 new athletes to the Centre County Veterans History Project) also make an impact on stuprogram in three months, for instance. One studentdents and the communities they serve. For the history organized event at State College Area High School project, students produce video interviews with war vetresulted in a jump in fund-raising participants from 25 erans, and the interviews are submitted to the Library to 131. of Congress archive.

Some of the 66 interviews completSpecial Olympics is just one local program in a mutued thus far by students in Cabrera-Baukus’ studio proally beneficial relationship with classes in the College,

20

Faculty Active on Editorial Boards Nearly two dozen faculty members from the College of Communications serve on editorial boards for journals in their fields of expertise.

The service to their fields brings attention and respect to the University and enhances the faculty members’ skills in the classroom.

Faculty members representing

every discipline in the College (advertising/public relations, film-video and media studies, journalism and telecommunications) serve as reviewers, editors and even founding editors for a variety of journals.

Faculty members who serve on editorial boards include:

Bob Baukus Journal of Health Communication Ronald Bettig Democratic Communiqué Denise Bortree Journal of Public Relations Research Jeremy Cohen Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship; Michigan Journal of Service and Community Learning Colleen Connolly-Ahern Journal of Public Relations Research Frank Dardis Mass Communication and Society Marcia DiStaso Public Relations Journal Rob Frieden Telecommunications Policy; Info—The Journal of Policy, Regulation, and Strategy for Telecommunications, Information and Media Marie Hardin Mass Communications and Society; Newspaper Research Journal; International Journal of Sport Communication Anne Hoag Journal of Media Economics Krishna Jayakar The Information Society Journal; Journal of Information Policy Matt McAllister Communication Theory; Critical Studies in Media Communication; Popular Communication; Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media; International Journal of Comic Art Mary Beth Oliver Journal of Communication; Human Communication Research; Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media; Communication Research; Media Psychology; Mass Communication & Society; Critical Studies in Media

Communication; Communication Yearbook; Communication Methods and Measures; Communication Monographs; The Scientific Study of Literature; Communication Research Reports; Journal of Media Psychology Patrick Parsons Mass Communication and Society; Journal of Media Economics Ford Risley American Journalism Amit Schejter Journal of Information Policy; Global Media Journal; Journal of Communication Inquiry; “Media Frames,” Journal of the Israel Communication Association Mike Schmierbach Mass Communication and Society Fuyuan Shen Asian Journal of Communication S. Shyam Sundar Human Communication Research; Journal of Communication; Communication Research; Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly; Journal of Advertising; Media Psychology; Journal of Applied Communication Research; Communication Yearbook; Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media; Journalism & Mass Communication Educator; Communication Methods & Measures; Asian Journal of Communication; Communication Monographs; International Journal of Interactive Communication Systems and Technologies; The Ergonomics Open Journal; The Open Communication Journal Richard Taylor Journal of Information Policy Bu Zhong Mass Communication and Society

21

Faculty/Staff News

duction course have been featured on the library’s website.

The interviews preserve a piece of history and give family members a glimpse into a defining period in the lives of veterans. One veteran had never talked about his war experience until the interview.

College staff member Bill Gardner remembers doing an interview with a Vietnam veteran when he was a student in spring 2007.

He gained valuable production skills, and perspective.

“I had just turned 20 years old when I got that assignment. It was almost overwhelming to think that this man was my age when he experienced the most defining moments of his life,” Gardner said. “The interview itself was the most amazing production interview I have ever been part of.”

Gardner’s response to the project is typical of students, according to Cabrera-Baukus. “They are surprised. They are impressed. They are in awe,” she said. “It’s very positive.”

Students say they like the feedback they get from clients and the public on their projects. Carley Lang, a 2011 graduate who with other students created an “iSave” campaign last spring to promote awareness around organ donation, said the project wasn’t easy. But it was rewarding and award-winning (story, page 51).

The “iSave” campaign was designed for the Gift of Life Donor Program. Dwendy Johnson, senior coordinator in community relations for Gift of Life, is a client each year for public relations students.

“I think it’s such a remarkable program,” Johnson said. It’s a great experience for the students and for us.”

Johnson works with senior lecturer Renea Nichols, whose classes take on a number of non-profit clients each year to “connect the dots between theory and practice.”

G

Faculty/Staff News

Series of Interconnected Plays Resumes in February

“Play-by-Play,” a series of six all of them; each evening is interconnected romantic its own event.” comedies taking inspiration According to Monk, the from Shakespeare’s last three shows promise a “Romeo and Juliet” but set satisfying end to a classic at a football-obsessed unilove story and great food. versity community, started The price of each ticket its run during the fall includes a sit-down, indoor semester and will resume in “tailgate” catered by The February.

Sustainable Kitchen in Playwright Pam Monk, a State College. senior lecturer in the The menu (which Department of Journalism, changes for each show) conceived the series—preincludes gameday favorites Arthur Dodge (left) and Sunam Ellis handle the lead roles in the sented in the style of oldwith a fresh and gourmet series of plays written by faculty member Pam Monk. fashioned radio theater— twist. and guided it to a successful debut during the fall.

Monk teaches creative writing (both fiction and non“I have been struck by how much theater is involved fiction) and magazine writing. in producing a sporting event, and have been intrigued Her work has appeared in The New York Times, with the thought of turning that around,” Monk said.

Newsday and The Philadelphia Inquirer, as well as in local The series of plays tells a classic tale of forbidden publications in State College and in Ithaca, N.Y., where love. “Rabid football fan falls for hunky-but-sportsshe lived before moving to State College. averse geek. Parents interfere. Complications ensue,” More information about the play and remaining Monk said. “Each play includes a recap of the whole shows may be found at www.pamelapolis.com online.

— Kate Cav erno ( ’11 Adv /PR, Englis h) plot, so that they stand alone. It's not necessary to see

Documentary Earns Recognition at Event in Hollywood A documentary about suicide and its survivors produced by a team of senior faculty members and students in the College of Communications earned an honorable mention in the nationwide Voice Awards and was honored in Hollywood.

The film, “Toward Daylight,” made its world premiere before an audience of 300 community members in 2010 at the State Theatre in State College. Subsequent screenings also drew drew big crowds and positive responses. To view a trailer, visit http://vimeo.com/16403656 online.

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

“The film tells the stories of real people and offers resources and hope for those impacted by depression and suicide,” said Susan Kennedy, who helped create Barbara Bird the local suicide prevention chapter and serves as a board member for the group. “It has already been shown to over 1,200 community members and we are so pleased to be recognized by the Voice Awards for the difference this film is making to help mental health.”

“Toward Daylight” was directed

by Barbara Bird, an associate professor in the Department of Film-

22

Video 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 alumnus Brian Miller, who earned his degree in 2009, and Kenny Dodson, who graduated in 2010, also assisted with the project.

The Voice Awards honor consumer/peer leaders who have done exemplary work promoting the social inclusion of individuals with behavioral health problems.

The awards also recognize TV and film writers and producers that incorporate dignified, respectful and accurate portrayals of individuals with behavioral health problems into their scripts, programs and productions.

G

ate opportunities for inclusion for a variety of marginalized groups such as the disabled, illiterate, poor and unemployed. She looked at how these groups tend to be excluded economically, politically and socially, and then addressed the promise of volunteerism as a means to provide opportunities that could help these groups become more integrated into society.

“Volunteerism can have long-term career benefits, as well as benefit individuals socially and emotionally,” Bortree said. “For youth, research shows that volunteerism affects development and it can influence the way they perceive their long-term civic contribution.”

Bortree is currently conducting research on how teenagers can be affected by volunteerism, and how organizations can better communicate to help teens see the value in the engagement.

Bortree joined the Penn State faculty in 2007, bringing more than 10 years of practical experience to her teaching, including positions as communication manager, public relations manager and marketing manager in the for-profit sector.

G

A College of Communications faculty member was selected to write a section of the 2011 report on the state of the world’s volunteerism for the United Nations. The overall report was released Dec. 5, which was International Volunteer Day. Denise Bortree, an assistant professor in the Department of Advertising/Public Relations, was asked to write a background paper on key areas of volunteerism that will be incorporated Denise into the overall report. Her section focused on Bortree “Volunteerism as a Force for Social Inclusion.”

“It’s an honor to have my research be used in this way,” Bortree said. “Volunteerism in general is something I feel strongly about and that is why I write about the subject.”

The overall report, which was produced by the United Nations with the assistance of academics and consultants from around the world, addresses what is meant by volunteerism, why people volunteer, the many ways people choose to volunteer and the impact of volunteering.

Bortree’s paper focuses on how volunteerism can cre-

Book About Jury Duty Called ‘A Must-Read for Scholars’ A book co-authored by two Penn State faculty members has earned high praise for its analytical rigor and engaging prose from the “Harvard Law Review.”

Cindy Simmons, a senior lecturer in the Department of Journalism, and John Gastil, head of the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, served as coauthors of “The Jury and Democracy: How Jury Deliberation Promotes Civic Engagement and Political Participation” (2010, Oxford University Press).

The book relied on an extensive dataset of voting and jury records from across the United States and found that there is an underlying relationship between individual juror experience and civic engagement, including the likelihood of voting in an election.

According to the respected law review, the book “is a must-read for

scholars and students of the American jury system, as well as anyone interested in the effect that citizen participation in government institutions has on the Cindy strength of a dem- Simmons ocratic society.”

The book portrays the commitment and seriousness with which jurors approach their civic duty and the generally positive and enduring views of their roles within political society.

“We are, to put it mildly, over the moon,” said Simmons of the positive review. “Most people say they want to get out of jury duty because of the time commitment.

But with the interviews and surveys done for the book, we’ve shown it’s

23

actually a very powerful experience for many people who serve.”

Additional co-authors were E. Pierre Deess, director of institutional research at New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Philip Weiser, dean of the law school at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Simmons joined the Penn State faculty this summer. She teaches reporting methods and mass media law in the College of Communications and legal journalism in Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law. Her research focuses on media law and First Amendment issues. Prior to joining Penn State, she taught classes in journalism and negotiation at the University of Washington.

During her 15-year career as a professional journalist, she was a managing editor, a wire service reporter and a radio news director.

G

Faculty/Staff News

Bortree Contributes to U.N. Report on Volunteerism

Faculty/Staff News Chris Fivek (inset), a high school football official who also works on the down-and-distance chain crew for football games at Beaver Stadium, was one of a handful of officials asked to referee the first-ever American college football game played in Africa.

Avocation Rewarding for Human Resources Guru By day, and even night, Chris Fivek logs long hours as the human resources director the College of Communications and the College of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State.

In his spare time, he works just as hard as a member of two different football officiating crews, one that works a couple of high school football games every week during the fall and the other on home football Saturdays at Penn State as he helps with the down-anddistance chain crew.

Still, his most memorable experience as an official came in May 2011—in Africa.

He was one of five U.S. officials, along with one each from Mexico and Poland to work the inaugural Global Kilimanjaro Bowl, a game between Drake University and an all-star team from Mexico.

Fivek got the opportunity after working the Penn State fantasy football camp the past six years. Both the camp and bowl game were organized by the same organization. After being presented with “an opportunity of a lifetime,” Fivek needed only to pay for his airline ticket.

Everything else associated with the trip, including a one-day safari, was covered by the game’s organizer.

The game was contested at the 20,000-capacity Sheik

Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium in Arusha, Tanzania.

Drake won the game 17-7 with a fourth quarter comeback in front of 11,781 curious but enthusiastic spectators.

“There was a slight language barrier in that most of the Mexican players didn’t speak English,” said Fivek.

“Since this was the first ever American football game in the continent of Africa, the fans were very interested but really had only read about how the game was played in the newspapers.”

When it ended, everyone—fans, participants and officials—came away with good memories. It was a competitive game, an enjoyable environment and, as Fivek said, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“It was really neat,” he said. “I’m really glad I got the chance to do it.”

Fivek has worked for Penn State since 1995, and worked in the Smeal College of Business before joining the College of Information Sciences and Technology.

He started sharing duties for both communications and IST in summer 2011. He is responsible for shaping human resources programs and managing HR services for members of the faculty and staff in both units.

— Kate Cav erno ( ’11 Adv /PR, Englis h)

24

3,245 Communications undergraduate students enrolled at all Penn State campuses

2,672 Undergraduates at University Park (freshmen, 377; sophomores, 629; juniors, 934; seniors, 697; fifth year-plus, 35)

2,532 Applications for Fall 2011 freshman class

Rod Bingaman (left) talks with two cast members before filming a scene of “Ripped!”

With Filming Complete, Production Progresses on Latest ‘Ma & Pa’ Film A husband-and-wife team of film faculty members in the College of Communications has started production of its fourth full-length romantic comedy.

“Ripped!” is the story of a 1960s British pop group who accidentally blast off to another planet where they become the center of a battle of the sexes between rival female and male civilizations. Meanwhile, back on earth, Dr. Hans Gerbils is desperately trying to retrieve the ship in order to calm his love-struck daughter.

“The film was shot in 11 days,” said senior lecturer Rod Bingaman, who founded Ma & Pa Pictures in 1999 with his wife, fellow senior lecturer Maura Shea. “We have completed about 40 percent of the film and plan to complete principal photography during summer 2012.”

The crew featured many Penn State alumni and students, including: Jim Westrick (’02 Film-Video) cinematographer; Clara Benice (’02 Film-Video),

associate producer; and Lauren Belizzi (’04 Film-Video), assistant director.

Ma & Pa Pictures’ other full-length productions include “Chasing Butterflies” (2009), “Hooray for Mister Touchdown” (2004) and “A Holiday Affair” (2000). The films were all shot in State College and the surrounding area using both professional actors in the leading roles and students and community members as the supporting characters.

Bingaman has more than 20 years of experience, including work on feature films, commercials, broadcast television and corporate communications as a writer, director, cameraman and editor. Shea boasts experience as a sound designer and editor on projects ranging from independent feature films to award-winning documentaries such as “Malcolm X: Make it Plain,” and two segments for “Sesame Street.”

For more information about Ma & Pa Pictures, visit http://mapapictures.com/ online.

G

25

2,317 Undergraduates, mostly non-majors, enrolled in the nine large general-education communications courses for Fall 2011

940 Undergraduate degrees conferred in communications at University Park in 20102011 (third most, by discipline, trailing only business and engineering)

79.9% Four-year graduation rate of communications students for Fall 2006 entering cohort (highest percentage at Penn State for those who graduated in 2010)

17.6% Percentage of minority undergraduate students in communications for Fall 2011, the College’s highest ever

Faculty/Staff News

BY THE NUMBERS

Faculty/Staff News

Three Staff Members Earn Deans’ Excellence Awards Three staff members received awards for excellence during an annual recognition event conducted by the College of Communications.

Honorees who received a Deans’ Excellence Award were multimedia production specialist Bill Gardner, accounting assistant Dorie Glunt and staff assistant Katie Kennedy.

“Our staff members pour their energy into the College each and every day and their dedication and efforts play a big role in making us the best-balanced, most comprehensive, student-centered, nationally accredited program in America,” said Dean Doug Anderson, who presented the awards after consulting with Marie Hardin, associate dean for undergraduate and graduate education.

Gardner fulfills multiple roles, including technician, teacher, tour guide and diplomat. As a technician,

he played a key role in the installation of the highdefinition TV studio at Innovation Park. As a teacher, he regularly helps students get comfortable in the high-tech environ- Bill Gardner ment. And, because of his personality and skill set, he also capably serves as a tour guide and diplomat at the state-of-the art facility, which has become one of the many selling points for prospective students.

Glunt brings a positive and upbeat approach to her work, which focuses on travel and reimbursement matters. She also has helped with temporary staffing vacancies in other areas of the College, and then followed those efforts up with support

26

Dorie Glunt

Katie Kennedy

and training for the new hires.

Kennedy works in the advising office. Along with supporting the sixmember advising staff as her primary duty, she serves faculty, staff and students by handling many other responsibilities. In fact, no communications student can graduate without her approval, as she reviews degree audits and works with every student to dot every I and cross every T on their transcripts before commencement.

G

DAY OF CARING Ten faculty and staff members from the College of Communications participated in the annual Centre County United Way Day of Caring, as thousands of volunteers fanned out across the county to donate their time on small work projects for nonprofit organizations.

College participants included (above, front to back) Sherry Kyler, Sue Beals and Brenda Johnson. (Photo by Patrick Mansell)

McAllister Earns Teaching Award A respected College of Communications faculty member was honored for his teaching during the annual convention of the National Communication Association (NCA), the nation’s largest group of educators, professionals and researchers dedicated to Matt focusing on all forms of McAllister human communication.

Professor Matt McAllister earned the 2011 Teaching Award from NCA’s Mass Communication Division. McAllister, a member of the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies, teaches mass media and society, cultural aspects of the mass media and the spring semester of the Ph.D. proseminar.

This is the second time a College aculty member was a recipient of the award. In 2005, Distinguished

Professor Mary Beth Oliver, also a member of the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies, was recognized by the division for her teaching.

McAllister has been honored for his teaching and research on numerous occasions. In 2010, he was named a Penn State Teaching Fellow by the Penn State Alumni Association. The Penn State Alumni Association, in conjunction with undergraduate and graduate governing bodies, established that award in 1988. It honors distinguished teaching and provides encouragement and incentive for excellence in teaching.

In 2009, he earned the Deans’ Excellence Award for Integrated Scholarship recognizing teaching, research and service.

G

27

G Associate professor Russell Frank participated in a live crossword puzzle competition to benefit the Mid-State Literacy Council in October. The inaugural competition tested participants’ puzzling abilities as they competed for cash prizes.To be eligible, puzzlers collected at least $75 in pledges to fur- Russell Frank ther the MidState Literacy Council's programs in adult literacy. Never-before-published puzzles for the competition were provided

by Rich Norris of Tribune Media Services. He's the editor of the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle that appears in the Centre Daily Times. The Mid-State Literacy Council is a non-profit adult learning agency in State College, with offices in Clearfield and Philipsburg. It offers basic literacy, English as a Second Language and family literacy services.

G Carmen Frost was the featured presenter for Hispanic Heritage Month activities coordinated by the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Her free public presentation drew a capacity crowd in Carnegie Cinema. The session also included a tango and salsa demonstration by the Penn State Ballroom Dance Club.

G Advisers Gary Abdullah and Shelley Vukman joined the College of Communications during the fall semester. Their responsibilities include working individually with current students and recruiting.

There are six full-time advisers on the staff.

Faculty/Staff News

Notes, Numbers

Development News

Marie Hardin (left), associate dean for undergraduate and graduate education, and her predecessor, John S. Nichols, have provided key direction and leadership as the Page Center has made a significant impact since its inception. (Photo by Will Yurman)

Consistent Gifts Provide $4 Million for Center

Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication Thrives with Support

Ia 1948 Penn State journalism

n early spring 2004, Larry Foster,

graduate and retired corporate vice president of public relations at Johnson & Johnson, telephoned Dean Doug Anderson to float an idea.

Foster wanted to know if the College of Communications would be interested in possibly becoming the home of an academic center that would “significantly enlarge the legacy that Arthur Page bequeathed to the field of public relations.”

Page was a graduate of Harvard and when he joined AT&T in 1927 he became the first person in a public relations position to serve as an officer and director of a major public corporation. Page’s philosophy of managing the corporation’s relation-

ship with the public and the press is still widely acclaimed today. Page was also an outstanding statesman, educator and author.

Foster said he knew that the College was the nation’s largest nationally accredited mass communication program and that its public relations undergraduate major was one of the largest.

He said he thought the College might be a natural home for an academic center that would preserve and expand the Page legacy through research, publications, curricular innovations and programming.

Anderson expressed immediate interest.

Foster then moved quickly.

He enlisted the support of his longtime friends, Ed Block, retired

28

senior vice president of public relations, advertising and employee information for the AT&T Corp., and Jack Koten, retired senior vice president of corporate communications for Ameritech Corp.

All three were members of the Hall of Fame of the Arthur W. Page Society, which is based in New York and is the largest and most prestigious public relations professional association in the nation.

The Page Center at Penn State would operate independently of the Page Society, but Foster, Block and Koten asked the Page Society Board if it would “welcome this initiative.”

In their letter to the board, they noted that the Page Center at Penn State, were it to be launched, would represent “yet another step forward

Development News During an initial meeting about the Page Center in 2004, Larry Foster (right) shared his vision with (left to right) Jack Koten, Dean Doug Anderson, John S. Nichols and Ed Block (back to camera). (Photo by Steve Manuel)

toward a long-term goal of enlarging understanding of a body of work that will influence future generations of corporate executives and their public relations advisers.”

In mid-June 2004, the Page Society Board unanimously endorsed the idea.

Foster, who initially told Anderson that he would contribute $100,000 to get the Center started, said that because it held so much promise, he and his wife, Ellen, would instead provide $300,000 and that he would seek additional contributions.

“The programs the Center generates will extend to academia and journalism,” Foster said when he announced the gift. “We will be the only university linked in this way to Arthur Page. I consider this one of the most promising opportunities the College of Communications has ever had.”

Foster said he felt good about the enthusiasm with which the College had greeted his proposal and that he was pleased that John S. Nichols,

CONTRIBUTIONS AND COMMITMENTS Gifts to support the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication since its inception in 2004.

Robert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,900,000 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $920,000 Larry and Ellen Foster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $489,000 David Clare and Margaret Clare Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $300,140 James E. and Diane W. Burke Foundation Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $300,000 AT&T Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75,000 Johnson & Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $70,000 Richard B. Sellars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15,610 Penn State-Rock Ethics Institite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,000 TOTAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,073,750

About the Page Center http://thepagecenter.comm.psu.edu/ Blog -- http://blogs.comm.psu.edu/thepagecenter/ Twitter -- @ThePageCenter then the associate dean for graduate studies and research, would serve as founding director.

Within weeks, an advisory board, chaired by Foster, was in place and soon thereafter funding from other sources, thanks to Foster, began flowing.

29

By fiscal 2006-2007, contributions and commitments had hit $2 million; by 2008-2009, they exceeded $3 million; and today top $4 million, the vast majority of it in endowment, making the Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication one of the best

Development News

funded programs of its kind at any mass communication program in America.

With early funding exceeding initial expectations, the Center quickly made a national impact.

Under the leadership of Nichols, who conceived, among other things, the Page Legacy Scholars concept, a number of sustainable initiatives were implemented.

Central to Page’s legacy were his guidelines for ethical and effective communication with the public and for responsible corporate behavior, known as the Page Principles.

The Page Legacy Scholar grants were established to foster a modern understanding and application of the Page Principles by supporting innovative research, educational, or public service projects in a wide variety of academic disciplines and professional fields.

“By financially supporting such projects, the Page Center is helping to set the agenda for greater integrity in public communications,” Nichols said.

It was only natural, Nichols added, to extend the Center’s focus on the Page Principles to another widely-known and widely-regarded statement of ethical practices and corporate responsibility: the Credo of Johnson & Johnson.

The Credo was written by Robert Wood Johnson, longtime chairman of the healthcare company, and was the ethical “lighthouse” for the Center’s founder, Larry Foster, during his more than three decades of heading public relations for Johnson & Johnson.

This new initiative was named for Johnson and included, for example, research into how company credos and codes of ethics affect corporate behavior. Consistent with that emphasis, the largest benefactors to the Page Center, in addition to the Fosters, are the Robert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust and

Founding advisory board member Jack Koten was one of many who helped make the Page Center possible, providing programming and a visible forum to bring the Page Principles into classrooms and discussions with professionals and students. (Photo by Steve Manuel)

the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Other major contributors were former Johnson & Johnson executives.

Since its founding, the Center has awarded grants totaling $370,370 to Page Scholars and Johnson Scholars.

The Center also launched an oral history project to collect, preserve, and make electronically accessible the perspectives of those who personify the Page and Johnson legacies. Other early projects included an electronic press center for journalists seeking information and expert opinion on ethical issues in communication and an archive of Page’s previously uncollected papers and memorabilia and related research material.

Cinda Kostyak, associate director of the Page Center, assumed day-today administrative responsibility for the array of Center programs from the outset and has been instrumental in their success.

“Cinda’s hard work, organizational skills, and personal style have been crucial to the Center’s many accomplishments,” Nichols said.

When Nichols retired from the University in 2010, Marie Hardin, now the College’s associate dean for undergraduate and graduate educa-

30

tion, became director of the Page Center.

Hardin said the Center is well positioned to launch initiatives designed to expand its reach.

“Our goal is to become a powerful resource for scholars, teachers, practitioners and students preparing to enter the field of public communication,” she said. “We’ll do that by focusing on practical ways to share the work of the Center and its scholars with these groups.”

The Center recently distributed a book-form compilation of Arthur W. Page speeches to practitioners and public relations educators across the United States. The collection of 38 speeches, also available on the Center’s website, includes an introduction and overview, a topical index and a short collection of memorable quotes from the speeches that relate to Page’s famous “Page Principles.” The compilation is meant to be an easy-to-use reference.

Hardin said another new initiative is to provide classroom materials for college teachers drawing from the rich archive of Page speeches and video interviews on the Center website. This year, the Center will fund the development of lesson plans for use in courses that focus on public relations and ethics. The

Development News

plans, which will be posted on a new section of the website, will highlight the practical value of the Center’s resources.

The Center also continues to fund research, but has moved to doing so in a more focused way, Hardin said. For instance, last year the Center issued a special call for work that looks at the role of social media.

Two faculty members in the College, Marcia DiStaso and Denise Bortree, are leading efforts to edit and compile the funded projects in book form.

The Center can also share its research and resources through its own forms of social media. The Center’s blog and Twitter feed (see box, page 29) are designed to keep practitioners up-to-date on the Center’s work and on issues related to its mission.

The Center’s advisory board is also key to its reach. Roger Bolton, an internationally recognized independent public relations counselor with experience working in the White House and in key posts at Aetna and IBM, succeeded Foster as Board chair last summer. Bolton is also past president of the Arthur W. Page Society and has already strengthened ties between the Center and Society.

Founders Foster, Koten and Block remain on the board, along with Maril MacDonald (Gagen MacDonald), Willard D. “Bill” Nielsen (retired, Johnson & Johnson), William G. Margaritis (FedEx), Dean Anderson and Professor Emeritus Nichols. The newest member is Jon Iwata, responsible for worldwide communications at IBM and new president of the Page Society.

Anderson said he was “immediately intrigued” when Foster called about his idea in 2004 to possibly develop an academic center that would emphasize the importance of

As the Center’s associate director, Cinda Kostyak handles day-to-day administrative duties and coordinates the annual grant programs that fund research. (Photo by John Beale)

integrity in public communication.

“But, in my wildest imagination, I never thought, at least then, that what would become the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication would evolve into what it is today,” Anderson said.

Penn State President Rod Erickson was an early supporter of the Center.

Erickson committed University funds to renovate the ground floor of Carnegie Building, including space for the Center: the Robert Wood Johnson Seminar Room; a dedicated room for Page’s AT&T desk, photos and other memorabilia; and an office for visitors to view the extensive electronic collection of Page Center materials.

“As I look back on it, everything jelled so quickly,” Anderson said.

“Larry Foster had a terrific idea; we embraced it in the College; President Erickson put his weight behind it; and substantial funding ensured the Center’s sustainability.

31

“It all came together because Larry had a well thought out plan.

I’ve never known anyone as visionary and simultaneously as pragmatic.”

Foster is the recipient of three of the highest awards in public relations: the 1989 Gold Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America, for contributions to the profession; the 1998 Atlas Award from PRSA, for lifetime achievement in international public relations; and the Hall of Fame Award from the Page Society in 1994.

He was also named by PRWeek magazine as one of the 10 most influential public relations executives of the 20th century.

Foster is the author of three books: “A Company That Cares, the 100-Year History of Johnson & Johnson”; “Robert Wood Johnson: The Gentleman Rebel”; and “Robert Wood Johnson and his Credo: A Living Legacy,” which is a condensation of “Robert Wood Johnson: The Gentleman Rebel.” G

Perspectives: Covering Controversy

PRODUCTIVE PANEL Malcolm Moran (left), the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society, moderated a panel discussion sponsored by the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism that allowed journalists to discuss the controversy at Penn State. Participants in the event at Schwab Auditorium were (left to right): Moran; Mark Viera, The New York Times; Sara Ganim, Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa.; Jerry Micco, assistant managing editor/sports, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Christine Brennan, USA Today; and Jeremy Schaap, ESPN. (Photo by John Beale)

Faculty Members Address Topic in Class, Beyond When a major national news story broke on campus late in the fall semester, faculty members across the College of Communications tore up their lesson plans to address the issue, providing students with real-life assignments, challenges and discussion points.

In addition, several faculty members became expert commentators.

For Malcolm Moran, the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society, the events—a series of charges against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky that prompted the departures of Director of Athletics Tim Curley and Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz and eventually led to the resignation of President Graham Spanier and firing of longtime football coach Joe Paterno—were like living inside a real-life case study.

Moran, who teaches sports writing, said the situation was an obvious focus for classes. “Everything we do is about the students,” he said. “This was just a more timely opportunity to allow us to help them.”

Likewise, the events and issues surrounding the situation were front and center in COMM 497G Joe Paterno, Communications and The Media. The class, in its fourth year, was originally designed as real-time, semester-long case study of sports media, using Paterno as a benchmark for changes and issues in the industry— ranging from access, branding and reporting to marketing and the influence of new media.

For the final four weeks of the fall semester, after the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s report was released on Nov. 4, the class focused on media coverage of the national story and an array of associated issues.

32

“We tried to be sensitive to the circumstances and the very real human issues and emotions involved,” said Mike Poorman (’82 Journ), the senior lecturer who created and teaches the course. He also serves as director of alumni relations in the College. “Given that the event and the ensuing tsunami of worldwide media coverage created an ongoing ‘teaching moment,’ we ran the gamut of classroom topics, from from ethics to the law to reporting styles.

“We used a wealth of videos and articles that appeared across several media platforms to give the coverage some context. Because news was breaking almost instantaneously, preparation for class was going on almost until the minute we walked into the classroom.”

Plus, with so many media members on campus, Poorman tapped that resource and brought several visitors—many of whom were Penn Sate alumni—to his classroom. They provided an array of insight and perspective.

Among the visitors were: Sara Ganim (’08 Journ), the reporter for the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., who first broke news of the investigation on March 31, 2011; Joe Posnanski of Sports Illustrated, who moved to State College in September to write a book about Paterno; and Pat Forde of Yahoo! provided the viewpoint of a national journalist who “parachuted” into a story already being covered by hundreds of journalists.

Reporters from The New Yorker, The New York Times, Fox News, USA Today and several other outlets wrote articles, blogs and reports about the Paterno class.

Then, in turn, the class reviewed those reports and critiqued them for accuracy, bias and news value.

Many national journalists attended class and filed follow-up reports, giving students in the class a unique perspective of how they and the class were portrayed nationally.

While senior lecturer Steve Manuel (’84 Lib, ’92 MA Mass Comm) visited Poorman’s class, he and others who teach public relations addressed the situation from a crisis communications and PR perspective in their own classes.

Almost every faculty member in the College— those teaching everything from introductory to capstone classes—dealt with what was happening on some manner or another.

In many classes, making a connection between what was happening was necessary and obvious because of the topic of the course itself (including everything from ethics to production). In other classes, it was simply a matter of acknowledging what was happening in the campus community and beyond.

Faculty members addressed those issues well, answering questions, providing expertise and sharing insights.

At the same time, some of those same faculty members—especially Moran, Poorman and Manuel— were called upon by the media as experts, about Paterno, the situation and the University itself. That trio alone appeared or was quoted in media outlets that included: “Good Morning America,” ESPN, The New York Times, USA Today and many more.

G

Alums, Students Help Tell Story The second week of November was fascinating and fast-paced around the University Park campus, as dozens of communications graduates, students and faculty worked on the story that was riveting the nation.

Tenacious Sara Ganim (ʼ08 Journ) of the PatriotNews in Harrisburg was the first to report charges against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

She broke the original story in March.

When things became public in November, dozens of alumni were on campus reporting, or writing about the issue from locations all over the globe.

Students jumped in, too. Emily Kaplan did legwork for The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Associated Press.

Kevin Cirilli reported for the Centre Daily Times and assisted staffers from The Daily Beast. Audrey Snyder and Haley Blum got bylines in USA Today, and Jake Kaplan provided a regular presence for philly.com on Twitter.

During a three-day stretch, the Patriot-News ran a page 1 story by Collegian sports editor Alex Angert about the pre-game prayer before the Penn StateNebraska game, and Brittany Stoner and Sarah Getkin wrote commentaries for the opinion section.

Images by photographer Andy Colwell ran on front pages nationwide, and People magazine enlisted him for more assignments.

33

Perspectives: Covering Controversy

Nebraska assistant coach Ron Brown leads members of the Nebraska and Penn State football teams in a prayer before the Nov. 12 game at Beaver Stadium. The prayer brought the crowd of 107,903 in the stadium to near silence. (Photo by Kelley King)

Photo Perspectives: Coverin

A candlelight vigil that attracted more than 10,000 people to the Old Main lawn was conceived and organized by two communications students (story, page 36) and chronicled by several student photojournalists.

(Photo by Kelley King)

(Photo by Andy Colwell)

(Photo by Chloe Elmer)

34

ng Controversy

(Photo by Andy Colwell)

35

Perspectives: Covering Controvery

Passionate Students Make Emotional Vigil a Reality Many memorable moments have happened on the University Park campus during Penn State’s 156year history—everything from commencements and Homecoming parades to presidential visits and protests.

On Friday, Nov. 11, 2011, the candlelight vigil that drew 10,000 people to the Old Main lawn was something different, something unique. And it was made possible by two undergraduate public relations majors who had a shared passion and vision.

“We were sitting in class the Tuesday before and it just seemed like something needed to be done.

So much had happened, the media was swarming and somehow the victims were getting lost,” said Kyle Harris, a senior from Northborough, Mass. “We wanted to make a statement that we cared, that Penn Staters have been and always will be good people and, most importantly, that the victims were not forgotten.”

So, Harris and Jessica Sever, a senior from Garnet Valley, Pa., decided they would conduct a candlelight vigil on the Old Main lawn, and they would invite all their friends.

A Facebook group followed, and they secured the proper permissions from campus officials.

“I’m a big believer in positive thinking, and I was optimistic it could be something big,” Sever, 22, said. We wanted to make something positive happen, and it all happened pretty quickly.”

Harris, 21, a member of the drumline in the Penn State Blue Band, got an inkling about the potential scope of the event and the chord he and Sever had struck at the end of band practice Tuesday.

“If we were going to do some-

Communications students Kyle Harris and Jessica Sever ignited the movement that brought 10,000 people to the Old Main lawn for a candlelight vigil on Nov. 11, 2011.

thing like that, it made sense to have the Blue Band there, so I asked if anyone was interested in playing Friday night, because I hoped we could get a few people.

36

When I asked, every member of the band put their hand in the air.”

As the Facebook RSVPs jumped to 1,000 and then multiple thousands by Thursday, Harris and Sever

played on Friday. The a cappella groups sang songs from Michael Jackson (“I’ll Be There”) and John Lennon (“Imagine”) and, as people massed on the lawn, Harris—who readily admits he was a little less optimistic about turnout than Sever—was amazed by what happened.

“At one point, everyone lifted their candles at the same time, and that’s when you really got a sense of how many people were out there,” he said. “You just saw lights everywhere, from left to right and all the way down to College Avenue.”

For those in the crowd and those who organized it, the vigil was an emotional experience—a-shout-outloud “We Are ...” success built on the power of shared emotions and, at times, powerful silence.

“I do not cry, hardly ever, but it brought me to tears,” Sever said.

“Then when it ended, you didn’t want it to be over. It was special.” G

37

Perspectives: Covering Controversy

thought of the things they had overlooked (microphones), secured help and some sponsorship from the University Park Undergraduate Association and got unsolicited offers to participate from child abuse survivors, singing groups and speakers.

“It was humbling to be a part of something so special,” Sever said.

“We helped make it happen, but it was the passion of everyone else that came together to make the night.”

Ironically, candles were not a problem—“It was always BYOC,” Harris said—but the duo used some of the few donations they had to purchase every candle at both Walmart locations in State College.

Still, 600 candles made a tiny dent in the mass of humanity that eventually covered the Old Main lawn.

Harris got the band its music (the chorale from “Band of Brothers”) just a few hours before it

(Photos by Kelley King)

Development News

Gift Supports Travel Fund for Sports Journalism Students

He’s the reigning voice of sports-talk radio in For more information about creating an endowPhiladelphia—a proven listener draw and ratings winment or supporting a travel fund, contact Kevin ner—and a veteran journalist with deep newspaper roots Musick or Jonathan Thurley at (814) 865-8801. who has traveled all over the country for his job.

He’s covered almost every major professional sport as position to provide students with unmatched experiwell as college basketball, college football and general ences that can set them apart. We appreciate the forenews. He also authored a popular book about Penn sight and vision of Mike’s gift, and hope others will recState football. ognize opportunities that exist with even more supStill, Mike Missanelli (’77 Journ) remembers the port.” impact of his time as an aspiring journalist and underBecause of Penn State’s tradition-rich journalism prograduate student at Penn gram and national respect State as especially important for the nearly decade-old in his professional develop“Having the chance to Curley Center (which was ment. help students, especially established in 2003 as the “We used to cover borfirst center of its kind in the in such an important ough council meetings for nation), many options exist class, and that was realand tangible manner, to cover national events, world stuff,” Missanelli said. really made sense to me. including the BCS “We were going someplace Championship Game and Hopefully this helps prodifferent and maybe uncomother NCAA champifortable for us, and we had vide the kind of handsonships. Immediate options to get comfortable, figure on experience that can include the Frozen Four things out and produce a (men’s hockey), which will set them apart when they’re competstory. That’s really what be contested in Pittsburgh happens once you get out ing for jobs.” in 2013 and Philadelphia in and get a job. There’s a first — Mike Missanelli 2014, as well as the time for everything, and you Women’s Final Four, have to have those experiwomen’s volleyball and ences to help you get betother championships. ter.”

“Our students have proven they can meet professionMissanelli believes those experiences can be especialal standards when given the opportunity in the past, ly valuable in the field of sports journalism. He recently and that has opened the door for additional assignmade a five-year commitment and endowed a travel ments for more students,” Moran said. fund to benefit students studying in the John Curley Without support, though, it might not be possible to Center for Sports Journalism. take advantage of all those options. That’s why “Having the chance to help students, especially in Missanelli’s first-of-its-kind gift makes sense—and makes such an important and tangible manner, really made a statement. He hopes his gift ultimately will lead to a sense to me,” Missanelli said. “Hopefully this helps prosizable College travel fund that would benefit numerous vide the kind of hands-on experience that can set them students and the communications program overall. apart when they’re competing for jobs.”

“Getting out and dealing with people is what jourIn the past, students from the Curley Center have nalism is all about,” Missanelli said. “You have to learn covered the Final Four (producing stories for the official to negotiate your way through things, make contacts NCAA news site online) and a variety of Penn State varand not be intimidated by the atmosphere. Students sity sports at off-campus locations. If the program can compete for grades and when they’re working they’re establish a vibrant travel fund—with Missanelli’s gift the competing in that forum as well. If they can learn how first in the category—the potential exists for even more to deal with travel and all that comes with it, they’ll be opportunities for students. in a better position when they begin their careers. And “It’s an important area of growth,” said Malcolm if I can help them do that in some way, that’s great— Moran, the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and because the Penn State program was so important to Society and director of the Curley Center. “We’re in a me.”

G

38

Development News

Double Major/QB Earns Murray Foundation Scholarship

A Penn State junior—who also happens to be the third- Beth and Bernie McGregor and has one sister, Maura. string quarterback on the Nittany Lion football team— His mother is a Penn State graduate. In his spare time, was one of five students from across the nation who McGregor enjoys writing, sailing, playing tennis and earned a $5,000 scholarship through a national essay hanging out with friends. competition sponsored by the Jim Murray Memorial The Murray Foundation was established in 1999 to Foundation. perpetuate the legacy of Jim Murray, the late sports Shane McGregor, who carried a 3.89 grade-point columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Murray, a columaverage into the start of the fall semester while majornist for the Times from 1961 until his death in 1998, ing in journalism and English, was thrilled when notiearned numerous awards, among them a Pulitzer Prize fied of his success in the competition that attracted for Commentary in 1990, during his illustrious career. entrants from 30 colleges He was named America’s and universities across the Best Sportswriter by the nation.

National Association of “For me, getting a “It’s awesome, a very good Sportscasters and Sports chance to walk onto the thing,” said McGregor, a Writers 14 times, and was football team was a big walk-on member of the footinducted into the writers’ ball team from Ebensburg, wing of the Baseball Hall reason for choosing Pa. of Fame in 1988.

Penn State, but the acaAccording to the prompt Murray’s widow, Linda demics and the profor the writing contest, McCoy-Murray, serves as entrants were directed to president and founder of grams were important, write a profile about somethe foundation. She estabtoo.” one influential in the sports lished the foundation to — Shane McGregor honor her late husband’s community on their campus.

For McGregor, the choice legacy and share his dedicawas easy and obvious. tion and love of sports “When you have Joe Paterno as your coach, it’s pret- journalism with future generations of sports journalists. ty clear what the story should be about,” McGregor The foundation added the Curley Center to its said. “The hard part was that it had to be under 1,000 scholarship program in May 2007. At that time, words, so you had to choose your words wisely, but I Malcom Moran, the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism liked the story.” and Society and director of the Curley Center, said the The judges for the contest—Vic Carucci of University would work hard each year to identify a stuNFL.com, Larry Dorman of The New York Times, Ron dent worthy of selection as a Murray Scholar. With Green Jr. of the Charlotte Observer, Mike James of the three selections in the past five years, Penn State stuLos Angeles Times and Vicki Michaelis of USA Today— dents have lived up to that promise. clearly enjoyed the story as well.

The Center for Sports Journalism was established in With McGregor’s success, he became the third Penn 2003. It was named the John Curley Center for Sports State student to earn a scholarship from the foundaJournalism in September 2006, honoring Curley, tion in the past five years. Previous winners were Josh whose more than five decades of newspaper experience Moyer in 2007 and Mark Viera in 2008. included work as a reporter, editor, publisher and, ultiThat success has come in large part because of the mately, president, chief executive officer and chairman John Curley Center for Sports Journalism, housed in of the Gannett Co. He was the first editor of USA the College of Communications.

Today.

“For me, getting a chance to walk onto the football Along with classroom instruction, the center's misteam was a big reason for choosing Penn State, but the sion stresses the value of interaction, from on-campus academics and the programs were important, too,” guest lectures and on-site visits by students to real-life McGregor said. “The College of Communications and experience gained through internships. Sponsored proCenter for Sports Journalism have great reputations.” gramming includes lectures, panels and workshops on McGregor, who has already started writing his first journalism and the role of sports in society as well as book and regularly writes in his journal, is the son of research on sports journalism topics.

G

39

Development News

HONOR ROLL The College of Communications received 1,624 gifts (not counting pledges and bequests) during the period between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011. Of those, 1,537 were from individuals; 57 were from corporations; 26 were from foundations; and four were from organizations. The contributions totaled $1,841,389. 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

DEAN’S ASSOCIATES

(Greater than $2,500) Gerald and Carol Abrams LaVonne Althouse Doug and Claudia Anderson Martin Aronoff Anthony Barbieri Donald and Vivienne Bellisario Benjamin Bronstein Warren and Rebecca Carmichael John and Kathleen Collins Kerby and Judith Confer John and Ann Curley Helene Eckstein Elizabeth Fetter Marjorie Mousley French Judith Hardes Marie Hardin Daniel Hartman Thomas and Nancy Hayden Jay Jackson Bill and Honey Jaffe David and Mary Lee Jones Mary MacLaren Frederick and Ann Martelli Christopher Martin Joseph and Mary Meder Michael Missanelli Lawrence Raiman George and Ann Richards Robert Richards Rochelle Roth J. Paul Rutter and Anne Hoag Alisia Salters Thomas and Kristen Verducci James Wiggins and Christine Fleming

($1,000 to $2,499) Richard and Antoinette Bange Robert Boulware Martin Brian Kevin and Jeanne Chapkovich Kenneth and Anne Chubb Charles Curley Philip and Joan Currie Stanley Degler Judith Friedman Mark and Beverly Greenwald Jay Grossman and Dorothy Daub Kenneth and Robin Heim Coulston and Aletta Henry Bridget Klaka Thomas and Edith Ortenberg Michael and Robin Savage Jerome and Michele Silber Stewart and Ann Snoddy Joseph Strazza Mark Sunshine and Christy McElhaney Barry and Marylouise Uhlig Andrew Walker

COMMUNICATIONS PARTNERS ($500 to $999) John Beauge Suzanne Chevalier William and Lois Clark John and Maureen Collins Robert Cook and Teresa Villa Cook Robin Deacle Lynn Dudinsky Herman and Judith Gibb

40

At the annual Donor and Scholarship Recognition Dinner, conducted early in the fall semester, students met with benefactors and faculty members. This group included: (front row, left to right) Ann Marie Major, Alexander Angert, Jeanne Chapkovich, Kevin Chapkovich and (back row, left to right) Laurie Stern, Marisa Cable, Christine Gable, Caitlin Keller and Amana Kaskazi. (Photo by Will Yurman)

Pierre and Mary Bellicini Lisa Burgess Harry Burkhart and Kathleen Ryan James and Sheri Burnham David and Jane Conley Richard and Lyn Culver Mark Cutkosky and Pamela Reasner Cheryl Dunlap Carole Feldman Eliza Flanagan Gene and JoAnn Foreman Christopher and Margaret Gilbert Larry Gohn and Deborah Meder Jennifer Gottlieb Paul and Catherine Greenland William Hackett Stephen Heiser Matthew Herb and Lori Shontz Richard and Dorothea Hyk

Wayne Hilinski Mary Kearney Paul Levine and Renee Braeunig Steven and Janice Livingston Kennedy and Carolyn Maize Norman and Mollie Miller David and Jodie Morris Mary Beth Oliver Betty Ramos Bradley Risch and Deborah Rihs A. Phillip and Mary Ann Zimmer Jonathan Zion

CARNEGIE CLUB ($250 to $499) Marc and Stephanie Albero Mark Ashenfelter Christ and Katherine Balouris

41

Development News

HONOR ROLL

Development News

HONOR ROLL John Beale Hilary Becker Karen Bernardo James and Amy Blew Lesley Brown William Brown Michael and Joyce Bussler Sarah Carberry Stuart Chamberlain Albert and Mary Ann Cipicchio John and Valvria Clark Hal and Erica Coffey Clifton Colmon Richard Cook Nancy Coopersmith Byron and Kendra Corman Dennis and Verna Correll John and Vicki Cousley Bradley Cox James Crawford Carlyn Crout Cydney Daly Victor and Toni Danilov Dana Dechristofaro Brian and Sara DelliGatti Michael and Hillary Delone Jonathan and Judith Detwiler Harold and Patricia Downey Sean Dufford and Melanie Martin Terrence Duffy James and Mary Lou Dunlap Patrick Dunne Robert and Patricia Enger Cynthia Epley Daniel and Julie Evak Gary Ezard Ronald and Lori Falcone Mike and Doris Feinsilber Mary Anne Fleming Earl Flick Kevin Flintosh Wendy Flynn J. Ford and Mary Risley Cynthia Foucher Kevin Foster and Julie Nash

Rebecca Jones Robert Junas Elizabeth Kahn Jeffery and Kimberly Klein Joseph Krushinsky Christopher and Lisa Marsh Robert and Marylou Martin Scott and Ann Martin Jonathan and Corinne Mirer Linda Murphy James and Frances Murtha Kevin Musick Marian Myers Stephen and Meaghan Oechslein Sanford Padwe Louis and Ellen Pagano Patrick Parsons and Susan Strohm Scott Pellis Stephanie Podey Timothy Potts Benjamin Rupp Richard and Mary Sabel Ralph and Kathleen Smith Erica Sperber Stewart and Karen Stabley Douglas and Kirstan Thomas Robert and Kay Troxell Tom Zahorik and Valerie Rice Denise Beth Zaraya

CENTURY CLUB ($100 to $249) Jane Agnelly Tiziana Aime David and Erin Alderfer Ian and Lee Alexander Michael and Johanna Altland Mark and Bernedette Andersen Amy Andryszak Andrew and Kendra Aucker Robert and Martha Baisch Michael and Diane Bauhof Selma Baxt

42

Donor Dinner attendees included: (front row, left to right) Amy Lewis, Andy Schultz, Bea Schultz, Kristin Stoller and (back row, left to right) Matthew D’Ippolito, Blaire Kelly, Lee Lawver and Alexandra Farrell. (Photo by Will Yurman)

Robert and Norma Franklin Joseph and Eileen Gidez Steven and Jill Graham Gary Gray and Kathleen O’Toole Richard Greco Andrea Guglielmino Lynne Gullo Norman and Kelly Hainer Mark and Denise Hakowski Timothy and Vanessa Hamilton Michael Hanusin Curtis and Inez Hare Sally Heffentreyer Heather Heigele Robert Heisse Carl and Phyllis Heller Chad Hershberger and Sarah Voorhees Kenneth Hershberger Jeffrey and Elizabeth Hershey Robert and Angela Hershey Todd and Pamela Hervey Leonard Herzog Matthew Hoff and Karen Narkewicz David and Leslie Hoffman Joshua Howard

James and Holly Humphrey Jordan and Jeannine Hyman Anderson Isaacs Matt Jackson H. Daniel and Wendy James Thomas and Carol Jenkins Frederick and Marilyn Jennerjohn Keith and Debora Johnson Lynn Johnson Michael Joseph and Michele Hills Robert and Mary Joyce Jerome and Cynthia Kambic Glenn Kaup Timothy and Linda Kearns Michael and Ann Keffer Christopher Kelly Christian Kiser Joseph and Karen Klein Jeffrey and Maryann Klick Dennis and Patricia Knecht Derek Koffel Peter Kowalski and Sandra Miller Justin and Catherine Krajewski Kevin Krystopik Kenneth and Denise Kunhardt

43

Development News

HONOR ROLL

Development News

HONOR ROLL Renee Petrina Robb Petroff and Ashley Manion Monica Pogula Isaiah Poole Michael Poorman Melanie Querry John Quinn and Amy Zurzola Srividya Ramasubramanian Patrick Raring Laura Rehrmann John and Mona Rice Andrew Richards Ronald and Susan Rickens Peter and Laura Riley Craig and Frances Roberton Samuel and Mary Rogers Paul Rokuskie Michael Rose Jennifer Ryan Thomas and Dona Santa-Barbara Donald Sarvey Todd Sautter Lori Hartman Schmitt William and Heidi Schumacher Ralph and Nancy Schumack Jeffrey and Stacy Schwartz Kevin and Noreen Schwartz Kristin Schweighardt Jeffrey and Donna Schwoebel J. Michael and Victoria Shanahan Elliot and Stephanie Shapiro Jennifer Shevchek James Shire and Fern Margolis L.E. and Elizabeth Shoenberger Dolores Simon Christoper and Lisa Smith Daniel and Tara Smith Matthew Carrie Snyder Richard and Helane Staller Kelly Stazi Loretta Stempinski Sean and Kathryn Stickel Glenn Stickley John and Barbara Sturgeon Norman and Susan Styer

James Lacey and Tracey Yates Carl and Lisa Lahr Kim Laubaugh David and Patricia Lawrence Douglas Le Bow Daniel and Kimberly Leppold Jonathan Levin Robert and Brenda LeVine Barry and Susan Lewen Scott and Deborah Lewis Wendy Lichtenstein Benson and Christine Lichtig Michael and Stephanie Liebowitz Christopher and Sabrina Liller Amy Takehara Lilly Vincent and Heather Loss Nancy Luse Jon and Cari Lynch James and Donna Mansfield Patrick and Helia Maritato Gregory Maurer and Tamara Davis Abby Mayer William and Cheryl Mazar Robert and Vicki McAllister Erin McCracken Joyce McKeever Martin and Susan McNeeley Thomas and Andrea McNulty Alexander Mecum Ellis Medoway Kimberly Mehle Arthur and Marjorie Miller Grace Miller Stephen and Enid Milner Jay and Karen Moltenbrey Barbara Morgan John and Mary Beth Morton Christopher and Esther Northrup Nancy Ory Daniel Patrick and Kate Powell George and Sara Peck Thomas and Rebecca Peeling David and Elizabeth Pellnitz Robert and Jean Petersen Kimberly Peterson

44

Donor Dinner attendees included: (front row, left to right) John Nichols, Chardonal Johnson, Lisa Salters, Travis Salters and (back row, left to right) Paige Twillman, Jessica Garcia, Sharon Kim, Nicole Colon-Quintana, Annie Richards and Kyle Lucas. (Photo by Will Yurman)

Brownstein Group Collegian Alumni Interest Group Dauer Family Foundation, Inc. Dick Jones Communications Dow Chemical Company Foundation Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Inc. Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund Ford Foundation Gannett Foundation Garner Anderson, LLC Google Harmelin Media Heidebrecht Family Charitable Trust Honeywell Hometown Solutions Interstate Advertising Managers’ Association Manchester Program AIG Media Democracy Fund Metrocorp Mid Atlantic Newspaper Services Inc. Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Robert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust Romesburg Media Shire Facial Plastic Surgery, PC Verizon William Randolph Hearst Foundation

Matthew Sullivan Thomas Termini Jonathan and Debra Thurley Michael and Donita Todd Robert and Helen Toothman James and Jennifer Townsend Andrew Trapuzzano Timothy Trego Michael Trobich Richard and Ester Van O’Linda Claudia Vergara James and Nancy Vinclear Michael and Joann Vogel J.B. Wallace Thomas Waring Robert Wechsler Craig and Julie Young Elisabeth Yuscavage Trisha Zarin John and Linda Zahoroiko S. Charles and Patrice Zdeb

CORPORATE, FOUNDATION GIFTS AT&T Mobility Barbara R. Palmer Trust

45

Development News

HONOR ROLL

Student News

Assistant Dean Leads Commitment to Students College Among Top Producers of Minority Grads In the Country

AMulticultural Affairs Joseph ssistant Dean for

Selden earned the 2011 AEJMC Robert P. Knight Multicultural Recruitment Award for his outstanding efforts in recruiting and retaining minority students in the College of Communications.

The award was presented at the 95th annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in St. Louis.

The award, created in 1987, is Assistant Dean for Multicultural Affairs Joseph Selden, honored earlier this year for his recruitpresented annually by AEJMC’s ment efforts of multicultural students, with Jessica Ramos, the spring 2011 student marshal for the College of Communications. She selected Selden as her faculty escort for the cermony.

Scholastic Journalism Division to individuals or organizations earned baccalaureate degrees—a 159 percent increase that have made outstanding efforts in attracting high from 10 years ago when 49 graduated. school minority students into journalism and mass Calvin Hill, an assistant professor and faculty fellow communication at the college level. in the Department of Journalism at Appalachian State During his years at Penn State, Selden has played an University, who was involved in the selection process important role in recruiting and retaining minority stufor the Knight Award, said he views Selden as a role dents while also guiding and encouraging them to grad- model. uate.

“Like all our recipients of the Knight Award, Joseph Since his arrival at Penn State in 1994, the College’s Selden is an wonderful example of what we can do enrollment of students of color has increased from 163 when we are committed to promoting diversity as a posto 479 in Fall 2011. itive value that helps create excellent, ethical journal“Joe has been a real difference maker during his ism,” Hill said. “What the AEJMC Scholastic years in the College,” Dean Doug Anderson said.

Journalism Division looks for is not just service in the “Recruiting, retaining and graduating a diverse student area of diversity, but also evidence of service that shows body at a university in central Pennsylvania is no small a true commitment to promoting a diverse workforce in challenge. But thanks to Joe’s leadership, the College the newsroom, at a time when it seems to be becoming has made great strides during his tenure here. And I am devalued—or at the very least undervalued.” confident we will continue to make them. He richly Richard S. Holden, director of the Dow Jones News deserves the Knight Award.”

Fund in Princeton, N.J., and Linda Shockley, deputy Communications is one of the most diverse of the director, nominated Selden for the Knight Award. academic colleges on the University Park campus.

In their letter of nomination, they wrote of him: It consistently stands, on a percentage basis, as the “He is a gently persistent, dogged champion of stumost diverse at University Park for African-American dents. He believes in the young people under his care students and as one of the three most diverse for … Yes, he recruits high school students of multicultural Hispanic students. backgrounds to come to Penn State, but he is genuinely In 2009-2010, 127 of the College’s minority students invested in their success—academically, professionally

46

Student News

and as people. He proDean and faculty advisSUPPORTING SELDEN motes careers in commuers from each of the nication, promotes edufour departments in the “It’s always easy to spot Dean Selden’s students at job cation, no matter where College. fairs. Invariably, they are totally prepared, have excellent a student might want to Diversity—of faculty, resumes and cover letters, provide quick and succinct enroll.” staff, students and curanswers to questions and, equally important, ask the Holden and Shockley ricula—long has been a right questions as well. That’s a fine tribute to him as he sought and included letCollege priority. guides future journalists down the right paths, both perters of support for their During the College’s sonally and professionally.” nomination from Dean six-year national review — Richard S. Holden, executive director, Dow Jones News Fund Anderson; Reginald in 2006-2007 by the Stuart, corporate Accrediting Council on “Usually, Joe Selden was the driver who got the students recruiter for The Education in Journalism to the job fairs. He was the chaperone, the interview McClatchy Co.; and and Mass coach on site and the recruiter ‘policeman.’ He walked his from Penn State graduCommunications, the ‘beat’ with regularity and enthusiasm, making sure his ates Steve Bien-Aimé site-visit team wrote: students were getting interviews and that recruiters, such (’04 Journ), former “The College exudes an as me, were doing our job as he saw it best—interviewdeputy NFL editor at atmosphere that seems ing his students. Selden made sure his students stood foxsports.com who now welcoming to all. It out among the crowd, as few recruiters worked fairs as is a doctoral student in seems a model of clihard as he.“ the College, and mate that is free of — Reginald Stuart, corporate recruiter, The McClatchy Co. Arianna Davis (’10 harassment and discrimJourn), who now works ination, with faculty and “In his role as assistant dean for multicultural affairs, as an editorial assistant staff members who work Dean Selden has touched the lives of hundreds, if not at O, The Oprah to accommodate the thousands of students. I know this because he has menMagazine. needs of various groups tored me since I stepped foot on the campus in 2000 ...

Selden’s goal of makand who value all forms And when I say mentored, it’s not in terms of him teaching the Office of of diversity.” ing the principles of journalism. It’s in terms of how to Multicultural Affairs a The College stands carry oneself through life and to remember a commitcritical part of the fabric among the top echelon ment to fostering diversity and inclusiveness not just in of the College has been of the country’s prothe workplace, but wherever one may go.” recognized previously. grams for the number of — Steve Bien-Aimé (’04 Journ), and current Ph.D. student He received the Barry degrees awarded to Bingham Sr. Fellowship minority students.

“When I first visited Penn State, I was not sold. The dreain recognition of his Diverse: Issues in ry weather and huge student body were intimidating and exemplary efforts to Higher Education, a magmade me want to go right back to my hometown in enhance multiculturalazine that annually pubMaryland. But on a second trip, I visited the College of ism in 2001 and the lishes a list of the top Communications and met Dean Joe Selden. It was then College’s Office of 100 producers of associthat everything changed for me ... whenever I needed Multicultural Affairs was ate, bachelor’s and gradanything, it was always Dean Selden’s office that I ran honored as “Most uate degrees awarded to to—and I was always welcomed with open arms. When I Outstanding minority students, was timid or unsure, he always gave me the perfect little Department” during an places the College high. push I needed.” awards program conductThe lists are the — Arianna Davis (’10 Journ) ed by the Penn State result of the research of Chapter of the NAACP Victor M. H. Borden, in 2010. professor of educational leadership and policy studies at The Office of Multicultural Affairs, which Selden Indiana University in Bloomington. heads, assumes much of the responsibility for daily and The lists are based on information gathered through sustained leadership and oversight of the College’s the Completions Survey of the Integrated diversity efforts that systematically also involve the Postsecondary Education Data Set maintained by the Office of Academic Services, the professional academic National Center for Education and Statistics, according advisers, the Office of Internships, the Office of the to Borden.

47

Student News

The most recent lists, based on the 2009-2010 academic year collection, includes a table for all disciplines combined from all U.S. postsecondary institutions.

Also included are tables for the top degree producers of minorities broken out by African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans and Hispanics, as well as by the disciplines of biological and biomedical sciences; business, management, marketing and related support services; education; engineering; nursing, nursing administration, nursing research and clinical nursing; social sciences; and communication, journalism and related programs.

Penn State’s highest-ranked programs are in communication and journalism.

The College awarded the 18th most baccalaureate degrees to minority students overall— 127—in the country in 20092010, earning Penn State’s top place of all the academic disciSelden serves as the faculty adviser to several clubs, including the National Association of MultiEthnicities in Communications. (Photo by John Beale) plines broken out.

Penn State President Rod to African Americans than the College were housed in Erickson complimented the College on its rankings. historically black institutions.

“Communications is a college that talks the talk Among the non-historically black institutions, the and walks the walk when it comes to its commitment College tied for ninth in the nation for the number of to a welcoming multicultural environment,” he undergraduate degrees awarded to African Americans. said.“At Penn State, we’re grateful for the College’s The College tied for 36th for the number of bacheleadership and the evidence of academic and profeslor’s degrees granted to Hispanics (36) and 27th for sional strength that comes from promoting and celethe number granted to Asian Americans (24). brating its diversity.”

In Fall 2009, there were approximately 485 colleges Terrell Jones, vice provost for educational equity, and universities that offered degree programs in mass also was pleased. communication.

“This recognition is well deserved,” he said. “Joe Of those, according to the Annual Survey of Selden is a true champion for diversity.

Journalism and Mass Communication Enrollments, “His enthusiasm and presence have made a real difwhich is overseen

by Lee B. Becker, a professor in the ference in how our faculty, staff and students think Grady College of Journalism at the University of and act around all of our diversity initiatives.”

Georgia, 478 offered bachelor’s degree programs, 210 Some 59 African-American students earned baccalaureate degrees from the College in 2009-2010, tied offered master’s degree programs and 46 offered doctoral programs. for 16th most in the country.

The College is among the fewer than 50 programs Seven of the programs that conferred more degrees that offer all three degrees.

G

48

Many families and many traditions help make Penn State a special place, and a College of Communications senior added a chapter to those traditions with her role as student marshal during winter commencement exercises in December.

Catherine Vancura Catherine Vancura, a senior public relations major, was selected to carry the College’s banner during commencement exercises in the Bryce Jordan Center.

“I have always worked hard but I had never considered being selected for this honor,” Vancura said.

The student marshal for each college at Penn State is selected based on outstanding academic performance and extracurricular activities.

Vancura, originally from Allentown, Pa., who now lives in

Longmont, Colo., was the acting vice president for member development on the Panhellenic Council, the governing body of the 22 sororities on Penn State’s campus.

While at the University, she also served as a College of Communications peer mentor, a Welcome Week leader, a public relations captain for Greek Sing, a member of the donor and alumni relations committee for the Penn State Dance Marathon and a member of Delta Gamma sorority.

She selected Michel Haigh, an associate professor in the Department of Advertising/Public Relations, to serve as her accompanying faculty marshal.

“Michel Haigh was the only past professor to come to mind,” Vancura said.

“I had her for my two highest level PR classes, and I really appreciated the feeling of accomplishment I got from them because I knew how hard I had worked for my grade.

“On top of all that, I attribute the writer that I am today to her.

Her past editing experience did wonders for developing my writing.”

With her selection, Vancura also followed in the footsteps of her father, Mark Vancura, a Penn State alumnus who completed double majors in computer science and electrical engineering in 1981 and served as a student marshal during his commencement exercises.

After graduation, Vancura plans to backpack through Europe with her best friend.

Upon her return, she plans to begin looking for a job in the nonprofit sector or in government communications in Colorado.

G

Communications Camps 2012 July 8-12, 2012 Film Camp

G Collaborate in small teams to produce videos G Learn the techniques to bring a creative vision to the screen G Learn to be a writer, director, cinematographer or editor G Utilize state-of-the-art facilities and work with HD cameras G Work side-by-side with other students and talented faculty

Multimedia Journalism Camp

G Develop writing skills for print or online media G Learn about the roles and responsibilities of the news media G Learn the secrets of interviewing G Learn about still and video photography G Use digital cameras to create multimedia stories or photo essays G Visit our all-digital, HD television newsroom

For more information, visit www.outreach.psu.edu/communications-camps 49

Student News

Fall Semester Student Marshal Continues Family Tradition

Student News

Quintet Benefits From Pan-Am Games Opportunity Five Penn State communications students provided daily coverage of the 16th Pan-Am Games for the U.S. Olympic Committee throughout the month of October as part of an exclusive opportunity made possible by the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism.

The Games were conducted in Guadalajara, Mexico, featuring nearly 6,000 athletes from 42 nations participating in 36 sports.

As the only U.S. college students with the chance to cover the Games for the USOC, the student journalists provided as many as five stories per day about the competition.

Writing from State College, with coordination from the USOC, sport-specific contacts and athletes on site in Mexico, the Penn State students concentrated on feature material to supplement articles written by USOC staff members.

Coverage focused on U.S. athletes in qualifying events for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.

Their stories appeared in “USA Daily,” which was distributed to media members, sponsors, members of the U.S. delegation for the Games and representatives from nongovernmental bodies— more than 7,100 people overall. In addition, the students’ work was posted at USOCPressBox.org online.

Those covering the Games were: T Virginia Harrison, 24, from Flourtown, Pa., a graduate student pursing a master’s degree in media studies who earned undergraduate degrees in journalism and history from Penn State in 2008; T Jeffrey Lowe, 20, from Cedar Park, Texas, a junior broadcast journalism major; T Emily Kaplan, 20, from Montclair, N.J., a junior journalism major; T Christine Newby, 21, from Pittsburgh, a senior broadcast journalism major; and T Audrey Snyder, 22, from Downingtown, Pa., a senior completing majors in journalism and secondary education/English.

“We’re grateful that the USOC provided this opportunity for our students,” said Malcolm Moran, the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society and director of the Curley Center. “As part of our student-centered mission, we’re committed to expanding unique, handson experiences at major sporting events.”

The Curley Center previously partnered with the NCAA and two students completed a similar assignment, providing coverage for the NCAA of the 2011 Final Four in Houston. In addition, the Curley Center works closely with the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and coordinates an annual seminar for college sports writers at the Final Four.

The Curley Center, established in 2003, explores issues and trends in sports journalism through instruction, outreach, programming and research.

The Center’s undergraduate curricular emphasis includes courses in sports writing, sports broadcasting, sports information, and sports, media and society.

G

CONSTANT CONTACT Campus visitors Jim O’Connell (left), longtime men’s basketball writer for the Associated Press, and Mike Breen, the lead play-by-play man for ESPN/ABC, participated in a public discussion and question-and-answer session and also visited numerous classes during a two-day visit during the fall semester. Knight Chair Malcolm Moran, director of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism, coordinated the activities that allowed students to interact in a variety of venues with two well-respected sports journalism professionals.

50

The Penn State chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) won first place in a national competition to create an awareness and promote family discussion about organ donation.

Groups from PRSSA chapters from across the country were challenged as part of the National Organ Day Awareness Competition.

Students were required to conduct a daylong event and maintain a binder of materials that was submitted for judging.

The Penn State chapter focused its efforts on The Gift of Life, a non-profit organ procurement organization based in Philadelphia.

In addition, Penn State students, faculty and staff were encouraged to register as organ donors.

“We’ve placed in the top three the last few years,” said Renea Nichols, a senior lecturer in the Department of Advertising/Public Relations who helped guide students through the process. “The competition is great because it gives students experience from beginning to end and they get feedback from PR professionals.”

Nichols learned about the competition while teaching at Arizona State University, where her students also placed in the competition.

“I’m passionate about teaching public relations to my students, and I always want to get them involved,” she said.

Associate professor Ann Marie Major serves as the faculty adviser for Penn State’s Lawrence G. Foster PRSSA chapter, which includes some 300 members.

“We have been very blessed with the quality of students in our program,” said Major. “They bring an intellect and ability to national competitions that few other universities have. We have a great faculty, great administrators and great alumni who support us in every way.”

The competition—sponsored annually by the PRSSA chapter at Rowan Univesity in Glassboro, N.J.—allows PRSSA members the chance to enhance their public relations skills and gain experience working on a nationally recognized campaign.

G

For the seventh consecutive year, College of Communications students were honored by the American Advertising Federation (AAF) in its Most Promising Minority Students Program.

Penn State had five finalists among the 50 selected nationally.

Another student was named to the “honor roll.”

The program, managed by the AAF Mosaic Center on Multiculturalism, aims to promote an advertising industry workforce

that reflects society’s diversity. It connects recruiters and agencies in the industry with talented students.

To be considered for the program, students must possess a high grade-point average, complete an essay about creating a more inclusive environment in the marketing and communications field and submit a letter of nomination.

Senior lecturer Ken Yednock, who serves as Penn State’s AAF chapter adviser, nominated the students.

Notes, Numbers G Another showcase opportunity for College of Communications students—a sports television show focusing on in-depth issues and storytelling—made its debut in mid-November.

“In the Game” allows students to conduct long-form stories and tackle topical issues.

All episodes of the show air on Campus Cable and are available at psucommedia.com online.

G Three of the 10 members of the Penn State Homecoming court were communications students— and one was crowned queen.

Court members were: Shadé Olasimbo (senior-broadcast journalism); Paige Rothaus (senioradvertising/public relations); and Travis Salters (senior-broadcast journalism, African/African American studies). They attributed their involvement on campus, Penn State pride and academic excellence to their appointment to the Homecoming court.

Rothaus, from Huntingdon Valley, Pa., is the president of the Panhellenic Council and a member of Chi Omega Fraternity, the Advertising Club and THON. She was crowned queen.

Six Selected in AAF Most Promising Minority Program

51

Student News

PRSSA Chapter Claims First Place in National Awareness Competition

All six students will travel to New York City for the award ceremony— scheduled Feb. 1-3, 2012—where they will network with executives and minority industry pioneers. The conference gives students a glimpse of the ad business by visiting the nation’s top ad agencies, advertisers and media companies. In the past seven years, Penn State has produced 30 honorees (22 national finalists, eight honor roll selections) in the AAF program.

— K a te C av e r n o ( ’1 1 A dv / PR , En gli sh)

Student News

Graduate Program Attracts Diverse, Top-Notch Class Members of the 2011-12 incoming class of doctoral and master’s degree students in the College of Communications were chosen from among more than 200 applicants for the programs.

Ten students are pursuing a master’s degree in media studies, and 11 have started studies toward a mass communications doctoral degree.

The incoming cohort is diverse: It includes eight international students and students from top academic institutions around the globe. Five of the 21 students earned their most recent degree at Penn State.

Students can pursue studies in one of six areas of concentration: critical and cultural studies; interna-

tional communications; law, government and politics; media effects; strategic communications; and telecommunications, technology and information policy.

Along with Marie Hardin, associate dean for undergraduate and graduate education, the program is led by Professor Matt McAllister, who serves as assistant graduate program chair, and Betsy Hall, coordinator of graduate education. Thirty-nine faculty members in the College are eligible to teach graduate classes and serve on graduate committees.

Students regularly represent the program at national and international conferences and publish their research in top communication journals.

G

2011-12 NEW MASTER’S DEGREE STUDENTS

Emma Bedor

Catherine Buckley

Michael Gage

Virginia Harrison

Ruobing Li

Bachelor’s, State University of New York at Geneseo

Bachelor’s, Curry College

Bachelor’s, Bloomsburg University; Master’s, Bloomsburg University

Bachelor’s, Penn State

Bachelor’s, Renmin University of China

Kristen McAuley

Vanessa Sequeira

Elise Stevens

Ryan Wetzel

Kristen Winiarski

Bachelor’s, Niagara University

Bachelor’s, University of Costa Rica; Bachelor’s, Penn State

Bachelor’s, Ithaca College

Bachelor’s, Juniata College

Integrated Undergraduate Studies, Penn State

52

Student News

2011-12 NEW DOCTORAL DEGREE STUDENTS

Dunja Antunovic

Alyssa Appelman

Janelle Applequist

Steve Bien-Aimé

Snow Dong

Bachelor’s, DePaul University; Master’s, DePaul University

Bachelor’s, University of Missouri; Master’s, University of Missouri

Bachelor’s, Penn State; Master’s, Penn State

Bachelor’s, Penn State

Bachelor’s, Communication University of China; Master’s, University of Missouri

Jiangxue Han

Jennifer Hoewe

David Morar

Brett Sherrick

Akshaya Sreenivasan

Bachelor’s, Renmin University; Master’s, Ohio University

Bachelor’s, Grand Valley State University; Master’s, Michigan State

Bachelor’s, University of Bucharest; Master’s, Penn State

Bachelor’s, University of North Carolina; Master’s, UNC-Wilmington

Bachelor’s, University of Madras; Master’s, University of Madras

Bo Zhang Bachelor’s, Peking University; Master’s, Boston University

For the latest news about the College of Communications ... http://comm.psu.edu 53

Alumni News

Jaffe Named Fundraising Volunteer of Year Pognized Bill Jaffe

enn State has rec-

(’60 Journ), a leader of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students, as its 2011 Fundraising Volunteer of the Year. The award, which was officially presented in October, honors the leadership of alumni and friends in securing philanthropic support for the University.

“Bill understands this complex instituFundraising Volunteer of the Year Bill Jaffe and his wife Honey (seated, center) with some of the communication from so many tions students who receive scholarship support from the several Jaffe family endowments at the annual Donor different perspecand Scholarship Recipient Dinner. (Photo by Will Yurman) tives: as an alumnus, went on to a long career in human resources, and he as a community leader, as a volunteer and as a donor remains the principal of the Jaffe Group, a consulting himself,” said Rodney P. Kirsch, senior vice president firm. for development and alumni relations. “He has served In 1995, Jaffe and his wife, Honey, an honorary the University not only with tremendous perceptiveness Penn State alumnus, settled in State College, where and expertise, but also with the grace and good humor they have become community leaders and prominent that make us keep coming back to him, again and supporters of both local organizations and the again. Through his example, he has ensured that Penn University, including the performing and fine arts, State blue and white stands for philanthropy and servPenn State Hillel, the College of Communications, ice as well as pride and tradition.” public broadcasting and Intercollegiate Athletics. Jaffe Jaffe is currently the chair of the President’s Club, a has served as president of Pennsylvania Centre Stage, society recognizing donors whose annual gifts to Penn and his commitments have also included the Centre State total $2,500 or more. He also serves on the execuCounty Community Foundation, the Mount Nittany tive committee of the For the Future campaign and the Conservancy and Centre County United Way. He is a board of the Renaissance Fund, which provides scholarrecipient of Alumni Fellow and Alumni Association ships for talented students in need.

Volunteer of the Year honors from the University.

His history as a fundraising volunteer for the “This is such a wonderful and meaningful award,” University stretches back to the institution’s first major said Jaffe. “Love for Penn State typically starts with effort, The Campaign for Penn State, and he was a involvement and service. Gradually, it evolves into phimember of the Intercollegiate Athletics committee in lanthropy, which enables future students and the comthe Grand Destiny campaign. munity to share in what a university brings—education, Beyond his fundraising roles, he has served the employment opportunities, an interest in the arts and College of Communications Alumni Society board, athletics, and making the State College area a better Penn State Hillel, the Parent and Family Advisory place in which to reside.

I’m honored to have had the Board, and the Penn State Alumni Association, among chance to share that message with other Penn Staters, others. and I am honored to be the University’s Fundraising Jaffe made his first gift to Penn State in 1961. He Volunteer of the Year.”

G

54

Linda Yaccarino is one of Adweek’s “Ten Most Powerful Women in TV,” a mother of two and newlyinstalled as head of advertising for NBCUniversal. Despite her demanding schedule and fast-paced career, Yaccarino still finds time to give back to the College and Penn State.

For these reasons and more, Yaccarino (’85 Telcom) was named a 2011 Alumni Fellow by the Penn State Alumni Association. Yaccarino was honored in October with 23 other winners of the most prestigious award given by the Alumni Association; since its inception in 1973, only 689 alumni have been so honored.

Yaccarino is the 45th College of Communications graduate to be given the permanent and lifelong title of Alumni Fellow.

Just weeks after being honored, Yaccarino was named president for cable entertainment and digital advertising sales at NBCUniversal.

In her new post, Yaccarino is responsible for all advertising sales for USA, Syfy, Bravo Media, E! Entertainment, Oxygen Media, Style, G4, Sprout, Chiller, Cloo and their respective digital platforms.

Additionally, Yaccarino will oversee the sales efforts for NBC.com, AccessHollywood.com, NBCSports.com, NBCOlympics.com and GolfChannel.

Previously, she was an advertising

Linda Yaccarino, recently installed as head of advertising for NBCUniversal, was named an Alumni Fellow earlier this year.

executive at Turner Entertainment, holding the dual roles of executive vice president and chief operating officer of ad sales/marketing and acquisitions.

Yaccarino has been an active volunteer on behalf of the College. At Turner’s Manhattan’s Time Warner Center, she annually hosted more than 400 students who attend the College’s “Success in the City” job fair. In addition to acting as a mentor to current students and her frequent guest lecture appearances on campus, she also serves on the College’s “For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students” committee.

Yaccarino lives in Seacliff, N.Y.,

with her husband, Claude, and their two children, Matthew and Christian. Matthew is a member of the College of Communications class of 2014 and is a goalie for the Penn State ice hockey team.

The Alumni Fellow program is administered by the Penn State Alumni Association in cooperation with the University’s academic colleges, campuses and the Office of the President. Alumni are nominated by a college or campus as leaders in their respective professional fields.

Upon receipt of the award, Fellows are invited to return to campus to share their experiences with students, faculty and administrators.

At the awards ceremony, each Fellow receives a commemorative award, designed and hand cast by alumna Jeanne Stevens-Sollman, an acclaimed sculptor and an Alumni Fellow herself.

The Alumni Association is the largest dues-paying alumni association in the world with more than 164,000 members. Established in 1870, the Alumni Association strives to connect alumni to the University and to each other, provide valuable benefits to members and support the University’s mission of teaching research and service. For more information about the Alumni Association, go to http://www.alumni.psu.edu online.

G

Be Social (Media) with the College Find us, follow us, join us ... http://comm.psu.edu/alumni 55

Alumni News

TV Executive Yaccarino Named Alumni Fellow

Alumni News

Snyder Ready to Lead an Active Alumni Society Board Passion for Students, Volunteering Drive Alumna

When Carrie Snyder was a high school senior, there was one and only place she wanted to go to college: Penn State.

“It was,” she said, “the only place I had applied and the only place I wanted to go.”

Two decades later, Penn State is still No. 1—in her heart and in her time spent as a volunteer on the College’s Alumni Society Board.

As a student, Snyder (’95 Ad/PR) was a representative to the board from 1994 to 1995. And as an alumnus, she has served on the board since 2002.

Beginning with the spring 2012 meeting, she will serve a two-year term Carrie Snyder (center), who will take over as president of the Alumni Society Board in the as the board’s president. spring, responds to a student question during an on-campus mentoring event.

Snyder has two main goals for the development through a part-time job at Penn State Lion board. First, she hopes to create a strategic plan that Line and was hired as a manager after graduation. will include an outline of goals and metrics to measure Snyder supervised students during their evening calleach committee’s success.

“Nothing is more meaningful when you’re volunteer- ing shifts and took credit card numbers for alumni donations. One night she had a conversation about the ing than knowing that you are making an impact,” she development industry with an alumnus who turned out said. “So we want to make sure we are successful.” to be the director of annual giving at Kent School, a Her second goal is to create a scorecard to outline private school in Connecticut. the metrics, the results and how to improve the proTwo days later, Snyder drove up for an interview, and grams moving forward. that alumnus became her first boss out of college.

This evaluation would take place each year and After her first job, Snyder worked for Brown would help the board to determine which programs to University’s Office of Annual Giving. She then attendoffer to students and how to market to both students ed graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, and faculty. where she also got her next job at MBA Career Snyder said her application to the Alumni Society Management for the Wharton School.

Board was a natural progression.

Her last move was to the Malvern Preparatory During her senior year she was elected president of School, where she has been for the last 11 years. the College of Communications Student Council, Snyder is currently the assistant director of developwhere she also had the opportunity to sit on the board.

When she graduated, Snyder stayed connected with the ment at Malvern Prep. In that position she acts as the internal manager—overseeing the staff, helping to direct board until the opportunity arose to join.

Nearly a decade ago, Snyder became an official mem- capital campaigns and managing the most recent strategic plan. ber and immediately got involved in leadership posi“I really enjoy the school as a whole. It’s got a great tions. Prior to her role as president she served as chair community environment,” Snyder said. “I like being of student activities, chair of the outreach committee, able to work with volunteers and just meeting people secretary and vice president. who have a passion for their alma mater.”

Her career path, however, was not nearly as preAnd that’s certainly something she’s been familiar dictable. with since the day she applied to Penn State.

After an internship at an advertising agency, Snyder — K e l s e y G i nc k ( ’ 1 1 A dv / P R) decided to change direction. She found an interest in

56

Four Penn State alumni were elected as members of the College of Communications Alumni Society Board during the group’s meeting this fall.

The four alumni—Clara Benice, Thomas Loebig, Robert McKinnon and Alyson Rotz—will serve threeyear terms with the group that supports the mission of the College through activities, fundraising and programming.

Benice (’02 Film-Video) is a writer, producer and director at Luluh, LLC. She also has worked as a producer at Discovery and worked on an upcoming film with Department of Film-Video and Media Studies faculty members Rod Bingaman and Maura Shea.

“My motivation to serve is to give something back to the school that gave me so much,” Benice said. “I serve and stay in contact because I want to help shape the future of the school and the students.”

Loebig (’80 Journ) is the director of digital media content and operations at AccuWeather.com in State College, Pa. He oversees the digital media content of the website, which is distributed globally.

At AccuWeather, Loebig has established two internships, which are primarily staffed with Penn State

Clara Benice

Thomas Loebig

Robert McKinnon

Alyson Rotz

students. He also has hired a number of communications graduates for full-time positions.

“I have always found time to give back to the University and the College of Communications,” he said. “Since moving to State College in 2007, I have made the College part of my life—participating in oncampus career fairs, resume reviews and information sessions.”

McKinnon (’90 Adv) is the

Alumni News

Enthusiastic Quartet Elected to Alumni Society Board

founder and president of YellowBrickRoad, a company that designs social change through programming, communications, advocacy and action. YellowBrickRoad has covered issues ranging from childhood obesity to climate change and works with organizations to help Americans live a happier and healthier life.

McKinnon created and edited “Actions Speak Loudest: Keeping Our Promise for a Better World.”

The book is collection of ideas, images and actions featuring more than 130 organizations and 30 contributors. The book was created to inspire people and to remind them of the generational promise to leave the world a better place than the one they inherited.

Rotz (’10 PR) works at Mullen Advertising in Pittsburgh as the public relations/social influence connector. Rotz was previously an intern for the College of Communications Office of External Relations.

“I am a College of Communications success story,” she said. “I have great motivation to give back to the College because the people on the Alumni Society Board helped to get me where I am today.”

G

Las Vegas Radio News Director Named to Nevada Hall of Fame

Achievement Award. Shaffer’s award was presented by Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Congressman Joe Heck, a 1984 Penn State graduate.

Each year the Nevada Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame honors broadcasting employees who have worked in the industry for a minimum of 20 years, of which five years must be served in Nevada. Experience does not have to be solely in Nevada.

Before moving to Las Vegas and leading Nevada’s largest radio news team, Shaffer spent 15 years working as news director and morning anchor at WNNK-FM in Harrisburg, Pa. G

A Penn State alumnus who serves as the program director, news director and morning anchor for a 50,000watt news-and-talk radio station in Las Vegas was named to the Nevada Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.

John Shaffer, a three-time Marconi Award-winning radio journalist who has been honored by the Associated Press multiple times for his work, has worked at KDWN-AM since 2006.

Along with Shaffer (’88 Film-Video), the Hall of Fame class this year included legendary comedian Jerry Lewis, who received the organization’s Lifetime

57

Alumni News

Faculty Member, Three Alumni Honored with Awards The College of Communications Alumni Society Board honored three Penn State alumni and a faculty member for their accomplishments and service to the College or University at the Board’s annual Alumni Awards Luncheon.

The winners—Curt Chandler, Ben Bronstein, Paula Froke and Sheil Kapadia—were recognized in conjunction with the Alumni Society Board’s fall meeting at the Nittany Lion Inn. The Excellence in Teaching Award was presented to Chandler, a senior lecturer in journalism. Each year, students select a faculty member who has established an exemplary reputation among colleagues, students and alumni to receive the award. A self-proclaimed “picky-editor,” Chandler is known for pushing his students to do their best work.

“It means a lot to know they appreciate the time and don’t take any of the criticism too personally,” he said.

Chandler teaches multimedia reporting and a news writing and reporting course. Next year he will be teaching a new survey course addressing “News in a Multimedia World” as well as the first section of advanced multimedia reporting.

Bronstein, founding director of public relations at the Penn State College of Medicine and Hershey Medical Center, was the recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award.

The award is presented to an alumnus or friend who has made significant contributions to the College or University.

During his time at Hershey Medical Center, Bronstein (’61 Journ) became a founding member of the Four Diamonds Advisory Board. In 2008, he created an endowment in the College to create

Award winners (left to right) Curt Chandler, Paula Froke, Sheil Kapadia and Ben Bronstein were honored at the Alumni Awards Luncheon.

the Ben Bronstein Lecture in Ethics and Public Relations, an annual lecture to support the ethics programming in the colleges of communications and medicine.

“I was pleased to see that my College has literally institutionalized ethics not only in specific courses, but through its Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication and the Don Davis Program in Ethical Leadership,” Bronstein said.

Froke, assistant managing editor for the Associated Press Nerve Center, was the recipient of the Outstanding Alumni Award. The award honors an alumnus who has demonstrated excellence in the field of communications.

Froke (’84 Journ) has worked for the Associated Press for 27 years, in Detroit, Minnesota and New York.

She hired, trained and led a 42-person staff as deputy national editor, and was also one of the first AP employees to advocate the use of multimedia. In her free time, she attends workshops and seminars to add to her skills—most recently in

58

photography and editing.

“I’m overwhelmed by this honor from the University I cherish so deeply and from a program that was key to shaping my journalistic approach and philosophies from the very beginning,” Froke said.

Kapadia, sports editor at Philly.com, earned the Emerging Professional Award. This award is presented to a recent alumnus for professional achievement and community service.

At Philly.com, Kapadia (’05 Journ) writes the popular Eagles/NFL blog, “Moving the Chains;” hosts in-game chats; creates video reports; and helps build content and traffic for the website.

“Before I started working, I spent most of my time watching sports, reading about sports and listening to others talk about sports,” he said.

“Now I get to do some of those things and get paid for it. I enjoy being a part of the conversation and interacting with readers and fans.”

As a student Kapadia wrote for The Daily Collegian, Fight On State and Blue-White Illustrated.

G

Eric Rabe, the former senior vice president for media relations for Verizon Communications, has been named chair of the Board of Visitors for the College of Communications.

Rabe (’68 Journ) has been a member of the board since 2007.

Members of the Board of Visitors serve as ambassadors who advance and support the mission of the College. The 33-member board consists of a diverse group of business people, edu- Eric cators and professionals.

Rabe Rabe succeeds Jayne Jamison (’78 Adv), who is the publisher of Seventeen magazine.

“Jayne set the bar high in making the Board of Visitors a vibrant, proactive advisory group,” said Dean Doug Anderson. “We’re confident that Eric, with his array of experience and expertise in several areas that stretch broadly across the College, will continue that momentum.

“Eric touches on almost every area of the College. As a former TV newsman, he knows broadcast journalism.

He’s been one of the country’s top public relations practitioners. And he has an intimate knowledge of the

telecommunications industry. We are grateful that he has agreed to assume this key leadership role.”

Rabe was recognized in 2005 as an Alumni Fellow, the highest honor accorded by the Penn State Alumni Association. He delivered the College’s commencement address in May 2009. In addition, he has funded the Eric W. Rabe Trustee Scholarship and is a member of the College’s “For The Future” campaign committee. He served on the College of Communications Alumni Society Board from 2005 to 2007.

At Verizon, Rabe was the company’s principal spokesperson for telecommunications. He was responsible for the strategy, planning and execution of communications dealing with Verizon’s advanced fiber optic network deployment, network operations, long distance business, local competition and regulatory issues.

In the early 1970s, Rabe was a news anchor for WTAJ-TV (Channel 10), the CBS affiliate in Altoona, Pa. He resides in Philadelphia with his wife, Luisa.

G

59

Alumni News

Former Verizon VP Named to Chair Board of Visitors

Alumni News

‘SNL’ Director Earns Another Emmy Award Alumnus Don King, the director of “Saturday Night Live,” earned the Emmy Award for Directing, Variety, Music or Comedy Series during the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards.

King, who earned his Penn State degree in broadcast journalism in 1969, has worked at “SNL” since 2006 and his work during that time has produced two Emmy Awards and four nominations.

During King's award-winning illustrious career he has served as a director for network television morning shows as well as afternoon talk shows, variety shows and news programs. He has covered four

Don King has been the director of “Saturday Night Live” since 2006, earning two Emmy Awards and four nominations in that time. (Photo by Aubrey Whelan)

Olympic Games, numerous presidential elections, a handful of Super Bowls, breaking news surrounding the terrorists attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and much more. In addition, he serves as the creative director for a company that brings live theatrical performances to other theaters and pay-per-view cable.

King, 63, a native of Pitcairin, Pa., started his career at a small TV station in San Jose, Calif., and later

moved home to Pittsburgh before another opportunity took him to “The Mike Douglas Show,” one of TV’s first dominant daytime talk/variety shows.

He directed “Good Morning America” for seven years and then directed CBS morning shows for 14 years.

King will return to campus for the Penn State Forum Speaker Series in March 2012.

G

As Inspector General, Martin’s Oversight Helps NASA Complete Mission

would mean leaving the career path I had planned since grade school.”

Ultimately, Martin moved to Washington. He worked for the commission during the day and attended Georgetown University law school in the evening.

In 1998, Martin left the commission to work for the Department of Justice, arguably the largest law firm in the world, in the Office of Inspector General—the independent entity that investigates and audits personnel and programs for abuse, fraud, mismagagement and waste.

“When I was nominated as the inspector general at NASA, I had a bit of trepidation given the underlying activities of the agency—science, spaceflight and aeronautics as opposed to law enforcement, counterterrorism and counterintelligence,” Martin said.

Still, the job came down to some fundamental concepts of effective communication that have played a vital role in every position he’s held since leaving Penn State.

“The inquisitiveness and tenacity that I believe should come naturally to any journalist—the search for the ‘why’— are traits that I have relied on throughout my professional career, particularly during my time as inspector general,” Martin said.

— Ka te C av erno ( ’ 11 A d v /PR , En gli s h)

Talk about mission control. Since Nov. 20, 2009, when Paul K. Martin was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as NASA inspector general, he has had one job—helping NASA complete its mission.

His office has 215 auditors, analysts, criminal investigators and attorneys in Washington, D.C., and at 10 NASA centers across the country. “We conduct independent and objective oversight of NASA programs and operations and the $18 billion it spends each year,” Martin (’82 Journ) said.

Paul K. After graduating from Penn State, Martin Martin worked for three years in South Carolina as a reporter for the Greenville News. “It was during my time covering state and federal courts for the paper that I caught the law bug and decided to pursue a legal education,” he said.

In 1985, President Reagan appointed a federal district court judge from Greenville as the first chairman of the new U.S. Sentencing Commission.

“The judge, who I had become friendly with from my time covering his courtroom, asked me whether I would be interested in coming to Washington to help him,” Martin said. “On the one hand, accepting the offer would put me in the middle of an exciting opportunity—not many people get the chance to help create a new federal agency—in a city with five evening law schools, but it also

60

With his oldest daughter ready to start college this fall, one Penn State alumnus wanted to provide her with a practical, memorable gift when she went away to school.

So, Steve Sampsell, who also serves as director of College Relations for the College of Communications, gave his daughter, who started classes at the University of Pittsburgh in August, a book.

And not just any book. He wrote it himself.

He presented “Men Are Pigs: 93 Things A Dad Wants His Daughter to Know About College” to his daughter Dani in mid-July. It got an immediate positive reaction after she took a photo of the book and uploaded that image to Facebook to spread the word to her friends.

Sampsell’s 100-page book—which features 93 pieces of advice because his daughter was born in 1993—touches on topics that range from the relationship with a roommate and how to schedule classes to the importance of going to class and making good decisions.

While Sampsell (’90 Journ) believes he could have come up with all 93 things himself, the book’s structure—with one piece of advice and some commentary or specifics on each page—was enhanced by contributions from some of his Penn State classmates and friends, as well as recent University graduates who know his daughter.

Alumni News

First Book Offers Advice for College-Bound Daughter

“It was a personal labor of love, and it became something that can be useful for any young woman headed to college,” Sampsell said. “With contributions from other people, it became much stronger. And I learned some things, too.”

More about the book and purchasing information can be found at www.93things.com online. Fifty-one percent of all sales for the book are being donated to charity. The book was illustrated by Alidia Strouse, a high school classmate of Sampsell’s daughter who is now a freshman at Penn State Altoona. Advanced Color Graphics in State College printed the book. G

Alumna Shares Story of Dominating Dog in Book About Man’s Best Friend A story by an award-winning author and Penn State alumna was included in a collection of stories about man’s best friend that went on sale in time for National Adopt-A-Dog Month, with 10 percent of the book's royalties reserved for the Humane Society of the United States.

Author Jenny Gardiner (’84 Journ) joined a lineup of writers for the book that included 11 New York Times bestselling authors, two Emmy Award winners and one Tony Award winner.

The book, “I’m Not the Biggest Bitch in This Relationship,” edited

by Wade Rouse, includes 20 stories.

Within the anthology, Gardiner’s account, titled “My Dog, The Dominatrix,” tells the hilarious story of Bridget, her adoptedfrom-the-side-of-the-road mutt that simply cannot be contained.

Bridget, who is lovingly referred to as “Smoochie Pooch,” “Looch,” “Loochie” and “Lulu,” comes to life with Gardiner’s entertaining tale of their life together. She effectively relays her dominating dog’s unforgettable personality in a charming and relatable story.

“Bridget has remained loyal and

61

loving and every day we are so grateful we didn’t listen to that wellintended advice to get rid of our adorable little pooch,” Gardiner wrote in the book. “She’s enriched our lives probably more than we hers.”

Gardiner, author of the awardwinning “Sleeping With Ward Cleaver,” has authored several works, including: “Winging It: A Memoir of Caring for a Vengeful Parrot Who’s Determined to Kill Me,” “Slim to None” and “Over the Falls.” Her work has been featured in Ladies Home Journal, The Washington Post and on NPR’s “Day to Day.” She and her family live in Virginia with a houseful of pets.

— K ate Cav er n o ( ’ 11 Ad v/ PR , English)

Alumni Notes 1950s

Stanley Degler (’51 Journ) was married to Ann Hope of Charlottesville, Va., on July 3, 2011.

They live in Arlington, Va. 1960s

Steve Milner (’61 Journ, ’63 MA Journ) has retired as the public affairs officer at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. He lives in Yorktown, Va. Contact info: sbmilner@cox.net.

1970s

Carl K. Vogel ('74 Adv) works for the Johnson Matthey Co. in West Chester, Pa. He serves as quality systems engineer and is responsible for the content and conversion of all technical manufacturing process documentation to electronic media.

In addition, he manages onsite customer and ISO audits. He lives in New Jersey.

Ron Regan (’75 Journ), chief investigator for NewsChannel 5 in Cleveland, Ohio, received three awards, including best on-camera reporter at the 42nd annual NATAS Lower Great Lakes Chapter Emmy Awards.

McCarthy is responsible for developing creative advertising and marketing campaigns for all of the agency’s clients. He also oversees other core agency services that include market research, marketing strategy and business planning.

McCarthy’s work has been published in national periodicals that include Fortune and Forbes.

News to share?

Nancy (Boyd) Kennedy (’79 Journ) is publishing three books with Leafwood Publishers. The first book, “Miracles and Moments of Grace: Inspiring Stories from Military Chaplains,” released in March 2011, will be followed by a second book in the series, “Inspiring Stories told by Doctors.”

Her book of weight loss success stories, “How We Did It,” will be published in December 2011. With these titles, she will have had five books published.

Whatever the news, just let us know and we’ll spread the word with other College of Communications alumni.

Rik Weber (’79 Journ) has moved back to Fort Myers, Fla., while retaining his position as associate editor for Penton Media. He also released his first biography, “Pink Lips and Fingertips,” which is available at rickweber.org.

1980s

Susan FitzGerald (’77 Journ), a Philadelphia-area journalist, is coauthor of a new parenting book, “Letting Go with Love and Confidence: Raising Responsible, Resilient, Self-Sufficient Teens in the 21st Century” (2011, Avery).

The book answers all those nagging “when” questions that drive parents crazy: When is my child kid old enough to get a cell phone? Go to the mall? Drive? Date?

Jerry Kambic (’82 Journ) has been named the Director of Commonwealth Media Services in the Dept. of General Services for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where he has worked for 22 years.

The Kambics are proud of their son Justin Kambic ('10 IST) a second generation Nittany Lion. Justin is currently working at VideoBank in Northvale, N.J., as a programmer.

Dan McCarthy (’77 Film) was promoted to executive vice president of strategic and creative development at Elias/Savion Advertising.

Chris Lindsley (’87 Journ) was promoted to director of communication services at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. He lives

62

Engaged?

Married?

Honored?

Promoted?

Proud parents?

Send Alumni Notes to ...

steves@psu.edu

in Takoma Park, Md. Ron Swegman (’89 Journ) published his second book, “Small Fry: The Lure of the Little.” The book, published by The Whitefish Press, is a collection of illustrated essays on the sport of fly fishing. More information is available on the author’s official website, http://www.ronpswegman.com, online.

1990s

Richard "Bruce" Gibson II (’90 Brcab) has been promoted to director, affiliate relations and strategy at The Weather Channel, based in Atlanta.

Cheryl A. (Trecoske) Fabrizi ('91 Journ) was named assistant dean, recruitment & admissions for The Graduate School at Binghamton University in April 2011. She resides in Binghamton, N.Y., with her husband, Jim. Four siblings are

Bob Heisse, executive editor of the Centre Daily Times in State College, was elected president of the Associated Press Media Editors at the group’s annual conference in Denver.

As vice president last year, Heisse worked closely with the AP-APME Broken Budgets reporting initiative and oversaw the expansion of the five-year-old APME Innovator of the Year contest to award monthly recognition.

Bob “More than ever, APME is delivering for Heisse newsrooms, whether it’s in top training through NewsTrain, top content through national projects, or guidance in unsteady times,” Heisse (’79 Journ) said. “Thousands of editors in our newsrooms need the support and resources that APME can offer.”

APME—an association of editors at 1,400 member newspapers served by the Associated Press in the United States, newspapers served by The Canadian Press in Canada and 3,000 U.S. broadcast outlets— works closely with the news company to strive for journalism excellence.

APME also supports training and development of editors in a changing media landscape, as well as initiatives in online credibility and diversity. also Penn State graduates: Karen (Trecoske) Wnuk (’92 Bus), Gregg Trecoske (’98 Eng), Melissa (Trecoske) Houghton (’99 H&HD), and Jason Trecoske (’02 Agr).

Paul Rokuskie (’92 Film-Video) is on the board of directors and was elected president of the Bucks County Autism Support Coalition.

You can get more info on this allvolunteer organization at www.bcasc.org online.

Brian Hunn (’93 Adv) is a vice president, creative director for Digitas New York.

Camille Mullett Heidebrecht (’93 Adv) is the director of marketing and communications for TeenLife Media and TeenLife.com, an award-

The 78-year-old group changed its name from Associated Press Managing Editors to Associated Press Media Editors this year to better reflect its growing makeup.

“I look forward to welcoming AP broadcasters, educators and student media editors to APME,” Heisse said.

“We have a lot planned in coming months, including new social media projects, continuing two national reporting initiatives on Broken Budgets and Aging America, and unveiling the APME50 project to reach out to editors in a new way.”

Heisse began his career at the Bucks County Courier Times in Levittown, Pa., and later became city editor of the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. He joined the Centre Daily Times, which is owned by the McClatchy Co., in 2002.

He is immediate past president of the Pennsylvania APME and is a former president of the Pennsylvania Society of Newspaper Editors.

He will serve as association president until the next APME conference, which will be held at the First Amendment Center in Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 18-21, 2012.

G

winning site with information and resources for parents and collegebound teens.

Alumni Notes

CDT Executive Editor Heisse Elected President of APME

Kirsten Byerts Pitro (’98 Journ) and husband Chris (’98 Bus) welcomed son Greydon Christopher on June 3, 2010. They live in Washington, D.C.

Tim Gaughan (’97 Media Studies) is the director of digital newsgathering & senior producer, special events at CBS News. He lives in Nutley, N.J., with his wife Connie and their two sons, Caisse, 5 and Jack, 3.

David Edelson (’00 Journ) is director of electronic media for the Association of Public and LandGrant Universities.

Michael Palm (’97 Journ) is a night sports editor for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Aimee Harris (’01 Journ) is deputy metro editor at The New York Times.

Kelly Tabay Hainer (’98 Journ), executive producer for “Good Morning Cleveland,” won an Emmy Award for best morning news at the 42nd annual NATAS Lower Great Lakes Chapter Emmy Awards.

Erin Jackson (’01 Media Studies) works as the production coordinator for the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, where she began working 10 days after graduating. She lives in Turnersville, N.J., and plans to

63

2000s

Alumni Notes

marry Stephen Wagner in May 2012.

Julie Conigliaro (’02 Journ) was promoted to senior development officer for the Arts & Science Council. She lives in Charlotte, N.C. Darren Goldwater (’02 Journ) is an announcer for the Southern Conference Television Network.

Scott Horner (’02 Adv/PR) and wife Laura Kauffman (’03 Adv/PR) welcomed son Colin Edward, born March 28, 2011. Scott is director of communications, athlete and property marketing, for Octagon, in Tysons Corner, Va. He also serves as an adjunct professor in the sports industry management graduate program at Georgetown University. Laura is a solution strategist for CA Technologies. They live in Herndon, Va.

director II within the studio directing department at ESPN. He is also the lead associate director for the studio’s golf event coverage. He is celebrating his seventh anniversary with the company.

Charlotte Nicely (’03 Telecom) is a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University.

Addie Manis (’04 Film-Video) is a producer for VFX in California. She is a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Curtis Johnson (’05 Media Studies) lives in Landover, Md., where he works as a social media and online specialist for The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Tom Kretschmer (’02 Telecom) is a photographer/editor at Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia. He won a Mid-Atlantic Emmy for Outstanding News Feature in 2011.

Chris Law (’06 Telecom) is a producer at the National Football League, where he contributes to NFL Digital Media, NFL.com and NFL Network. He is also the producer of the “Rich Eisen Podcast” & “NFL Fantasy Live.”

Lisa Marzka (’02 Ad/PR) is advertising account executive at the Centre Daily Times in State College.

Dan Victor (’06 Journ) was named social media editor for the investigative newsroom at ProPublica.

Ben Rupp (’02 Journ) was promoted to director of annual giving at Gettysburg College. He, wife Karla and son Cameron John, born June 6, 2010, live in Chambersburg, Pa.

Genevieve Kennedy Evans (’07 Journ) earned her J.D. degree from the University of Akron School of Law. She lives in Greensburg, Pa.

Josh Lipowsky (’03 Journ) earned first place in feature writing, first place in state/regional news, and third place in state/regional news in the Society of Professional Journalists New Jersey chapter’s 2010 Excellence in Journalism contest.

Joel Molinsky (’03 Telecom) was recently promoted to associate

Bradley Hunter (’07 Journ), a fouryear player on the men’s tennis team, is project manager at Federated Media Publishing in New York City.

Alex Muller (’07 Journ) is a copy editor and designer for The Hill in Washington, D.C. Amanda Oey (’07 Adv/PR) is an executive at Brunswick Group in

64

New York, N.Y. She is also a member of the Asian American Journalists Association.

Jennifer (Diefenderfer) O'Meara (’07 Adv/PR) was married in April to Jason O’Meara. She is a marketing manager for Holy Redeemer Health System.

Richard Kent Zakour (’08 Journ) is a sports writer for The Gazette in Gaithersburg, Md. Stephanie Bennis (’09 Adv/PR) is the founder and CEO of Bennis Public Relations Inc., a PR and event planning firm based in Harrisburg, Pa. She first established the corporation during her senior year at Penn State. She previously worked in Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration in the Office of Legislative Affairs. The firm’s website: www.BennisInc.com Kristen Huth (’09 Journ) is a librarian at Hopewell High School in suburban Pittsburgh.

Angelique Parlove (’09 Adv/PR) is an associate publisher for Fierce Markets in Washington D.C. Jaclyn Printz (’09 Ad/PR) was promoted to account executive in the consumer marketing practice at Edelman Public Relations in New York City.

Amy Yonick (’09 Telecom) received her master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Pittsburgh, and works as the medical librarian for Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pa. 2010s

Jenna Ekdahl (’10 Journ) is a local editor for Patch.com covering local

Stephanie Goga (’10 Journ) is the marketing coordinator for UPMC Health Plan in Pittsburgh.

Kelly Rippen (’10 Journ) is a reporter at WBOY-TV in Clarksburg, W.Va. Brittany Boyer (’11 Journ) is a reporter for WJAC-TV in Johnstown, Pa. Beth Ann Downey (’11 Journ) is a reporter for the Altoona (Pa.) Mirror.

James Gherardi (’11 Journ) is a reporter at WSET-TV in Lynchburg, Va. Chris Hush (’11 Journ) is a reporter at WETM-TV in Elmira, N.Y. Victoria Kasselman (’11 Journ) is an assistant producer at WINK-TV in Fort Meyers, Fla. Daniel Krieg (’11 Journ) is a production assistant at ESPN. Carley Millenbaum (’11 Journ) is a multimedia reporter for USA Today.

Jessica Reyes (’11 Journ) is a reporter at WHAG-TV in Hagerstown, Md. Ana Stefano (’11 Journ) is a reporter and production assistant for WHVL-TV in State College.

Katie Sullivan (’11 Journ) is a reporter for the Times-Tribune in Scranton, Pa.

Author Brings Back Popular Character in His Latest Book

After 14 years, Penn State linebacker turned night-school lawyer Jake Lassiter made his return in “Lassiter,” the newest novel from Paul Levine.

Levine (’69 Journ), an awardwinning author of legal thrillers, brought back Lassiter—cited by Booklist as “one of the most entertaining series characters in contemporary crime fiction”—for his eighth appearance in one of his books after repeated requests from readers.

Lassiter, a renegade lawyer, makes his return as Amy Larkin accuses him of being involved in the disappearance of her sister 18 years earlier. Seeking to be absolved of the accusations, Lassiter follows the cold trail, which quickly heats up.

“Lassiter runs head-on into a conspiracy of Miami’s rich and powerful who would do anything to keep the past as dark as the night,” said Levine. The hardcover book from Random House is available in stores or as an ebook.

After Levine earned his Penn State degree, he worked as a newspaper reporter, law professor and trial lawyer before becoming a fulltime novelist.

He won the John D. MacDonald Award for his critically acclaimed, earlier Jake Lassiter novels, which are now available as ebooks. He was named a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus in 2003.

He also is the award-winning author of legal thrillers including “Illegal”; “Solomon vs. Lord,” nominated for the Macavity Award and the James Thurber Prize; “The Deep Blue Alibi,”

65

nominated for an Edgar Award; and “Kill All the Lawyers,” a finalist for the International Thriller Writers Award.

Levine also has many television writing credits, including more than 20 episodes of the CBS military drama “JAG.” Manuscripts from that series’ shows may be found in Carnegie Building on the University Park campus, part of a donation by the show's creator Donald Bellisario, who was named a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus in 2001.

Earlier this year, Levine reissued his book “To Speak for the Dead” as an e-book with proceeds going to support cancer treatment and research at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital.

Levine lives in Los Angeles, where he is working on his next Jake Lassiter thriller, with his wife, Renee. He is the father of two children, Wendy Sachs, a New York public relations executive and Michael Levine (’03 Journ), a sports broadcaster in Miami.

G

Alumni Notes

news in Northampton Township, Bucks County, Pa.

Alumni Notes

IN MEMORIAM

I Pat Boland (’91 Journ), a hard-working and wellrespected radio veteran who made Happy Valley his home after he graduated from Penn State, died July 5, 2011, after a battle with cancer. He was 42.

Boland served as program director and news director for Forever Broadcasting in State College. He was a cohost of “Kevin and Pat in the Morning,” and covered all aspects of life in Centre County—community news, crime, politics, sports and more—during his career.

He battled both lung and brain cancer over a twoyear period from his initial diagnosis in February 2009.

During that time, he rarely complained and simply continued working.

Boland was well-liked and well-respected for his work ethic and for his ability to cover any kind of story.

During a career that stretched over two decades, he pressed local officials for accountability and answers, and he brought that same energy and enthusiasm to work covering high school and Penn State sports.

Through the years, he hosted everything from morning talk shows that focused on community topics to afternoon-drive sports talk shows. He earned the respect of those he covered and the respect of listeners because he was always prepared and unfailingly fair.

He embraced the effort and long hours necessary to do a job well, and he never seemed at a loss for ideas.

If that meant working all day on Election Night, he did so. If that meant combing through public records

for details that would make a story more complete or strong, he did so. If that meant digging through years of history and statistics to prepare for a tournament style comparison of Penn State’s all-time best football players for a season-long radio promotion (an effort that made its debut after his death), he did so.

Boland, also known for his droll sense of humor, stayed on the job until the end of May, when his condition worsened.

At that time, he retired to his parents’ home in Central City, Pa., and later launched a blog that he hoped would help with his free time until he planned to return to work.

G

I Roland L. Hicks (’53 MA, ’55 Ph.D), a man of quiet wit and much charm, passed away at his home in Hemet, Calif., on Oct. 6, 2011. He was 93.

He was born Feb. 26, 1918, in Indiana; graduated with degrees from Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., and Penn State.

He taught marketing and advertising for more than 35 years at Penn State (1951-1962) and Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich. (1963-1986) Hicks served in World War II, as a second lieutenant in the Navy, and participated in the Utah Beach landing and was on the Battleship BB58 in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender.

Hicks was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth Elizabeth, and a daughter, Sandra. He is survived by three children, Nancy Hicks Rose (Larry) of Lincoln, Neb.; William Thomas Hicks (’95 Eng) (Chris) of Jeffersonville, Ind.; and James Robert Hicks (Snow) of Portsmouth, England; eight grandchildren; three great grandchildren; a brother John of Lebanon, Ind.; and his dear friend Carmella Hamilton of Hemet.

Hicks, who swore off snow and bitter weather upon his retirement, enjoyed living in Hemet full-time for more than 18 years. He swam almost daily until shortly before his death and won a number of Senior Olympic medals in swimming.

He was a member of the DOME church and enjoyed friends and the social activities at Sun West Retirement Village. Hicks loved to amuse himself and others with his mischievous humor.

When Hemet was raising money for the library, Hicks sent in a check and a note saying he couldn’t afford to donate enough money to get a room named after himself, but perhaps his check would cover the naming of a urinal in his honor.

In his retirement Hicks said he discovered you really only need three things to be happy: someone to love, someone to love you back and something to look forward to.

Financial remembrances can be sent to the Roland L. Hicks Endowment, at the Ferris Foundation.

G

Scholarship Support Several alumni have already pledged support to the Pat Boland Memorial Internship Award. Once fully funded, the endowment would support internships for students interested in radio. Details and updates about the effort can be found at www.patbolandscholarship.com online.

Donations to support the effort may be directed to: Kevin Musick, c/o Penn State College of Communications, 302 James Building, University Park, PA 16802. Also, questions may be directed to Musick by calling (814) 8658801.

66

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 to 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.

G

How To Reach Us

Area code is (814) Addresses are University Park, PA 16802

OFFICE OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS 301 James Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .865-8801 Kevin Musick, Director of Development Jonathan Thurley, Associate Director of Development Janet Klinefelter, Development Assistant Tarynn Herlocher, Administrative Assistant Sue Beals, Administrative Assistant Mike Poorman, Director of Alumni Relations Steve Sampsell, Director of College Relations DEAN’S OFFICE 201 Carnegie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .863-1484 Douglas Anderson, Dean Marie Hardin, Associate Dean for Undergraduate and Graduate Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . .865-3370 ACADEMIC SERVICES 204 Carnegie Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . .865-1503 Jamey Perry, Assistant Dean for Academic Services CAREER PLACEMENT & INTERNSHIP OFFICE 208 Carnegie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .863-4674 Bob Martin, Assistant Dean for Internships and Career Placement MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS 208 Carnegie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .863-6081 Joseph Selden, Assistant Dean for Multicultural Affairs STUDENT MEDIA 101 Innovation Blvd., Suite 213H . . . . . . .865-2802 Thor Wasbotten, Assistant Dean for Student Media and Online Operations WEB SITE http://comm.psu.edu

COLLEGE CALENDAR Jan. 9 ..................Spring Semester Classes Begin Feb. 17-19 ..........Penn State Dance Marathon (Live coverage on http://psucommedia.com/) March 4-10 ..........Spring Break (no classes) March 13-14 ........Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers March 30..............College of Communications Alumni Society Board Meeting April 27 ................Spring Semester Classes End May 24 ................Presentation of Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism (6 p.m., National Press Club, Washington, D.C.) 67

The Communicator College of Communications The Pennsylvania State University 302 James Building University Park, PA 16802

Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage PAID State College, PA Permit No. 1

THON Webcast / www.thon.org

All 46 hours online, produced by College of Communications students.

THON 2012 / Feb. 17-19, 2012