2010 Communicator

2010 Vol.32 No.1

Service Learning Students are not learning everything by the books

Communicator A publication of the College of Communication and Information Sciences

Loy Singleton Dean Neely J. Portera Development Director Joseph Phelps Chair, Advertising and Public Relations Beth Bennett Chair, Communication Studies Jennifer Greer Chair, Journalism Gary Copeland Chair, Telecommunication and Film Elizabeth Aversa Director, School of Library and Information Studies Elizabeth Brock Director, Center for Public Television and Radio Kim Bissell Director, Institute for Communication and Information Research Pam Tran Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Student Services Caryl Cooper Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Studies Shuhua Zhou Associate Dean, Graduate Studies

Communicator Staff Publisher — Loy Singleton, Dean Editor — Deidre Stalnaker Designer — Doug Shinholster The Communicator is published by the Capstone Communication Society and CIS. Its purpose is to keep friends and alumni informed about the programs, services and activities of the College and abreast of developments in the field of communication.

Send mail for the Communicator to The University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences Box 870172 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0172 For address changes, alumni notes or story ideas, e-mail sammie@ua.edu.

Dr. Loy Singleton

Dean’s Message

Dr. Loy Singleton, Dean, College of Communication and Information Sciences

The Advantage of Hands-On Experience In the increasingly competitive digital media world, prospective employers look for entrylevel employees who can hit the ground running, ready to go to work in the new professional environment.

A great strength of the College of Communication and Information Sciences is that new undergraduate students arriving in Phifer Hall for their first semester find a rich assortment of opportunities for hands-on involvement with media. This experience gives them the competitive edge they need to get their first job.

In this issue of the Communicator you will find stories of many of those opportunities and related student successes.

As twenty-first century media technology continues to evolve, the College’s infrastructure must do so as well in order to equip our students with a twenty-first century media education.

We are now working on plans to build a comprehensive digital media production center in the north end of Bryant-Denny stadium underneath The Zone. This extraordinary facility will be the new home for all the production assets currently in the lower floor of Phifer Hall, which will be repurposed as classroom and office space.

The digital media center will assure that our students will continue to have the advantage of hands-on experience in one of the country’s most sophisticated media production facilities on a university campus.

To stay “ahead of the curve” we depend on your advice and support. If you would like to get involved, contact me at loy.singleton@ua.edu.

Contents

2010 Vol.32 No.1

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Lasting Impressions College of Communication and Information Sciences students don’t just learn by the book.

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Outstanding 8 Alumni

2009 HALL OF FAME Winston Groom, Norma Hanson, Raymond Hurlbert and Vincent Townsend were inducted into the College’s Hall of Fame, celebrating the 12th class.

Outstanding Alumni Six exceptional alumni were presented with Outstanding Alumni Awards from the College.

13 In Memoriam 16

Faculty/Staff Notes

22 Alumni Notes 24

Student Notes

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Lasting Impressions CIS students don’t just learn by the book.

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isions of higher education often conjure up students furiously writing down notes while a professor, most likely garbed in corduroy, lectures from the front of a grand, tiered hall.

If you were to peer into certain classrooms here in the UA College of Communication and Information Sciences, you could see that scenario.

But you are more likely to see students in action – focusing a camera, conducting interviews and editing video, photographs and copy.

Hands-on assignments are not only a way to teach students about the craft and theories of communication and information; they are also great ways to give back to the community, often fulfilling the University’s missions of teaching, research and service in one venture.

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Dr. Dan Albertson, assistant professor of library studies, and students have created and tested instructional modules designed to teach basic computer literacy and internet competencies to people with intellectual disabilities in Tuscaloosa.

Preliminary results of this project support the theory that service learning projects can tie together many lessons from the curriculum, into outside student experience.

While the main benefits and goals of service learning are student centered, they also have a broader impact on the profession and professionals within their communities.

In the fall of 2008, 22 students in a persuasive communication campaigns graduate class taught by Dr. Bruce Berger, professor of advertising and public relations, created Literacy Is The Edge with the goal of improving literacy rates in West Alabama.

The class project grew into a recognized UA student organization. Continuing to be successful, members of LITE use advertising and PR theories to campaign against illiteracy in West Alabama with some 700 volunteers recruited and more than 200 of them receiving training as tutors last spring.

“This is a wonderful response by

our students to a compelling need in the community,” said Berger, who continues to be the LITE adviser. “LITE’s campaign highlighted the power of one individual to make a positive difference in the life of another. These many new volunteers will help build bridges to better lives for others in West Alabama.”

Using the research and theory learned in a telecommunication and film course, a group of students designed a five-module media literacy “crash course” for implementation at a local Tuscaloosa high school last fall.

Small groups of college students worked with small groups of high school students over a period of three days, focusing on several key media literacy skills such as critical thinking, understanding of the processes of mass communication, awareness of the impact of media on the individual and society and the understanding and appreciation of media content.

The goals of the project included training the students to recognize point of view, commercial connections, target audiences, the differences between text and subtext, and construction techniques. Each of the small groups of CIS students designed an interactive activity for their module to implement in the small group setting. This training

Heisman-trophy winner and TCF student Mark Ingram shoots a PSA for Literacy Is The Edge.

course was also used as an opportunity for the TCF students to get hands-on experience with experimental research.

And they’re not the only CIS students working with local school systems.

Two journalism students worked with Tuscaloosa City and Tuscaloosa County elementary schools in helping launch fourth grade newspapers. Journalism students are reporting on communities in Alabama in partnership with two newspapers, The Anniston Star and The Tuscaloosa News. They’re doing “hyper-local” coverage both in print and online through graduate and undergraduate classes.

Groups in Dr. Carol Mills communication studies class developed communications programs and materials for UA and community organizations. One group created a conflict management program for housing residents on the UA campus that included a video and pamphlet, and another group worked with children at the Boys and Girls club on conflict. The last group created a training packet for coaches and parents at the YMCA for youth sports.

A great deal of experience a UA College of Communication and Information Scences student can gain doesn’t happen as part of a class. Each

Dr. Bill Gonzenbach teaches a public relations course.

year, more than 100 students receive hands-on instruction in news and sports production with WVUA-TV. Graduating students who have completed the upper levels of training have achieved 100 percent placement in the field. The opportunity for commercial station-based experience plays a significant role in the College’s recruitment of students interested in a broadcasting career.

CIS students play an integral role in the work of the Center for Public Television and Radio, where those with

commitment are nurtured and valued as professional partners along side full time staff. There are hands-on internship opportunities for production experience that may also offer course credit or pay while building industry references and a professional sample reel.

These hands-on learning opportunities are logically designed to reinforce theories and practices taught in the College of Communication and Information Sciences classroom and help students get the most out of the college experience.

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Jonathan Newman tapes UA’s homecoming parade.

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Four Communication, Information Leaders Inducted into CIS Hall of Fame

Winston Groom attended The University of Alabama and, while studying literature and writing for campus publications such as the Rammer-Jammer, decided to become a writer. First, however, he served in Vietnam in the U.S. Army. After his discharge, Groom became a journalist, working as a reporter and columnist for the Washington Star, and later became a full-time writer of novels.

Much of Groom’s work has to do with Vietnam and the military. He and Duncan Spenser published the nonfiction “Conversations with the Enemy,” the story of Pfc. Robert Garwood.

The book was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

It was the satiric novel “Forrest Gump” and the enormously successful movie based on the novel that made Groom, and Gump, household names. A writer’s importance may be measured in many different ways, such as critical opinion and sales figures, but perhaps more significant even than the way the writer uses the English language is the number of striking phrases the writer puts into the English language. “Gump” is full of them, from the opening line, “Let me say this: bein’ a idiot is no box of chocolates” to the poignant refrain, “I got to pee.”

Groom has written 15 books and in the latest phase of his career has applied his novelist’s skills in characterization, scenic presentation and engrossing storytelling to the creation of narrative history.

Norma Hanson credits her father for shaping her work ethic and her values.

As she was headed from her hometown of Dothan to The University of Alabama, her father gave her the following advice: “No one there is any better than you are, and no one there is beneath you . . . so look everyone in the eye and treat everyone the same.”

After graduation, Hanson took her values and her energy into her chosen field of marketing and advertising, and the results, over a career of more than 50 years, have been amazing. Hanson went to work for Tucker Wayne & Co. in Atlanta, worked for Design Associates as a consultant, and then became the co-founder of Slaughter-Hanson in Dothan and Birmingham, working as lead account manager on many important national accounts.

From 1993 to 2005 Hanson was an independent consultant in business development, advertising and marketing. In 2005, she founded her present agency, Norma Hanson & Associates, in Dothan.

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Hanson has been recognized by her professional peers with the American Advertising Federation Silver Medal Award and the Southeast Advertising Federation’s Advertising Pioneer Award, in 2004. Adweek magazine chose her as one of “Six Women to Watch” in 1988, and she was selected as one of the “Women Who Mean Business” by Business Alabama in 1991.

Hanson’s alma mater has honored her as a member of XXXI, a women’s leadership honorary, and an Outstanding Alumna Award from the College.

Raymond Hurlbert spent his professional life in the service of education and communication – in many spheres – dedicated to his beloved Alabama.

Hurlbert earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Birmingham-Southern College. In 1924 he began his career as a teacher and was promoted within two years to principal. He was elected president of the Birmingham Teachers Association and the Alabama Principals Association and was appointed public relations director for the city board of education.

In 1948 he was elected president of the Alabama Education Association. His energetic efforts to provide quality education throughout Alabama culminated in his being tapped

by Gov. Gordon Persons as the first president of the Alabama Educational Television Commission. For 20 years he was the driving force in building the first, and ultimately largest, educational television network in the nation. Under his direction, the Alabama ETV system became an international prototype.

Hurlbert has been recognized as the “father of Alabama ETV.” He was elected chairman of the board of the National Association of Educational Broadcasters and he was president of the National Association of Educational Television. His participation in legislative hearings on behalf of the Public Broadcasting Act was recognized as key testimony in passage of the legislation, and he was honored by President Lyndon Johnson for his efforts on behalf of what would become national public broadcasting.

Always an educator, ever a communicator, Hurlbert was largely responsible for the present scope, excellence and success of Alabama Public Television today. In many ways, Alabama Public Television is his legacy.

Vincent Townsend

, former Birmingham News executive editor and assistant to the publisher, was a journalist during some of the most newsworthy years of the last century, in one of the most newsworthy cities. During the turbulent years of the civil rights movement, Townsend worked tirelessly behind the scenes to promote better interracial relations and was in touch with city, state and national figures, who consulted him for advice.

Townsend’s part in Birmingham history has been noted in works about the civil rights movement. In 1969 Townsend guided the founding of the biracial Community Affairs Committee of Operation New Birmingham. He was one of nine men featured in a 1971 Ebony magazine article about Operation New Birmingham titled “White Voices of the South.” A 1976 article in Time magazine stated that Townsend “had the ear” of the city’s business leaders and “persuaded them to meet with the city’s black leaders for what he called ‘self-preservation.’”

A 1925 graduate of Birmingham-Southern College, Townsend was recognized in 1965 with the Distinguished Alumni Award; in that same year he was named Birmingham’s Citizen of the Year, and in 1984 the Alabama Press Association added him to its Hall of Honor. u

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Outstanding Alumni Eight alumni were presented with Outstanding Alumni Awards from the College of Communication and Information Sciences.

Advertising

Marilyn E. Mancini began her career in advertising as a broadcast copywriter in Illinois.

She started teaching advertising copywriting upon completion of an advanced degree in 1985, moving into the second phase of her career. In 1992 she received the Kappa Tau Alpha Commitment to Teaching Award from the College and in 2004 received the Hileman Award for teaching and outstanding service from the seventh district of the American Advertising Federation.

Public Relations William Alan Dennis was one of the first students to enroll in the newly created College of Communication in 1973. Two years later he completed degrees in both advertising and public relations; and in 1977, a master’s in communication. He began his career as a multi-media specialist at Bryce Hospital where he served in various capacities for the hospital and for the department; including director of publications and printing services, media liaison, public information director, and chief spokesperson.

In 1988, he returned to the College as a full time instructor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, where he stayed for 20 years until his retirement.

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Communication Studies

Dr. Mark D. Nelson joined the faculty in the Department of Communication Studies in the College in 1991 after serving as a faculty member and the director of forensics at Murray State University in Kentucky. In 1996, Nelson was appointed to the position of assistant dean for undergraduate studies for the College and later promoted to associate dean. Along with his duties as associate dean, Nelson served as the basic course director in communication studies, training new graduate students in the art of teaching public speaking. In 2006, he was named assistant provost for academic affairs and in 2008 he was named vice president for student affairs and vice provost for academic affairs.

Journalism Dr. Bernell E. Tripp received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from UA in 1982. She was an award-winning sportswriter in Pensacola, Fla., before returning to UA to enter the graduate program for a master’s degree in journalism in 1989 and a doctoral degree in mass communication in 1993. She joined the faculty at the University of Florida journalism department, where she has taught classes in reporting, magazine and feature writing, sports writing and mass media history.

Library and Information Studies Lee Pike, professor and head of the Angelo Bruno Business Library at The University of Alabama, received both a bachelor’s degree and Master of Library Science from The University of Alabama.His publications include contributions to library science journals and books such as Behavioral and Social Sciences Librarian, Public Library Quarterly and Magazines for Libraries. He has made numerous presentations on library networking, business information sources and collection development.

He completed a four-year term as councilor of the American Library Association and has served in elected offices of other library organizations. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award of the Alabama Library Association.

Telecommunication and Film Cynthia Kay Jones is responsible for coordinating the network’s breaking news coverage and various special projects. Previously, Jones was an associate producer at CNN as well as a media coordinator, joining the network in 1999.

She got her start at WREG-TV in Memphis as a production assistant, and in 1998, moved to WHBQ-TV in Memphis as an associate producer, producing Good Morning Memphis as well as the midday news program. Jones graduated with honors from Northwest Mississippi Community College in 1995 with an associate of arts in broadcasting, and from The University of Alabama in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in telecommunication and film.

Betsy Plank Outstanding Achievement Camille Elebash earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The University of Alabama in 1946 and 1958, respectively.

Her career in communication includes writing radio commercials for WTBC and being a reporter for The Tuscaloosa News, assistant food editor of The New York Times, editor of UA Alumni News, co-founder and publisher of The Graphic and advertising faculty at The University of Alabama.

Bert Bank Distinguished Service Bill Bolen’s career in communications started after his high school graduation in 1947 when he joined the staff of the Selma radio station WHBB as a disc jockey and announcer. With the exception of two years in the U.S. Air Force, he has been in radio and television for 61 years. Bolen has spent most of his adult life in all phases of radio and television from disc jockey to salesman, photographer, program director and news director. The past 40 years he has served as news anchor and host on WBRC-TV. He graduated from UA in 1952 with a major in radio arts. u

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School of Library and Information Studies Granted Continued Accreditation by the American Library Association The University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies’ master’s degree program has been granted continued accreditation by the American Library Association.

ALA accreditation indicates that the program has undergone a self-evaluation process, has been externally reviewed and meets the standards for accreditation of master’s programs in library and information studies.

The ALA Committee on Accreditation (COA) is comprised of 12 members, including library educators, practitioners and two members of the general public who represent library users. The COA evaluates each program for conformity to the standards, which address mission, goals and objectives; curriculum; faculty; students; administration and financial support; and physical resources and facilities.

“Our SLIS community could not have done more to assure that our MLIS program is a vibrant, rigorous and forward-looking program,” said Dr. Elizabeth Aversa, director of the School, “and we communicated that, along with our energy, enthusiasm and commitment, to the visiting panel and to the Committee on Accreditation.”

The ALA COA is a leading force in accreditation, having evaluated educational programs to prepare librarians since 1924. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognizes ALA COA as the authority for assessing the quality of education offered by graduate programs in the field of library and information studies.

The UA School of Library and Information Studies, housed in the College of Communication and Information Sciences, is the only American Library Association-accredited program in the state.

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Cason Award Honors Columnist Rheta Grimsley Johnson Rheta Grimsley Johnson, a nationally syndicated columnist, received the 2010 Clarence Cason Award in Nonfiction Writing from The University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences.

Johnson has received many of journalism’s highest awards, including the American Society of Newspaper Editors’ Distinguished Writing Award, the National Headliners Award and the Ernie Pyle Award, and she was one of three finalists for the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

She has written several books, including her most recent, “Enchanted Evening Barbie and the Second Coming,” an extended memoir.

Born in Colquitt, Ga., and raised in Montgomery, Johnson attended Lee High School and then Auburn University where she was the hard-driving editor of The Auburn Plainsman.

Her leadership won her the 1974-75 National Pacemaker Award.

The journalism department in the College of Communication and Information Sciences at UA established the Cason Award in 1997 to honor exemplary non-fiction over a long career. All of the recipients have had strong connections to the state of Alabama. u

Project Preps Older People for the Digital World Trying to stay in touch with family members but being out-of-touch with technology can be frustrating for older people. Now, thanks to a University of Alabama community project called FIT 4 Retirement that is not the case for a group of older people in Tuscaloosa.

Spearheaded by Dr. Laurie Bonnici, assistant professor in the School of Library and Information Studies, and several of her graduate students, the project teaches seniors in an information technology literacy course.

Bonnici believes FIT 4 Retirement, which partners with the Tuscaloosa Public Library and Focus on Senior Citizens of Tuscaloosa County, will enhance the lives of the senior citizens, and preliminary analysis of the data is already showing positive results.

UA students working on the program include Jackie Brodsky, a doctoral student in the College of Communication and Information Sciences, and project manager Muriel K. Wells, a librarian with the National Children’s Advocacy Center and CIS doctoral student.

They are now looking forward to writing grant proposals to national agencies to get additional support for their program.

Wells said that the project meets an unmet need in the community.

“The senior population is exploding and they’re kind of getting left out in the cold,” she noted.

The UA Center for Participants at Focus on Senior Citizens in Tuscaloosa (seated) Community Based sharpen their computer skills with the support of UA graduate Partnerships funded the students (standing) led by Dr. Laurie Bonnici (far right). project in 2008 with laptops provided to them, they learned $5,000 in financial support. Subsequently, how to open attachments, view pictures, the team’s efforts were recognized in 2009 send and receive e-mail efficiently and with an Outstanding Faculty/Staff-Initiated search the Internet for retirement related Engagement Effort Award and $2,000 to issues. Communicating with family and continue work on the project. maintaining contact with grandchildren “It’s wonderful that CCBP had invested and loved ones was a key skill that they all in us to do this” Bonnici said. wanted to learn as well.

With this program, seniors are full “They’re so eager and so excited to learn. partners in the creative control of the Their exuberance for the courses made it course. “We asked them what they wanted more exciting for us as well,” Wells added. to learn,” Wells said. “There’s no reason to Because the course was in such high teach them how to write a resume because demand, seniors were calling Focus to find they’re retired. They have needs and out when the next class was or if it was full interests that younger people don’t have. so they could register. “That’s kind of fun We cater to those needs and interests in for them. You can just see their faces light the course.” up,” Bonnici said.

Each semester, two classes were held As the program blossoms, the researchers for 10 senior citizens at Focus on Senior hope to reach out to seniors in rural areas.

Citizens of Tuscaloosa County. With u

On the Cover, In the Mirror Dr. Kim Bissell studies the role the media play in health, eating disorders, distorted body image and body dissatisfaction among women and adolescent girls.

A number of studies have concentrated

on college-age women, but Bissell’s

focus starts before, and extends

after, that age range. “Some eight

or nine-year-olds are on diets,”

Bissell says.

On the other end of the spectrum, her

research found women as old as 75 who were

dissatisfied with their body shape – their distorted body images grown worse over time.

“Grandmas have been dissatisfied with their bodies for years,” says Bissell, the Southern Progress Corporation Endowed Professor in Magazine Journalism. “It often starts before college and extends well beyond graduation.”

Bissell also looks at the types of media exposure. There’s a “thin ideal” category of media that include television shows such as “Friends” and “Gossip Girl” and magazines such as Vogue and Bazaar – media that have a high percentage of thin people as a main character. Bissell hopes to answer the question, if exposed to thin ideal media, is a person more critical of herself and others?

In addition to studying body image distortion and perceptions of the thin ideal, Bissell has also studied the role of the media in cultivating anti-fat bias and weight stigmatization.

Read more at http://research.ua.edu/2010/01/ on-the-cover-in-the-mirror/. u

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PR Program at UA Ranked Among Top Education Programs by PRWeek Magazine for the highest quality education for their children, this is yet more The public relations program at The University of Alabama is evidence that they can find it right here in Alabama.” ranked second in the nation according to new rankings produced “We’ve known we had one of the strongest public relations and published in PRWeek Magazine. UA is the highest ranked programs in the nation,” said Dr. Loy Singleton, dean of the university that offers both graduate and undergraduate programs.

College. “It’s rewarding to be recogThis marks the second year that nized by the industry this way.”

PRWeek has ranked education pro“For parents looking for the highest Dr. Bruce Berger, professor and grams and the second year that UA’s quality education for their children, previous chair of the department, PR program has been recognized as this is yet more evidence that they can organized the application materials. one of the top five programs. This The award recognizes achievement year UA is ranked second only to find it right here in Alabama.” in lesson plans that educate the next New York University. NYU offers a crop of PR professionals. Entries were judged based on the ability graduate program only. of professors to use both real-world case studies and instructive “Since NYU is solely a graduate program, we are very proud to scenarios to educate students about new media, media relations, say that our undergraduate program is ranked first in the nation,” crisis communications and other tactics. said Dr. Joseph Phelps, chair of the advertising and public relaStudents in capstone PR courses plan and often execute an tions department. “That is exciting and our students, alumni and integrated communication project for a professional client. Exfaculty should be extremely proud of this accomplishment. It is amples include Alabama Reads and Literacy Is The Edge, which their efforts, facilitated by the many supporters of our department and college, which captured this distinction. For parents looking are currently being implemented. u

SLIS Awards More Than $8,800 in Books to Black Belt Schools The School of Library and Information Studies awarded more than $8,800 in books to elementary and high school library media centers in the Black Belt region of the state through the SLIS Book Bonanza for the Black Belt Program.

Schools in the Black Belt region were asked to apply for the book give-away program last November. A total of six schools were selected to each receive an average of more than $1,400 in new books for children or teens. The winning schools for the 2009 SLIS Book Bonanza for the Black Belt Program are: • Gordo High School (Pickens County) • ABC Elementary School (Wilcox County) • J. E. Terry Elementary School (Dallas County) • Shiloh Elementary School (Dallas County) • Chisholm Elementary School (Montgomery County) • Robert C. Hatch High School (Perry County) The SLIS Book Bonanza for the Black Belt is an annual program that provides free books to school library media centers in the Black Belt region each December.

Schools in the Black Belt region of the state are encouraged to apply again in November to receive free books for 12

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their school library media centers during the 2010 SLIS Book Bonanza for the Black Belt Program. For more information contact Dr. Jamie C. Naidoo at jcnaidoo@slis. ua.edu or SLIS at 205/348-4610. u

ABC Elementary School library media specialist, and Dr. Jamie C. Naidoo, UA SLIS Assistant & Foster-EBSCO Endowed Professor

Student Film Earns Praise, Facebook Post from Veterans Affairs

A student-produced film about the challenges faced by returning military veterans has been recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs and posted on the federal agency’s Facebook page.

Students in the Documenting Justice filmmaking class produced the documentary film, “Searching for Normal” that features veterans discussing life after tours in Iraq. The film began to receive praise and appreciation from the U.S. military community after the VA posted the film’s link to its Facebook page.

In the documentary, Dick Powers, student filmmaker and Iraq veteran, tries to make sense of his experiences, and talks with other veterans who describe their combat experiences in order to find answers.

Brandon Friedman, director of new media for the VA, met Powers at a conference in Washington, D.C. On Jan. 22, Friedman placed the film’s link with this message: “The short video below is a powerful one – especially if you’ve served in combat or you’re close to someone who has. I had the chance to meet the creator – an Iraq veteran himself – last weekend, and I wanted to share this. It’s about coming home from war. Let us know what you think.”

Powers and Elizabeth Jones, the other filmmaker on the project, created “Searching for Normal” for Documenting Justice, a program of the UA Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility and the department of telecommunication and film.

Documenting Justice is a nationally unique, interdisciplinary course in documentary filmmaking that focuses on issues of justice and injustice in Alabama. It’s an initiative that supports the study of ethics and develops projects to nurture social responsibility and reflective, thoughtful citizenship.

“Ethical citizenship requires a strong sense of empathy and compassion,” said Stephen Black, CESR director. “Developing such qualities requires the ability to imagine what others see, feel and experience. A central focus of CESR, therefore, is the development of courses such as Documenting Justice in which students learn the personal stories of people outside their immediate sphere. The recent response to ‘Searching for Normal’ illustrates the capacity of this course to positively affect not only UA students, but people throughout the country and the world.”

“It did exactly what we were hoping – spur a discussion about what it’s like for soldiers after they return home,” Powers said.

“It’s also something people who deploy can identify with and something people who live with people who deploy can identify with. It’s a universal story – and it’s not specific to one war.”

Jones said she was honored that “Searching for Normal” could bring comfort and understanding to the nations’ heroes and their families.

“The veterans’ responses further verify the point of our film: every man and woman who serves our country returns home from combat not at the end of their journey, but at the beginning,” she said. “My hope is that civilians who watch the film will have a better appreciation and understanding of what those who serve our country sacrifice to protect us.”

Watch the film at: http://bit.ly/dLu8T5 u

Journalism Professor Receives Krieghbaum Under-40 Award Dr. Kim Bissell, Southern Progress Corporation Endowed Professor in Magazine Journalism, has been selected for the 2009 Krieghbaum Under-40 Award.

The award is given by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, for outstanding early career accomplishments and to honor indi-

viduals who have shown outstanding achievement and effort in teaching, research and public service.

This award, considered one of the highest from AEJMC, honors the late Hillier Krieghbaum, former AEJMC president, and it has been in existence since 1980. u

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— In Memoriam —

Chair of UA’s Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations Dies Betsy Plank, chair of the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations and the “First Lady” of public relations, died May 23, in Chicago. She was 86.

Plank, a 1944 UA alumna who spent her entire professional career in Chicago, oversaw the creation and development of the Plank Center. The Center’s primary mission is to help develop and recognize outstanding leaders and role models in public relations.

“The Center is led by a national advisory board of leading practitioners and educators, but Betsy was its heart and soul,” said Dr. Karla Gower, director of the Center.

A legend in public relations, Plank’s career spanned more than 60 years and is a litany of firsts. She was the first woman to serve as president of the Public Relations Society of America and the first to receive three of PRSA’s top individual awards: the Gold Anvil Award in 1977 for being the outstanding U.S. professional; the 1989 Paul M. Lund Public Service Award for exemplary civic and community work; and the first Patrick Jackson Award for distinguished service to PRSA in 2001.

In 1979, readers of Public Relations News elected her Professional of the Year, the first time a woman was chosen.

The same publication later named her one of the World’s 40 Outstanding Public Relations Leaders. She was the first recipient of the Arthur W. Page Society’s Distinguished Service Award in 2000 and the PRSA Educators Academy’s 1997 David W. Ferguson Award for exceptional contributions by a practitioner to public relations education.

In 2000, the Institute for Public

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Relations honored Plank with its Alexander Hamilton Medal in recognition of her major contributions to the practice.

Also that year, she received the College’s Distinguished Achievement award, which was later renamed the Betsy Plank Distinguished Achievement award. The following year, she was inducted into the College’s Communication Hall of Fame. In 2007, she received UA’s Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award..

The Publicity Club of Chicago honored her in 2009 with its Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1963, she was the first woman elected president of the club.

Plank began her public relations career in 1947 in Chicago at a PR and fundraising agency that served nonprofits. In 1960, she joined what is now Edelman Public Relations Worldwide and rose to executive vice president and treasurer. She left in 1973 to become director of public relations planning for AT&T before transferring to Illinois Bell (now AT&T Inc.) to direct urban, community and educational affairs, issues management and economic development. She was the first woman to head a department at the company.

She retired from corporate practice in 1990 but continued to work as a public relations consultant. “In my lexicon, there is no such word as retirement,” she once wrote.

Plank was devoted to the PRSSA and served as its national advisor from 1981 to 1983. She also co-founded a group of professionals known as the Champions for PRSSA. In 1993, PRSSA honored Plank with its 25th Anniversary Award.

Plank was a tireless advocate for PR

education. She co-chaired the first Commission on Undergraduate Public Relations Education, which developed guidelines for public relations curricula at universities and colleges, and was a member of the subsequent commissions dealing with both undergraduate and graduate education. She also helped establish PRSA’s Certification in Education in Public Relations program, which provides a review and endorsement process for undergraduate and graduate studies in public relations.

“Through her exemplary leadership and passion for the profession, Betsy touched the hearts and minds of thousands of PR students, educators and practitioners,” Gower said.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Plank Center for Public Relations Leadership at The University of Alabama, Box 870172, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0172.

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— In Memoriam —

Former Chair of SLIS Dies Ruth W. Waldrop, a library advocate whose life’s work continues to impact Alabama libraries and former chair of what is now the UA School of Library and Information Studies, died March 20, just days before her 99th birthday, in Ormond Beach, Florida.

Waldrop was a librarian, library educator and library advocate. A native Texan, she was educated at Livingston State Teacher’s College (now Livingston University) and received graduate degrees from The University of Alabama.

She spent a long and fruitful career in Alabama library services. She began her career as a teacher, but then became a school librarian. She served as a building level school librarian, county media services supervisor and state library media supervisor.

She was soon involved with the

education of librarians, and was appointed chair of the department of school librarianship in the UA College of Education in 1969. It was during that time that Waldrop crafted “A Proposal for Graduate Education in Librarianship: Crisis and Resolution,” a document that helped pave the way for the founding of the then Graduate School of Library Science at The University of Alabama, now the School of Library and Information Studies.

Waldrop was instrumental in developing, lobbying for and advocating for what is now Alabama’s only American Library Association accredited library school.

Waldrop authored numerous books, including both adult and juvenile titles.

Among the former is “How to Select a Children’s Book,” published in 1973, a guide for children’s book selection. She

created “Alabamiana for Grades K-12: An Annotated Bibliography” and also authored children’s books on First Ladies Abigail Adams and Dolley Madison Late in Waldrop’s career she served as executive director of the Alabama Library Association. She was the recipient of many professional and academic awards including the George Washington Honor Medal from the Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge, the Rothrock Award from the Southeastern Library Association, a Citation for Exceptional Service from the Alabama Library Association, the Helen Keller Literary Award from the Friends of Alabama Libraries and the Golden Key Award from her alma mater at Livingston.

An endowed scholarship in her name continues to enable part-time students to attend the UA School of Library and Information Studies. u

Powell Scholarship Established to Aid Sand Mountain Students Col. Arlyn S. Powell, former head of the advertising and public relations department and professor emeritus, has donated $50,000 to the College of Arts and Sciences for an endowed scholarship in honor of his grandfather. The D. W. Powell Endowed Scholarship will aid students in A&S who graduated from a high school in the Sand Mountain region of Alabama or attended junior college there.

Born in 1867, D. W. “Doc” Powell grew up in Sand Mountain, Ala., where he became one of the area’s largest landowners. He was a storekeeper, postman, farmer, and entrepreneur, and he acquired the nickname “Doc” for his services as a dentist, although he

had no formal training in dentistry.

D. W. Powell began his merchandising career by selling clothes from a wagon.

The business grew into the largest mercantile establishment in DeKalb County. He generously gave back to the community and was active in the development of the region’s schools and churches. He donated part of his land to make possible the construction of a two-year college in Sand Mountain.

A devoted father of 15, he also helped raise his grandson Arlyn Powell.

Col. Arlyn Powell received a bachelor’s and a master’s degree at the University of Alabama (1948, 1966). In 1965, after a distinguished career in the U.S. Air Force, he began teaching in UA’s

department of journalism, which was then in the College of Arts and Sciences.

He became an assistant professor of journalism in 1967 and designed the advertising and public relations curriculum for the program. In 1974 Powell was named chairman of the newly created department of advertising and public relations in the School of Communication, now the College of Communication and Information Sciences. He retired from the University in 1980.

Powell, who lives in Lott, Texas, is grateful for the positive influence his grandfather had on his life and on the lives of so many others. u 2010

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tended the AIGA Design Conference in Memphis.

College Dr. Caryl Cooper, assistant dean for undergraduate studies and associate professor of advertising, organized the diversity forum, Discerning Diverse Voices: Communication and Information Symposium on Diversity. This was a cross-disciplinary initiative for discussing, researching and engaging in creative activities that address the intersection of diversity with forms of communication and information sources.

Melanie Danner, director of financial affairs, was recognized by the UA Professional Staff Assembly for Outstanding Professional Performance.

Deidre Stalnaker, communications specialist, received a Public Relations Council of Alabama Award of Excellence in the Interactive Media, Weblog category for “Inside the Olympic Village,” a Southern Public Relations Council Lantern Award for the Communicator, a SPRF Award of Excellence for the College’s undergraduate brochure and a SPRF Award of Merit for the “Inside the Olympic Village” blog.

Advertising and Public Relations Mollie Baker, instructor, led the students in her advertising class as they developed strategic communication strategy and tactics for The University of Alabama Alumni Association. She at16

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Dr. Bruce Berger, professor, was appointed a Trustee of the Institute for Public Relations. He was also named vice-chair of the marketing and promotion committee for the Literacy Council of West Alabama. The UA Coordinating Council for Student Organizations selected him as the Outstanding Student Organization Advisor for Literacy is the Edge. He co-authored two refereed journal articles in the Journal of Communication Management and the Journal of Public Relations Research. He received, with co-author and UA alumna Dr. Juan Meng, the Top Research Paper Award from the International Public Relations Research Conference for their research on measuring the ROI for employee communication programs.

Dr. Karen Cartee, professor, gave the keynote address at the League of Women Voters annual dinner banquet. She also has two chapters accepted for publication in “Political and Civic Leadership: A SAGE Reference Handbook.”

Dr. Yunjae Cheong, assistant professor, co-authored the published article, “Advertising Appeals as a Reflection of Culture: A CrossCultural Analysis of Food Advertising Appeals in China and the U.S.” in the Asian Journal of Communication. She published, “A Frontier Analysis of Advertising Budgeting: Benchmarking Efficient Advertisers,” in the Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising. She also published, “The Current Practice in Food Advertising: The Usage and Effectiveness of Different Claims,” in the International Journal of Advertising.

Susan Daria, instructor, served as advisor to the student chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AAF) which enjoyed the largest percentage increase in student membership in the United States.

In recognition of this achievement, the AAF awarded one UA advertising student with an expense-paid trip to the AAF national conference in Orlando. Her students have participated in service learning designing advertising and public relations efforts for the Tuscaloosa City School System’s Graduate Success and Dropout Prevention Program and for Temporary Emergency Services.

Dr. William J. Gonzenbach, professor, and Patrick K. O’Rourke, doctoral candidate, published their study, “Leadership Emphasis in Public Relations Degree Courses/Programs in the United Kingdom vs. United States,” in the 2010 Proceedings of the Public Relations Society of America Educator’s Academy. He, along with co-authors Drs. Lance Kinney and Cynthia Nichols, published “Introducing Digital Billboards: One City’s Experience,” in the American Academy of Advertising 2009 Proceedings.

Dr. Karla Gower, professor and director of the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations, has co-authored the book, “The Opinions of Mankind: Racial Issues, Press, and Propaganda in the Cold War” to be published by the University of Missouri Press. She also made four research presentations: two at the International Communication Association’s annual conference and two at the American Journalism Historians Association’s annual conference. Gower was promoted to professor this year.

Teri Henley, instructor, received the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award from Kappa Tau Alpha, a mass communication honor society. She served as faculty adviser for the advertising team with a strong showing at the district level in the National Student Advertising Competition. She also serves as faculty adviser for the Capstone Agency, a student-run strategic communication agency. This past year the Capstone Agency worked with the Alabama Library Association to create an integrated marketing communication campaign promoting “The Big Read: Alabama Reads” with funding provided by a federal grant. She is also leading student efforts to develop, implement and assess a campaign to combat binge drinking that can be used nationally. The Century Council provided funding for this effort following the presentation of the 2009 award-winning UA student advertising team’s work.

Dr. J. Suzanne Horsley, assistant professor, joined the APR faculty in August 2009 from the University of Utah. She published, “Government and corporate communication practices: Do the differences matter?” in the Journal of Applied Communication Research. This work was funded by the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations. She also published a chapter titled “Crisis-adaptive public information: A model for reliability in chaos,” in the Handbook of Crisis Communication.

Dr. Hyoungkoo Khang, assistant professor, joined the APR faculty in August 2009 after teaching for several years in Korea. He has published, “The State of Political Communication Research of South Korea in Leading Mass Commu-

nication, Advertising, and Public Relations Journals: 1960-2007,” in Communication Insight. He also published, “Influential Factors on Political Consumerism,” in the Korean Journal of Journalism and Communication Studies.

Dr. Eyun-Jung Ki, assistant professor, was selected to participate in The University of Alabama’s Rural Health Institute for Clinical and Translational Science in the ninth annual Junior Investigator’s Program.

She published multiple articles including, “Ethics statements of public relations firms: What do they say?” in the Journal of Business Ethics, “The causal linkages between/among relationship cultivation strategies and relationship quality outcomes” in the International Journal of Strategic Communication, and “A measure of relationship cultivation strategies” in the Journal of Public Relations Research. She also published a book chapter titled, “History of Korean public relations firms: Establishment and development of public relations firms in 1980s,” in “The History and Success of Public Relations Firms.” She also presented research at the following international and national conferences: Public Relations Society of America, the International Communication Association, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and the Korean Academic Society for Public Relations.

Dr. T. Lance Kinney, associate professor, continues his service to Alabama Public Radio hosting Alabama Blue Grass. In the last year, Kinney published the following two articles in the Journal of Advertising Education, “Bridging the Gap in IMC Education: Where is the Academy is Falling Short?” and “Student Satisfaction with Collegiate American Marketing Association Membership and Exposure to Integrated Marketing Communica-

tion Tactics.” He presented research at the American Academy of Advertising and the International Country Music conferences.

He also addressed local American Advertising Federation clubs in Panama City, Fla., Pensacola, Fla., Montgomery, Huntsville and Dothan.

Dr. Meg Lamme, associate professor, delivered the keynote address at the Alabama Public Relations Society of America annual statewide meeting in Birmingham. She published a co-authored paper, “Removing the Spin: Toward a New Theory of Public Relations History,” in Journalism & Communication Monographs.

She also published “The Brewers and Public Relations History 1909-1919” in the Journal of Public Relations Research.

Mike Little, instructor, revised and maintains the departmental website. He encourages you to visit http:// www.apr.ua.edu and to follow (BamaApr) on Twitter.

Dr. Yorgo Pasadeos, professor, served as conference chair of the 7th annual Media Conference in Athens, Greece. He published, with Dr. Bruce Berger, “Public relations as a maturing discipline: An update on research networks” in the Journal of Public Relations Research. He serves as the graduate coordinator and chief assessment rubricator for the department.

Dr. Joseph E. Phelps, professor and chairman, received the best paper award at the Direct & Interactive Marketing Research Summit held in San Diego. He also presented research in Beijing, China. He published “The Privacy Paradox: The Case of Secondary Disclosure” in the Review of Marketing Science. He also published Cont. on page 18

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Cont. from page 17

“Information Privacy Research: Framework for Integrating Multiple Publics, Channels, and Responses” in the Journal of Interactive Marketing, and “Integrated Marketing Communications and New Media: A Global Basis for Consideration of Emerging Privacy Issues” in the International Journal of Integrated Marketing Communication, and “Online Privacy and Security Practices of the 100 Largest U.S. Nonprofit Organizations” in the International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing.

He serves on the editorial review boards of eight scholarly journals and on the finance committees of the American Academy of Advertising and the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Tracy Sims, instructor and co-director of undergraduate advising, holds leadership positions in both the Greater Tuscaloosa Chapter of the American Advertising Federation and the Public Relations Council of Alabama, West Alabama.

She serves as faculty advisor of the Public Relations Student Society of America. She also serves as faculty advisor of the student chapter of the Public Relations Council of Alabama. Under her direction, APR students garnered more PRCA awards, 26, than any other school in Alabama. She also participated in the Faculty-Fellows in Service-Learning Program.

Communication Studies Dr. Frank Thompson, director of forensics and associate professor, received an Outstanding Faculty Award from the UA chapter of The Other Club, founded by Winston Churchill, and was inducted into

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the UA chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society.

Dr. Jason Black was promoted to associate professor.

He received the 2010 Keynote Award from Phi Eta Sigma and was nominated for both the Academic Advising Excellence Award and the UA Graduate School’s Last Lecture Award. He also received a Reese Phifer Scholar Grant for $10,000 for the “Harvey Milk Project.”

Drs. Jane Stuart Baker and Lu Tang were awarded a $5,000 RAC Grant for “Discourse(s) of Corporations’ Responsibilities Towards Employees: Stories from Multiple Perspectives.”

Dr. Mary Meares received a $3,575 RAC Grant for “Corporate Diversity Competence.”

Dr. Robin Boylorn received the Illinois Qualitative Dissertation Award from the International Center for Qualitative Inquiry and was inducted into the Anderson Society.

Dr. Janis Edwards was named the Gender Scholar of the Year, a nationwide award from the Southern States Communication Association Gender Studies Division. She recently published an edited volume, Gender and Political Communication in America: Rhetoric, Representation, and Display, and authored three book chapters and articles on the 2008 presidential campaign for other publications. She also received a $10,000 Reese Phifer Scholar Grant for “Visible Memories of the Japanese American Internment.”

Dr. Lu Tang had the top three papers from the Mass Communication Division of the Southern States Communication Association.

Dr. Carol Bishop Mills received a $5,000 RAC Grant for “Verbal Provocation in Children’s Social Relationships: Teasing, Bullying, & Playing Around.”

Journalism Dr. Kim Bissell, Southern Progress Endowed Professor in Magazine Journalism, has had articles accepted for publication in Mass Communication & Society and in The Howard Journal of Communication.

Rick Bragg, Cason Professor of Writing, published his sixth book, “The Most They Ever Had” in November.

The book has been nominated for the 2010 Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance nonfiction award. Bragg won that award in 2009 for “The Prince of Frogtown.”

Dr. Chip Brantley joined the department in January as a lecturer in emerging media. A founder of the food and cooking website Cookthink.com, he is the author of “The Perfect Fruit: Good Breeding, Bad Seeds and the Hunt for the Elusive Pluot.”

Dr. Matthew D. Bunker, Reese Phifer Professor of Journalism, published articles in Communication Law & Policy and Georgia State University Law Review. Another paper was named Top Faculty Paper for 2010 by the Law division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Meredith Cummings, instructor and director of the Alabama Scholastic Press Association, was appointed to the Southern Interscholastic Press Association Board of Directors, was elected to the Society of Professional Journalists Alabama Professional Chapter Board and was named coordinator of the Southeastern Mark of Excellence Awards.

Dr. George L. Daniels, associate professor, published an article in the Atlantic Journal of Communication and was elected to a two-year term as campus adviser at-large for the SPJ National Board of Directors.

Dr. Jennifer Greer, chair, was elected to her second three-year term on the national Standing Committee on Teaching for AEJMC. She also had articles published in the Journal of

Broadcasting and Electronic Media and in the Journal of Sport Behavior.

Dr. Wilson Lowrey, associate professor and graduate coordinator, had articles published in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Journalism Studies and the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. He also won the 2010 top paper award from the International Communication division of AEJMC. Dr. Chris Roberts, assistant professor, won the “professional relevance award” for a paper presented at the annual convention of the AEJMC’s Media Ethics Division in August 2009.

Dr. Dan Albertson, assistant professor, received the UA Center for CommunityBased Partnerships’ Faculty/Staff-Initiated Award for his ongoing project to teach basic computer skills to intellectually challenged individuals in West Alabama. He also received a UA Research Grant for his project “User-Centric Video Digital Libraries for Television and Film Studies.”

Dr. Laurie Bonnici, assistant professor, received the 2009 ALISE Best Conference Paper For Lead Author for “Everything Old is New Again: The Evolution of Library and Information Science Education from LIS to iField.” Bonnici was awarded a 2009 ALA Diversity Research Grant.

Dr. Stephen MacCall, associate professor, received the Award for Teaching Excellence from the UA College of Continuing Studies.

Dr. David Sloan, professor, coauthored the third edition of his book “Historical Methods in Communication,” the 30th book he has published in his career.

Steve Miller, professor, received the College of Communication and Information Sciences’ Knox Hagood Award for Faculty.

Library and Information Studies In 2009, faculty members Dr. Danny Wallace, Anna Embree and Sybil Bullock, along with SLIS students and alumni, worked on an inventory and basic archival preservation plan for materials at the Birmingham Black Radio Museum at radio station WJLD. The BBRM collection chronicles the history of Black radio in the BirminghamBessemer area from the early 1940s. SLIS placed several student workers at the BBRM throughout 2009.

Dr. Jamie Campbell-Naidoo, assistant professor, received the 2009 Virginia Hamilton Essay Award at the 26th Annual Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multi-Cultural Literature for Youth, Kent State University.

Telecommunication and Film

Dr. Jeremy Butler, professor, published a book titled “Television Style” that has been germinating for more than 25 years.

Essays from as early Cont. on page 20

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Cont. from page 19

as 1984 were enlarged and updated to form the basis for a unique consideration of how visual and sound style shapes viewers’ experience of television. Butler created a new website that provides a pronunciation guide for film and TV studies. ScreenLex.org contains audio files that instruct media students on how to pronounce difficult terms and proper names in the study of film and TV. Dr. Gary A. Copeland, chair, is co-editor of a new book due off the press in May called “Campaign Finance Reform: The Political Shell Game.”

Dr. Pam Tran, assistant dean for undergraduate student services and the head of the broadcast and electronic news sequence, created three immigrant profiles for Alabama Public Radio.

She also served as a judge for the Radio Television News Director Association Murrow Awards.

Dr. William Evans, director of the Institute for Communication and Information Research, will return full-time to the TCF department in the fall. He presented research at the largest and most important annual meetings for academic researchers in public health. He also was the lone communication researcher an article published in the nation’s top transportation research journal entitled “Transportation-oriented communication with vulnerable populations during major emergencies.”

Andy Grace heads up the Documenting Justice sequence in association with the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility. In September he was awarded major production funding by the Independent Television Service to finish his documentary film “Eating Alabama.” ITVS funding assures national PBS broadcast of the film when it’s completed in early 2011. On April 27, 20

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the fourth annual Documenting Justice screening at the Bama Theatre in Tuscaloosa attracted more than 1,000 people to the screening of five films.

Dr. Doohwang Lee, assistant professor, published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, & Social Networking Asian Journal of Communication. Lee will be traveling to Singapore to present his research to the International Communication Association during the summer.

Dr. Rachel Raimist, who heads the production sequence for the department, has been awarded a $5,000 exploratory site visit grant by UA’s Capstone International. She will be traveling to Spain with two students this summer to prepare for a digital storytelling opportunity for a TCF class that will be taught the following summer in Madrid. She also received a Faculty Research Grant to complete the manuscript for “Speaking The Lower Frequencies 2.0: Race, Literacy and Learning in the Digital Age” with co-authors Dr. Walter R. Jacobs and Candance DoerrStevens this summer. She is drafting a feature film script based on “ghostbox: a memoir,” written by Jacobs.

Adam Schwartz, a new media production faculty member, received a bronze Telly award for his “The Adventures of Captain Judgment,” a 50-episode animated series. He completed a short screenplay entitled “Barney and the Martians,” currently in preproduction.

Dr. Glenda Williams, undergraduate advisor and in charge of the new unit production manager sequence, took office as the president of the

Broadcast Education Association. She is the second University of Alabama faculty member to be the head of this national organization. Williams just completed a term as national president of the Board of Directors for the Broadcast Education Association. She will serve as immediate past president on the Board until April 2011. She also participated as a panelist at the World Journalism Education Congress in South Africa in July. Williams is co-editor of a new book due off the press in May called “Campaign Finance Reform: The Political Shell Game.”

Center for Public Television & Radio

Dwight Cameron, documentary television program director and head of the TCF documentary sequence, has a new documentary entitled “Not My Son.” The documentary won the Museum of Urban Art Film Award this year and has been programmed at the DocMiami International Film Festival and Philadelphia’s Urban Suburban Film Festival.

“Trailblazing Mars: NASA’s Next Giant Leap,” the second book by Pat Duggins, news director for Alabama Public Radio, came out on Oct. 21.

“Discovering Alabama” received a Southeast Emmy for outstanding achievement for writing in the non-news category for the episode, “Alabama in Space.” Receiving the award were Discovering Alabama producers Doug Phillips and Roger Reid and CPT&R producer Wendy Reed.

“Songs Inside the Box,” a documentary directed by Max Shores, a producerdirector and TCF instructor, was awarded the Television Feature Documentary Award of Merit from the Accolade

Competition in San Jose, Calif., and Honorable Mention for Music Documentary from the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival in Philadelphia.

Alabama Public Radio newsroom received national recognition for its reporting on diversity issues. The Radio Television Digital News Association honored APR with a National Unity Award. APR submitted features by Brett Tannehill on

the school board elections in Selma, the funeral of Blues great Willie King and the inauguration of Barack Obama.

WVUA-TV

WVUA-TV received the Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in news, beating all major market television stations in Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana. The station also picked up two Alabama Broadcasters Association Abby Awards for excellence in news and public service and 11 Associated Press Awards for excellence in news, professional category.

Zhou Named an Associate Dean at UA’s C&IS Dr. Shuhua Zhou has been named associate dean for graduate studies at The University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences.

“Dr. Zhou brings a dynamic strength to the office of graduate studies,” said Dr. Loy Singleton, dean of the College. “His experience, expertise and personality will help the program continue to be one of the most productive and highest ranked communication doctoral programs in the nation.”

Zhou will continue to be a professor of telecommunication and film in the College.

He came to The University of Alabama in 1999 after earning his Master of Arts and doctorate from the School of Journalism at Indiana University.

He also holds a bachelor’s degree in tropical crops from the South China College of Tropical Crops (now Hainan University) and a bachelor’s degree in English language and literature from Jinan University.

His primary research area is human cognition of mediated messages. He engages in three areas of investigation involving the representation, utilization and manipulation of information.

Zhou studies the basic processes of cognition, including perception, attention and memory, as well as individual and situational differences in cognition.

Zhou is also known for his research in television news and international communication. He has published numerous articles in communication journals including: Media Psychology, Communication Research, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Advertising and Mass Communication &

Society.

He has co-authored two edited volumes, “Continuity and change: Perspectives on journalism and mass communication education” with Dr. Zhong Xin at Renmin University of China and “Research Methods in Communication” with Dr. David Sloan at UA. Zhou was recognized in 2007 by the Guangdong TV Artists’ Association as one of the 100 best TV hosts for his professional work as anchor and director of the English News program at Guangdong TV Station in Guangzhou, China, from 1988 to1993. He also lectured in many foreign universities, including in a position as Senior Fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and as an external examiner at a number of universities in Hong Kong.

The University of Alabama, a studentcentered research university, is experiencing significant growth in both enrollment and academic quality. This growth, which is positively impacting the campus and the state’s economy, is in keeping with UA’s vision to be the university of choice for the best and brightest students. UA, the state’s flagship university, is an academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians. u

Roy Clem, general manager, and Tony Humphries, studios operation assistant, were honored as Capstone Heroes during UA’s annual Capstone Creed Week. The Capstone Hero award was created to honor students, faculty/staff and student organizations whose contributions to life at the Capstone reflect the values within the Capstone Creed. u

Bryant receives BOV Teaching Excellence Award, Announces Retirement Dr. Jennings Bryant, Reagan Endowed Chair of Broadcasting associate dean for graduate studies, has announced his retirement.

He organized the Institute for Communication and Information Research of which he was head before becoming the College’s associate dean for graduate studies.

This year, Bryant received the Board of Visitors Teaching Excellence Award from the College. He came to UA in 1987 to teach in the telecommunication and film department. In 1989 he founded the Institute for Communication Research and served as director for more than 15 years. He has received the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Broadcast Education Association, the leading national scholarly association for broadcasting and telecommunications.

Bryant has served as president and been elected a Fellow of the preeminent international scholarly society in his field, the International Communication Association.

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Library and Information Studies Jeffrey Graveline, business reference librarian at UAB and adjunct faculty in SLIS, received the Alabama Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Award at the ALA Convention in April.

Advertising and Public Relations Lizzy Thomas joins The Cirlot Agency as a public relations account executive. The Cirlot Agency is a Jackson, Mississippibased, full-service corporate communications firm providing strategic branding, marketing, public relations and advertising solutions.

Bob Pierce, MA 2003, was named vice president for advancement at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Ronni Dixon Roye, 2002, was appointed multimedia sales manager of the Birmingham News.

Jennifer Goode Davis, 1986, recently joined Resources for Independence as the director of development. Davis will manage the public relations and charitable development for both the Tuscaloosa and Mobile offices.

APR alumni led a highly successful Advertising Professional Day in October 2009. Twenty-six alumni presented in a series of sessions that were attended by more than 350 students.

Journalism Kevin Wilkerson, 1982, was part of a group of small Internet publishers who recently went to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to meet with members of Congress to discuss on-line adver22

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tising. The publishers are concerned about how a potential Internet privacy bill may affect revenue from targeted on-line ads. Wilkerson runs two websites, PubClub.com, and SurfsideSam. com. He resides in Manhattan Beach, Calif. He published this story on PubClub.com about the experience: http://www.pubclub.com/ congressvisit.htm Mary Jacq Watson Easley, MA 1974, received her juris doctorate from Mississippi College School of Law in Jackson, Miss., in 1999. After practicing law in Jackson for several years, she was named editor of opinions for the Mississippi Supreme Court, where she combines her 20 years of journalism experience with her legal background, editing the opinions handed down by the nine-member appellate court. In addition, she is an adjunct professor, teaching appellate advocacy at Mississippi College School of Law. Wayne Powell, 1959, was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association in recognition of the impact he has had on the Carlisle community, the PNA and the Pennsylvania newspaper industry.

“My whole life has been dedicated to the newspaper business,” Powell said.

“It’s nice to be honored for the contributions.” PNA is the nonprofit trade association for print and online media in Pennsylvania. Established in 1998, the award recognizes an individual with a track record of excellence and service to newspapers and journalism.

Ann Marie Pipkin, librarian at the Alabama School of the Fine Arts in Birmingham, received the 2010 Distinguished Service Award from the Alabama Library Association.

Beverly Rossini, an outreach and information resources librarian at the Baugh Biomedical Library at the University of South Alabama, was selected as the 2009 recipient of the Reference and User Services Association’s STARS/ Atlas Systems Mentoring Award.

David Nolen, 2007, with the Mississippi State University Libraries, published “Reforming or Rejecting the Reference Desk: Conflict and Continuity in the Concept of Reference” in Library Philosophy and Practice.

Makiba Foster, 2007, and Steven Yates, 2006, were selected as 2010 Emerging Leaders by the American Library Association.

Jaena Hollingsworth, 2006, was named Outstanding New Librarian for 2009 by the Indiana Library Federation.

Kevin Brown, MLIS 1999, had his first book of poems Exit Lines published by Plain View Press in Austin, Texas. One of those poems “Diagramming Won’t Help This Situation” was featured on The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor on October 19.

Teresa Kiser, 1999, was selected as a Library Journal “Mover and Shaker.”

Rita Bloodworth Smith, 1997, outreach and education coordinator at Mercer University Medical Library,

won the 2010 Michael DeBakey Library Services Outreach Award from the Friends of the National Library of Medicine.

Telecommunication and Film

College Launches New Website The UA College of Communication and Information Sciences recently launched a newly designed website at cis.ua.edu. The new site provides more up-to-date information on programs, services, events and research in a vibrant and evolving manner. Learn more about current students, other alumni and instructors in the spotlight section and get breaking news through the RSS newsfeed or through subscribing to our e-mail newsletter. u

Follow the College on Twitter:

twitter.com/UACCIS Mack Secord, 1952, was named Distinguished Volunteer Pilot at the National Aeronautic Association and the Air Care Alliance 2009 Public Benefit Flying Awards. The Public Benefit Flying Awards were created in 2003 to honor volunteer pilots, other volunteers, and their organizations engaged in flying to help others, and those supporting such work. They are the most prestigious awards for this work in the nation. Angel Flight flies people to and from medical appointments who couldn’t afford to fly commercially, or in some cases, the airlines won’t take them because of their condition. All of this is done as a no-cost operation to the patients.

The College hosted alumni gatherings in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles this Past summer

Dean Loy Singleton talks with LA-area alumni at a reception this summer.

Kim Garner, a former WVUA-TV intern and UA graduate, is a reporter with WIAT/CBS 42. She’s working in the Tuscaloosa bureau, providing coverage from the West Alabama area every week night. u

Dr. Gary Copeland, chair of the telecommunication and film department, with alumni from the LA area.

To submit alumni notes and photos e-mail sammie@ua.edu

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Students Implement Award-Winning Ad Team Campaign The Student Executive Council earned a total of $1,768 from its annual silent auction. This money was given out as “Student’s Helping Students Book Scholarships” in fall 2010 semester.

Advertising and Public Relations While as a student this spring, recent public relations graduate Dana Lewis, a member of the USA Today All-USA College Academic Team, organized a symposium on health care and social media in Austin, Texas, in March, with 100 in-person registrants and nearly 300 on-line registrants.

Advertising and public relations master’s student, Elizabeth Riesterer, earned first place in the Arthur W. Page Society’s National Case Study Competition for her case study entitled “President Obama at Notre Dame: Maintaining Integrity When Actions Speak Louder than Words.”

Dr. Bruce Berger served as her advisor on this project.

Literacy is the Edge, a studentrun organization founded and promoted by an APR graduate class, was named Outstanding Student Organization at UA. The following students who were selected as 2010 American Advertising Federation, Capstone Ad Fed Chapter, Alpha Delta Sigma (ADS) inductees: Lauren Anders, Jessica Austin, Heather Avery, Amberlee Nicole Hall, Daniel Hensley, Mallory Herman, Jennifer Ireland, Kathleen Jackson, Laura Kovalsky, Elizabeth Maxwell, Sarah Minkel, Lauren 24

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Advertising and public relations graduate student, Amanda Kirkland, and recent graduate, Matt Williams, presented elements of the 2009 award-winning student advertising team campaign, “Less Than You Think,” at the Sixth Annual Dartmouth Symposium on Substance Use in Hanover, New Hampshire.

The advertising program was one of only four, out of the 150 programs represented in the National Student Advertising Competition, to receive a grant of $75,000. Under the direction of Teri Henley, APR students are using the grant funds provided by The Century Council to: establish benchmarks and develop strategy; implement an agreed upon group of tactics; conduct follow-up research and report their findings all with the primary goal of reducing binge drinking on college campuses nationwide.

Musselman, Risa Polokoff and Matt Walker. ADS is the national honor society that recognizes and encourages scholastic achievement in advertising studies.

Blake Williams was designated one of the top 20 forensics students at the American Forensic Association National Individual Events Tournament.

The following students’ work was judged and received awards from the Public Relations Council of Alabama: Cara Cramer, Louise Crow, Dominique Gautier, Amanda Kirkland, Brittany Millwee, Whitney Mork, Traci Rush, Lindsey Sinclair and Scott Young. This group of students received a total of 26 awards from the state competition, more than any other college.

This year, the Alabama Forensics Council traveled an average of 24 students to 17 tournaments. Students in the program won 457 regional awards and 14 national awards, and received 7th place National School Award at the American Forensic Association National I.E. Tournament, out of 78 universities.

APR is home to the student chapter of the American Advertising Federation that experienced the largest percentage increase in membership in the past year. With this distinction comes an expense-paid trip to the national American Advertising Federation Convention in Orlando for one UA advertising student.

The UA chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America won a highly competitive bid to host a regional activity and organized The Eth-X Factor—a daylong series of presentations by PR professionals and educators exploring ethical leadership in the practice of public relations. This event drew attendees from states throughout the southeast.

Communication Studies Anita Mixon received the Outstanding Graduate Student Award from the UA Graduate Student Association.

Journalism On April 22 the department held its third J-Day, designed to connect students with professional journalists working in a variety of areas. Speakers from Sports Illustrated, Southern Living, The New York Times and other publications met with students, faculty and staff to talk about covering sports, food, travel, transportation and the environment.

More than 150 people attended events throughout the day.

Students in Kim Bissell’s Advanced Editing and Design class produced “Around Town: The Tuscaloosa Guide,” as their final course project. The magazine, which can be found on the student work section of the departmental website http://www.jn.ua.edu/studentwork, showcases the students’ design work but also includes original reporting, writing and photography in a publication aimed at introducing new UA students to Tuscaloosa.

Four students in Dr. David Sloan’s “The Future of Journalism” graduate seminar created a website (found through student work section or directly at http:// futureofjournalism.ua.edu/) featuring their proposals to solve problems facing

the news industry. The students tackled issues such as whether to charge for online content and how local television stations can cover increasingly broad viewership areas in the face of shrinking budgets.

The nine students in Knight Fellowship for Community Journalism conducted a statewide analysis of all Alabama newspaper websites in spring 2010 to examine the use of alternate digital news delivery tools (e-mail, text/mobile, RSS, Facebook and Twitter) in use by the papers. In addition, the nine master’s students, working with Dr. Jennifer Greer, conducted a survey of more than 1,100 newspaper readers in Alabama to examine their desires for news in digital formats.

The results will be shared with Alabama’s newspaper editors and publishers and through the Community Journalism section of the department’s website.

Five master’s students presented research papers at the 2010 Southeast Symposium of the American Journalism Historians Association.

Alan Blinder, junior, won a sixth place national Hearst Journalism award for an editorial published in The Birmingham News.

Blinder also won a regional SPJ Mark of Excellence Award for in-depth reporting in the The Crimson White.

Chartis Ivy, senior and 2009-2010 UA SPJ chapter president, was selected to participate in the Scripps Leadership Institute, a national program for SPJ leaders.

Caitlin Looney and Alan Blinder were honored as Capstone Heroes during UA’s annual Capstone Creed Week. The Capstone Hero award was created to honor students, faculty/staff and student organizations whose contributions to life at the Capstone reflect the values within the Capstone Creed.

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Victor Luckerson, junior and 2010-2011 Crimson White editor, won a regional Mark of Excellence Award for Changing Tides, an online student magazine he created in 2008.

Amanda Peterson, senior and 20092010 Crimson White editor, and Leslie Threlkeld, senior, were among 15 students in the 2009 inaugural class of the Newspaper Association of America Foundation’s News Challenge, a cuttingedge training session for college students interested in working in digital media.

Chad Troutman, a master’s student, was accepted for the 2010 program.

Scott Parrott, master’s student, coauthored the 2009 third-place paper for the Communication Technology and Policy Division of AEJMC. He had six other papers accepted for presentation at academic conferences.

Library and Information Studies Jackie Brodsky and Muriel Wells presented a poster “Deconstructing Walls: Educating Students for Civic Librarianship” at the National Outreach Scholarship Conference held at the University of Georgia. They also presented a paper “Attitudes Towards Patrons with Physical Challenges: A Survey of Alabama’s Librarians” at the Symposium on Diversity on campus.

Ann Bourne, Janeann Fessler, Scarlett Sims, Daniel Tackett, Jessica McGinnis, Morgan Higgins, K. Michelle Harper, Maryann S. Whitaker and Jake DaSilva presented posters at the College of Communication and Information Sciences’ Symposium on Diversity.

Amanda Haldy presented and won the Best Student Poster Award for “Orphans and Digitization” at the Midwest Archives Conference in Chicago.

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Richard LeComte published “Writers Blocked: The Debate Over Public Lending Right in the United States during the 1980s” in Libraries & the Cultural Record.

Jeff Naidoo presented a paper “Negotiating Diversity in a Globalized World” at the Symposium on Diversity on campus.

Hearst National Broadcast Competition.

Cherry also placed third in the Radio: Feature News Reporting Category and Morton placed third in the Television Sports Reporter category in the Broadcast Education Association National Awards Student Competition.

Allen Faul placed first in Sports Reporting and Matt McCoy placed third in Breaking TV News in the Society of Professional Journalist National Awards.

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Kristin Skees presented a paper titled “Street Art and the Museum” at the Graduate Art History Symposium at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Rob LoMascolo and Lauren Faulkenberry won first and third prizes, respectively, in the UA Libraries Book Collecting competition.

Josh Sahib and Ally Nevarez won first prize for their entry “Good Research vs.

Bad Research” in the UA Libraries Video Contest.

Elise Peterson was named the 2009 Alabama Wing Officer of the Year by the U.S. National Guard Civil Air Patrol.

Samuel A. Rumore was the recipient of the SLIS Student Advisory Council’s Best Student Paper Award.

Muriel Wells was named a “2009 Emerging Leader” by Library Student Journal and was awarded a 2009 ALA Diversity Research Grant

Telecommunication and Film Daniel Cherry placed 7th in the Features Radio category and Tyler Morton placed 16th in the Hard News Television category in the

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