Summer 2011
A Publication of the JayMac Alumni Group
Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication
COVER STORY: Terms of Engagement
Students drill Army Captains in media training
ALSO INSIDE: The First Doctoral Graduates Three finish in spring/summer 2011
Confidence Builder
Joi Gordon, Dress for Success CEO
Dear Gaylord Alum, While journalism schools’ primary focus will always be to deliver a first-class education to its students, outstanding ones also serve their communities well. This edition of Pulse highlights how Gaylord College is engaged in multiple ways beyond campus. We are excited to help new captains in the field artillery learn about the media. Every other month, a highly motivated group of our faculty and students spend the entire day with 60 captains from Fort Sill, putting them through mock interviews, conducting critiques and talking about the public affairs dimension of their work. All of us in Gaylord Hall are proud to work with Fort Sill’s highly dedicated officers. We are also pleased to be the home of a brand new investigative reporting organization that unites the major newsgathering organizations in Oklahoma to do serious reporting that otherwise would not be done. Our students and faculty have already helped Oklahoma Watch in its reporting on female incarceration. At least two of our students will work closely with Oklahoma Watch every semester on one of its investigative reporting projects. Gaylord College continues to host seminars and programs for professional journalists. In April, we organized our second Immigration in the Heartland conference that engaged a regional/national mix of reporters with an important public policy issue. This spring, we partnered with the Native American Journalists Association (headquartered in Copeland Hall) to bring tribal public affairs personnel together to discuss the latest social networking and new media opportunities being provided by Indian tribes. We also hosted the regional meeting of the Society of Professional Journalists. Some of our strongest public service outreach now comes from Lindsey+Asp, our student-run public relations/advertising agency. In addition to representing clients like American Airlines, OG&E and Fort Still, Lindsey+Asp is also making a difference by working with non-profits like the Nature Conservancy, the Arthritis Foundation and Norman Performing Arts. For the past seven years, Gaylord College has worked with the U.S. State Department to bring more than 300 journalists and students to Norman. We have hosted Latin American journalists annually and have worked with aspiring female media leaders in South Asia. Our most recent effort in June brought 20 highly motivated university students from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka to OU to hone their social media skills. As we approach our centennial in 2013, Gaylord College is proud to be highly engaged in outreach whether it is by serving journalists in our state, helping local organizations get their message out or working with media professionals from across the world.
ON THE COVER: Captain Josh Payne is interviewed by Emily Bendick (PR, senior) as part of the captain’s media training exercises at Gaylord Hall. Payne is also an International Relations graduate student in Advanced Programs. Photo by Celia Perkins. 2
Joe Foote Dean
Keep us updated! Let us know where you are and what you have been doing since you left OU. Send your updates to Kristen Lazalier Director of Development klazalier@ou.edu or Alumni Update, 395 W. Lindsey St., Room 3000 Norman, OK 73019-4201
Summer 2011
COVER STORIES
Terms of Engagement A Class Redefined/Afghan 101
4 7
COLLEGE NEWS The Third Degree One Night in History Faculty Excellence Tornado Alley Alliance Puppets Admitted to OU Kindle Authors
12 20 36 43 44 45
COMMUNITY SERVICE Immigration in the Heartland Oklahoma Watch Dogs Unique Summer Camp Native Connections Public Diplomacy
MANAGING EDITOR
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Dwight Normile Adjunct professor of journalism
Dwight Normile Celia Perkins Robert Taylor Shevaun Williams Alex Winters
EDITOR/CREATIVE DIRECTOR Celia Perkins Director of Communications
WRITERS MJ Casiano Courtney Goforth Page Grossman Damien Lodes Leighanne Manwarren Melissa Morgan Beth Weese Lindsay Whelchel
16 18 31 38 40
JAYMAC BOARD MEMBERS Nancy Coggins President James Tyree Vice President/President Elect Ja’Rena Lunsford Secretary Jolly Brown Immediate Past President
PROFILES
Investing in Journalism - Bob Ross Gaylord’s Superwoman - Chinh Doan Man for All Seasons - Matt Carney Passing Down the Legacy - Taylor Hall Empowerment Trip - Kathryn Jenson White Deep Thinker - Peter Gade Confidence Builder - Joi Gordon
14 24 26 29 32 34 10
ALUMNI AND FRIENDS NEWS Pay It Backward Travel like a student again! Far and Wide, Alumni Make Their Mark on the World Alumni Receptions Alumni Association Thank You JayMac Members Journalism Centennial Board of Visitors Class Notes Celebrating Lives
22 47 50 52 54 55 57 58 59 63
395 W. Lindsey St., Room 3000 Norman, OK 73019-4201 www.ou.edu/gaylord Changes of address may be made in the alumni directory at www.ou.edu/alumni or by calling the Alumni Records department at (405) 325-1700. Pulse is the annual magazine published by the JayMac alumni association of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma. Students in the spring 2011 JMC 3011 Magazine Practicum class provided the majority of the stories. OU Printing Services printed 11,000 copies of this issue at no cost to taxpayers of the state of Oklahoma. The Gaylord College distributes Pulse to alumni and friends of the journalism and mass communication program. The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution. 3
CoverStory
Terms of Engagement
Army Captains from Fort Sill receive a different type of training in Norman BY DAMIEN LODES
O
n a brisk winter Friday morning, a squad of American soldiers headed nervously into unfamiliar territory. Dressed in camouflage utilities, the troops did their best to prepare for whatever lay ahead. And when they finally arrived at their destination, they knew
there was no turning back. On Feb. 18, 2011, at 08:30, 65 captains and four majors from Fort Sill invaded Gaylord Hall to take on a small but determined force of journalism professors and students. Since 2008 the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication has trained military members from Fort Sill on how to speak with reporters. The Army Media Engagement Training is part of a Field Artillery Captain’s Career Course, and is held six times a year at OU through a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense. The innovative program is earning accolades. “It’s been talked about nationally as a model for hands-on interactive education in a civilian setting,” said Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote. This particular morning started in the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation Auditorium, where Charles Self, Institute for Research and Training director, laid out the day’s battle plan for the Army and Marine Corps officers in attendance. After Self’s introduction, Gaylord Visiting Professional Professor Mike Boettcher joined the class via Skype. Stuck in London because of visa problems, Boettcher was on his way back to Afghanistan to resume his work as an embedded journalist with the 101st Airborne. His goal on this morning, however, was to give the captains a firsthand look and feel as to what journalists are looking for when they are attached with military personnel. He also showed video clips of pieces he had produced to illustrate how the process works. Boettcher said he wanted to change the common perception among soldiers that the media were “out to get them.” He also explained to the soldiers how the training exercise to follow was designed to bridge the gap and improve the working relationship between soldiers and journalists. “You’re not just waging a war on the ground, you’re waging an information war,” he said. But Boettcher did emphasize one piece of advice to the soldiers before he signed off. “The guidance I would give is engagement,” he said. “You engage that [journalist] on a personal level. Don’t be confrontational.” Then the soldiers were divided into four groups and deployed to the third floor of Gaylord Hall. In separate rooms, the men
4
were briefed by Gaylord faculty members on what to expect during their ensuing mock interviews with journalism students. Gaylord professors Warren Vieth and Bob Dickey instructed one group of soldiers. A professional journalist for 26 years, Vieth held a unique insight, having covered the U.S. occupation of Iraq in 2003. “[The media training] gives the military a much more realistic perspective on how the press operates and why things don’t always turn out the way they think they should,” Vieth said. As Vieth and Dickey were conducting their brief, some of the soldiers shared their personal and professional experiences with the media. J.R. Fry told the class about a journalist who overheard him talking with one of his friends, and that his comments ended up in a story without his knowledge or permission. A common theme during this interview preparation session was that the soldier should remain in charge of the interview, not the reporter, and that he doesn’t have to divulge anything to the press. For some, this was a hard lesson to learn. “Nine times out of 10, they’re going to ask the guy what his name is, and five minutes later he’s told them his entire life story,” said Major Paul Harrison, who was in charge of one of the four groups. Prior to the actual interviews, the soldiers studied a scenario based on an actual battle in Afghanistan. The journalism students were provided only rumors from which to compose their interview questions. “It’s a high-pressure, think-on-your-feet setting that also helps students develop their interviewing skills,” Vieth said. As the captains entered the rooms to conduct their one-on-one interviews, some of them looked as if they were walking into a firing squad. Each interview was videotaped and lasted between five and 10 minutes. The students did their best to trip up the soldiers, and sometimes succeeded. After Captain Ray Augustine entered the room, OU student Emily Erichsen started with easy questions. “Do you feel you have the same goal as the Afghan military?” she asked. >> CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
PHOTO BY DWIGHT NORMILE.
Captains from Fort Sill are briefed on how to speak to reporters before they take part in mock interviews with OU journalism students. 5
“Yes, we both have the same goal of rebuilding and stabilizing Afghanistan,” Capt. Augustine replied, his right foot tapping slowly throughout. The questions got tougher, though. “Some of the soldiers deserted you.” “Can you trust them?” “Why did it take 45 minutes for the MEDEVAC to arrive?” Capt. Augustine maintained his calm throughout, even if some of the answers sounded rehearsed. Said one captain, who did not want his name revealed: “I’ve been to Afghanistan and Iraq, but I’ve never been in front of a camera before.” Asked if it would be scarier to look down the barrel of a gun or a camera he said, “A camera, definitely.” After finishing his actual interview, Captain Anonymous looked greener than the uniform he was wearing “That was horrible,” he said. The entire room erupted with laughter. After a few more captains finished with their interviews, they began to compare notes. It soon Major Warmuskerken briefs a group of captains on the plan of action for the mock interviews. Photo by Celia Perkins. became clear that one of them had inadvertently thrown his fellow captain under the bus when he misunderstood a question. As the others found out, anticipation grew to watch came. No one wanted to miss anything from the interview with this captain, who also requested anonymity, on tape in the Captain Anonymous No. 2. afternoon review session. His eyes were the size of golf balls as the video began. His After the interviews were completed, the captains were posture started to sag as the interviewer, Gaylord student released to “chow” and instructed to be back at 13:15 to watch Morgan Downing, asked about a comment made by the previous their interview debriefs. captain she had interviewed. With renewed confidence, he As the soldiers reconvened into the classrooms, their faces boldly proclaimed, “He is wrong. That didn’t happen.” His peers registered a range of emotions. As the class started watching exploded with laughter, and the tape had to be paused as the the interviews, the feedback was mostly positive. Many of mood settled. the captains had good posture and bearing, while some were Said Maj. Harrison: “I’ve told them, ‘You’re gonna get up noticeably fidgety. there, and you’re gonna mess up, and we’re gonna laugh at you. But when you walk away from here, hopefully you’ll have a positive experience from this.’” [The media training] gives the After the debrief was finished, the captains headed back to base, having completed one of the most unique days of their military a much more realistic training. Self, a former editor at U.S. Army Newspapers and reporter perspective on how the press for United Press International, said the program, which began as operates and why things don’t “just a one-shot thing,” has evolved through the years. “It’s a little different than what we originally thought we always turn out the way they would be doing,” he said. “But our goals are still the same: to think they should. build a more open and transparent and cordial relationship between the captains and the journalists, so they’re more – Professor Warren Vieth comfortable in the situation.” Asked for his vision of where the Army media training would be in 10 years, Self paused and said wistfully, “If the Afghanistan As Maj. Harrison had predicted, the biggest mistake was war continues for some time, I think the Defense Department is giving up too much information before answering the question. going to want to expand this program.” But that’s the point of the drill. And Gaylord College and Fort Sill have created an exemplary “I think it’s a huge benefit for them,” said Maj. Harrison, who model for other bases to copy. spent a year in Iraq between 2008 and 2009. “This is my fourth time [at the OU training], and I always learn something new.” Kingfisher, Okla., native Damien Lodes, a sophomore broadcast Maj. Harrison also explained that the soldiers are briefed at meteorology major, served five years in the Marine Corps as an Fort Sill about certain informational limitations. Air Traffic Controller. “You’re required to answer questions if you’re asked, but you have to maintain operational security, those kinds of things, the basic stuff,” he said. After a couple of embarrassing and somewhat robotic interviews later, the moment everyone was waiting for finally 6
CoverStory
A Class Redefined
Students telling the stories of the home front BY LINDSAY WHELCHEL
A
t first glance, it looks like any normal classroom in Gaylord College. Students listen attentively to a lecture, only it quickly becomes clear that their professor is not in the room. He is projected on a giant white screen via Skype.
Gaylord College Correspondent in Residence Professor Mike Boettcher isn’t simply out of town for a conference; he’s in Afghanistan, embedded with the 101st Airborne Division. Advanced Multimedia Journalism is a class taught by Professors John Schmeltzer and Boettcher and their students create content for the Afghan101 (afghan101.ou.edu) webzine. The innovative teaching concept is also leading the charge for an entirely new class model. “I think what we’re doing is ground-breaking in creating a new way to train a new generation of students in multimedia journalism, and at the same time, engaging them in important issues,” Boettcher said. The class was Boettcher’s idea, said Schmeltzer, who is the stateside captain of this scholastic ship. “He began talking to me about going back to Afghanistan towards the end of July 2010,” Schmeltzer said. “He called me from New York from ABC’s offices, and as soon as I saw the area code, I thought ‘uh oh,’” Schmeltzer said with a laugh. “He said he was going back and that he had this idea to use the class to help tell the story about the war,” Schmeltzer said. Given the unprecedented nature of the class, many details had to be worked out by the time the students came back to school. The course was set up to run like a professional organization, Schmeltzer said. The students work on telling stories of the families of soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division based out of Fort Campbell, Ky., and also have the opportunity to produce news pieces from the content Boettcher gathers in the conflict zone. “We’ve realized we need to be sure we’re providing students with a real-world, professional experience where they’re getting really good chances to do stories that could just as easily go and run anywhere,” Schmeltzer said. As with any new venture, it wasn’t smooth sailing right away. Run alongside the Routes webzine project (routes.ou.edu),
The Afghan 101 class meets with Correspondent in Residence Professor Mike Boettcher once a week via Skype, a free Internet teleconference/video telephone software platform. Photo by Celia Perkins.
Afghan101 began in fall 2010. Schmeltzer explained that most of that semester they had technological difficulties with receiving Boettcher’s content and then matching up the stories from Afghanistan and Kentucky. They re-worked the website over the semester break, and now Schmeltzer says things are progressing on many levels within the webzine and the class. The website has various content categories, such as the Home Front, War Front and Journalism 101, the latter to serve as a how-to section for journalists. Perhaps it is this instructional opportunity that best illustrates Boettcher’s dual roles as a working journalist and a teacher, which he finds a difficult burden to bear. >> CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
FORT CAMPBELL 7
Students in the Afghan 101 class interact with wives and children of the men of the 101st Airborne Unit on a trip to Fort Campbell, Ky. Photo provided.
Afghan 101 (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7)
“The hardest part for me is going out and covering an operation in the middle of some pretty intense combat, and then coming out and re-adjusting and focusing on something as normal as teaching a class,” said Boettcher, one of the world’s most experienced foreign correspondents. He expressed the difficulties he faces when losing colleagues and soldiers he knew, and explains that the class may not fully understand the toll it can take on him. “I’ve got my foot in two worlds,” he said. “One is a world where there’s war and the other is an academic world, and it’s not easy wrapping your mind around that and changing gears and trying not to just tell the story but telling how to do the story, in a coherent fashion.”
It’s been life changing. Being able to tell the stories of people that never get told, you can see it means a lot to them, and it means a lot to me. – Leslie Metzger But his struggle goes beyond teaching the logistics of journalism and speaks to a higher purpose of getting students involved in global issues. “The most rewarding thing to me about this class is students who were not engaged in the most critical foreign policy issue our country is facing, which is the war in Afghanistan, are now engaged after being in this class,” Boettcher said. Students are definitely benefiting from the opportunity. 8
“It’s been life-changing,” said Leslie Metzger, a student in the class who traveled to Fort Campbell in April. Metzger says that it is an honor to work with the two professors and go to the army base to tell the home-front side of the war. “Being able to tell the stories of people that never get told, you can see it means a lot to them, and it means a lot to me.” Jono Greco is a fellow student who made the trip and said he felt the importance of developing a work ethic for the class in dealing with the military. “It’s an extremely fast process,” he said. “You have to be on your game, coming back and turning out a story so you get a good story out there that represents what they’re doing.” Boettcher agrees to the importance of the project. “What I think we’re doing is what no other university in the country is doing through this venture,” he said “[They’re] not just studying it, [they’re] going out there and doing it.” Boettcher said he is invigorated watching the students work, especially with the stories they cover from class field trips to Fort Campbell, which is more than a 10-hour drive from Norman. The trips are led by Schmeltzer, who stressed that he was only there to ensure the experience for the students. It was up to them to find their own stories. Topics included after-school programs for military kids on base, welcome-home ceremonies and patriotic families from multiple generations. “Hearing [the students] talk about these stories and the excitement that journalism brings in telling those stories … I think it’s important we keep this going,” Boettcher said. Though specific plans for the fall have not been made, Schmeltzer said they would like to provide some closure for Fort Campbell upon the troops’ return in the fall. And perhaps similar opportunities will arise for students to tell important stories in the future. And so the journey continues. Lindsay Whelchel is a print journalism junior from Mustang, Okla. She wants to see the world and thinks getting lost will be half the fun.
Class Experience Deeply Moving for Student BY LEIGHANNE MANWARREN
W
hen I enrolled in the Advanced Multimedia Journalism class, I had no idea that I would find myself in Fort Campbell, Ky. I certainly never imagined myself shadowing a woman with a camera and taking video footage of her much-anticipated embrace with her daughter returning from the war front. As John Schmeltzer, the professor of our class, told us about the other students’ experiences at Fort Campbell, I could feel the excitement and anxiety run through my body. I could hear the beating of my heart in my ears. As I walked out of that first class, I knew that these would be stories I had never written before. One thing I love about journalism is that you get the opportunity to be uncomfortable. When you are assigned a story, you go to events you would never attend on your own, talk to people who would never cross your path, and experience new cultures and norms. If I don’t feel uncomfortable with new stories, I’m not doing my job right. My discomfort creates the urge to understand what is going on around me. It was with this mentality and throughout the semester that I kept asking myself, “How can I do these stories right?” After a long car ride and a night’s rest, our group finally made it to Fort Campbell, Ky., in April 2011. Accompanying Professor Schmeltzer on the trip were journalism students Beth Nalewijk, Jono Greco, Lindsay Whelchel, Leslie Metzger and myself. We headed to the base with the night’s rain still pouring. Leslie and Lindsay were going to stay until the mid-afternoon when they needed to catch a flight back to Oklahoma for the Gaylord College scholarship reception. Jono, Beth and I were assigned to be guided by Rick Rzepka, Fort Campbell’s public affairs officer. The rain did not faze Rzepka as he shuttled us around the base for a jam-packed day. We would see the Army’s only air assault school, the base museum, base headquarters and finally, meet a brigade chaplain with the Army’s Strong Bonds program. What wasn’t on the original schedule was the evening’s welcome-home ceremony, and Rzepka was more than willing to let us cover the event. We arrived back at the base that evening and Schmeltzer asked us to find a story that hadn’t been done before. Jono and I chose the reunion.
A wall of sound hit us as we walked into the base gym where many families awaited the return of their soldiers. Children danced and played with each other as older family members sat anxiously in the bleachers, jittery from the excitement. The energy was overwhelming and everyone monitored the clock as time counted down. It sounded a lot like an Oklahoma City Thunder game: LOUD. Jono and I approached an older woman, who had a walker and four bouquets of flowers. Becky Wilson of Pennsylvania was waiting for her granddaughter, Specialist Sierra Ross. The mother, brother, husband and grandfather of Spc. Ross were also there waiting for her. They beamed each time the announcer grabbed the microphone to tell the families that their soldiers were closer to home. I learned a lot about Spc. Ross, 22, as I spoke to her family. Her mother, Jenny Hetrick, told me how Sierra was a beauty pageant girl when she was young, and it was because of Sept. 11 that she decided to join the military. “We always joke that she gave up her pageant queens for Army greens,” Hetrick said. I sat with the family through a full hour of anticipation. When the announcer finally gave the OK for family members to greet their soldiers, Jenny turned to me and asked if I could take video of her reunion with her daughter. Until this moment, Jenny had been the person holding the family together as the minutes slowly passed. As soon as I agreed to help her, she sprinted into the mass of military uniforms in search of her daughter. When she found Sierra, I saw tears stream down her face. Finally getting to physically embrace her daughter seemed to trigger all the emotions Jenny had bottled up during the months they had been apart. While holding her daughter, she forgot that she still hadn’t given her daughter the bouquet of flowers in her hand. When Spc. Ross approached her grandparents, her grandfather, Bill Wilson, slipped her a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup as they hugged. It’s her favorite candy bar. As I stood there, videotaping and watching this family’s intimate reunion, I realized I was a little part of their story in some way. It was a humbling experience.
A journalism senior from Oklahoma City, LeighAnne Manwarren is proud to have been a part of this experience.
WEB CONTENT
Read and watch the student stories at afghan101.ou.edu and watch the Afghan 101 promotional video at http://goo.gl/dIjAd to hear first-hand from the students about their experiences with Afghan 101. You can also go straight to the website or video by scanning the respective barcode with your smartphone. 9
AlumniProfile
Confidence Builder
Dress for Success CEO Joi Gordon is helping women get back on their feet BY PAGE GROSSMAN
H
ow did OU alumna Joi Gordon go from being a prosecuting attorney in Bronxville, N.Y., to the CEO of an international company in just one phone call?
It all started when she watched the morning news in her New York apartment, as any good broadcast major would do. She saw a segment about a new not-for-profit organization in New York called Dress for Success Worldwide, which collects used business suits and gives them to disadvantaged women. Gordon was interested in donating some of her suits. “I literally called to donate suits and talked to the founder,” Gordon says. During their conversation Gordon learned that the board of directors needed a lawyer, so she went from “suit donor to board member on a telephone call.” Dress for Success was founded in New York City in 1997 and has provided suits, support and career-development tools for more than 600,000 women. There are now offices in 110 cities around the world. The company believes that a good business outfit builds confidence and projects the proper image for a successful job interview. After a woman gets hired, she can return to Dress for Success for up to one week’s worth of business-appropriate separates. “This has been just a powerful journey that I’ve been on,” says Gordon, who earned a bachelor’s in radio and television broadcasting in 1989, and a law degree, also from OU, in 1993. “And quite frankly, the women who come into Dress for Success talk about the impact of the suit in their lives, and the suit I gave impacted my life. I probably would not have been here had I not listened to the news that morning and decided to donate a suit.” Gordon became CEO of the New York office in 1999 and then moved up to CEO of the worldwide office in 2002. Her current position requires frequent travel, so as a 43-year-old mother of two — a 14-year-old daughter, Sydney, and 12-year-old son, Nicholas — Gordon makes the most of her time when she is home. “I think my kids appreciate and value the work I am doing and I don’t think they would want me to have any other job,” says Gordon, who grew up in Bronxville but later moved with her mother to Tulsa, Okla., where she attended Bishop Kelly Catholic High School. Gordon says she and her husband, Errol, with whom she also operates a luxury limousine rental company, are raising their kids to be leaders of the next generation.
10
Joi Gordon, 1989 Radio/TV/Film, is CEO of Dress for Success. “We live in a household that is about service to others,” she says. “My daughter is actively involved in the community and giving back. She donates her time and her talent to nonprofit organizations that are working with women and children in shelters. We talk a lot in my household about integrity and character, being authentic and being truthful to who you are. It’s important to think, ‘Who are you when people are not looking?’” If it seems odd to be the CEO of a company with degrees in broadcast journalism and law, Gordon says that both have benefited her greatly in her career. “I never went to law school to practice law,” says Gordon, who in 2009 was named as one of the 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business by Network Journal Magazine. “I went there to complement my journalism degree with a legal degree, and
my life just took a different path. I just really feel like everything I learned in the journalism school has prepared me for the job I have today. I do more public speaking; I do more television and radio interviews; it has made me very comfortable in front of a camera. Quite frankly, the work that I am doing is social justice. The law background makes me walk with a conviction that this is necessary.” With her success in the business world, Gordon serves as an excellent example for the women who walk through the doors of Dress for Success, who are also looking for confidence and inspiration. “It’s imperative that we help women, disadvantaged women, get back to work,” Gordon says. “So I plead their case every time I’m out there talking about the work of Dress for Success and the movement for women.” Gordon says that the most satisfying part of her job is that she is surrounded by women who are strong and confident, traits she Joi Gordon (right) adjusts the necklace on one of Dress for Success Worldwide’s clients. Each year the organization helps more than 50,000 women worldwide obtain business wardrobes. learned from her own mother. “I only know that if many of Says Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote, “Dress for Success the women who walk through could have no better leader. Joi possesses every good quality to Dress for Success had a woman in their lives like I did, their lives which their clients aspire. We look forward to hopefully having could be different,” Gordon says. Joi back on campus to inspire Gaylord College students, as well.” When looking back, Gordon says that one of the best parts of This is just one of many stories of how JMC alumni have her OU experience was the various leadership opportunities she been successful and changed the lives of hundreds around the had. She worked as a resident adviser in the dorms, and later as world. And sometimes, all it takes is just one phone call. coordinator for all three of the university’s apartment complexes at the time. Page Grossman is an online journalism sophomore from Colleyville, “It wasn’t as if I was looking for these opportunities as much Texas. Someday she hopes to travel and shoot photography for as these opportunities found me,” she says. “I don’t know that National Geographic. I ever sought out to be a leader on campus at OU. That wasn’t ever a goal for me. But as I look back and reflect, I had more leadership roles at that university.” In her third year of law school, Gordon served as the general counsel for the University of Oklahoma Student Association. She enjoyed the experience because it allowed her to practice what she wanted to do in real life. “What I think going to OU and being a student of Gaylord College gives you is a wide spectrum of skills that will allow you to do anything that you set your mind to,” she says. “Also, never shut the door to opportunities greater than what you initially went to school for.” Though Gordon has not returned to OU since she graduated, she looks forward to seeing the new Gaylord College sometime soon. “I could not be more proud of my education at OU, both formal and otherwise,” Gordon says. “I owe a lot to that university. And with my success I am hopeful to be able to pay it forward. I appreciate this opportunity to tell my story. It just shows me how great the University of Oklahoma and Gaylord A leader in New York business and philanthropy, Joi Gordon is all smiles College really are.” before going to to ring the NASDAQ closing bell. The company logo is on the screen above her. Learn more about Dress for Success Worldwide at www.dressforsuccess.org.
11
CollegeNews
The Third Degree
Doctoral program lifts Gaylord College to elite level BY MJ CASIANO
‘T
here’s a first for everything” is a cliché that has been used often since Gaylord Hall opened in 2004. But this time may be the most important to the journalism school. Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication graduated its first doctoral candidates in spring/summer 2011, when the first
doctoral students defended their dissertations. This extremely competitive program was created in 2007, relationships in sustaining civil society. He defended his and has admitted and funded five students per year at $18,000 dissertation, which researched media development noneach. There currently are 15 total students progressing toward governmental organizations in Peru, in May. their doctoral degrees. Each year, between three to five students Sommerfeldt has accepted a position with Towson University. are typically accepted into the program out of 15-20 applicants, Nye, a Weatherford, Okla., native, earned his bachelor’s said Professor David Craig, Gaylord associate dean for academic degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 1993. affairs. After 12 years of daily journalism experience in Texas and “All doctroal programs are hard to get into,” Craig said. Oklahoma, he went to Oklahoma State University for his master “Students come from all parts of the state and country, and we of science in mass communication. even have some international students. At least two students In 2007, Nye enrolled in the OU doctoral program. He came from our master’s program.” successfully defended his dissertation in mid-June and plans to The recent and soon-to-be graduates are prime examples of return to New Hampshire, where he has been an instructor of the widespread nationalities in the program. Anna Klyueva, journalism at Keene State College for the past academic year. Erich Sommerfeldt and Chad Nye hail from Russia, Michigan His dissertation, “Fair Trial/Free Press issues in the Federal and Oklahoma, respectively. Criminal Trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols,” Klyueva was born in Tajikistan (a Central Asian country actually stemmed from past work covering trials. It is a historical that borders with Afghanistan) and later moved with her family and legal analysis of First Amendment/Sixth Amendment to Russia. She began her graduate studies at OU in 2006 and conflicts in the federal prosecutions of the Oklahoma City has focused her research interests on international and global bombing case. strategic communication, global media and media transparency, public relations ethics, and public diplomacy. Her work has been published in the Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, Public Relations Journal, Journal of Russian Communication, Journal of Global Affairs and the online research center of the Institute for Public Relations. Klyueva will defend her dissertation in August and has accepted a position with the University of Oregon. Sommerfeldt grew up in Grand Haven on Lake Michigan and earned his bachelor’s of fine arts in musical theatre performance, and later his master’s of art. in communication, both at Western Michigan University. His adviser at WMU, Maureen Taylor, left for Gaylord College the year he graduated and persuaded him to apply for the doctoral program here. “After weighing my options among other schools, I chose OU because of the great facilities, the new program, and most of all, the chance to work with Taylor again,” Sommerfeldt said. His research focus is public relations as practiced by activist groups, and on the role of building Erich Sommerfeldt, the first to officially complete the Gaylord doctoral program, with his faculty
12
adviser and mentor, Professor Maureen Taylor. Photo by Celia Perkins.
PHOTOS BY SHEVAUN WILLIAMS.
Anna Klyueva Strategic Communication Position at University of Oregon
Chad Nye Broadcast Journalism Position at Keene State College
Nye is glad to be finished with the dissertation process so he can focus more on teaching. He’s also excited about the milestone he is a part of for not only the individual graduates, but for Gaylord College, too. A fourth student, Christal Johnson, has also accepted a position at Howard University in Washington D.C. On paper the doctoral program is a three-year program, but has proven to take up to four, Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote said. This is the sixth year that the program has been on the drawing board and the fourth year the program has been in session. Although the OU doctoral program is new, it competes with many other nationally recognized programs, such as the one at the University of Texas, Craig said. “It opens a whole new dimension for us and becomes a huge asset in hiring professors,” Foote said. “This is how you create a positive reputation nationally, and we are going to be the beneficiaries of that. It also brings very bright minds to our university from all over the world.” Faculty looks for those students highly interested in the practices and values of journalism, mass communication and the media professions. It’s common for the selected students to have multiple years of professional experience. In fact, one student within the program has approximately 20 years of experience at organizations such as The Dallas Morning News, and he’s coming back to finish school after all these years of working, Craig said. “It helps them decide what research questions they want to ask and what they want to study,” Craig said. The program comprises three concentrations: news and information, strategic communication and media arts. “Graduates will be prepared to become both accomplished researchers and outstanding teachers in colleges and universities around the world,” said Professor Meta G. Carstarphen, director of the graduate program. This level of performance has been proven through a record of excellence boasted by top-paper awards and paper presentations at national and international academic conferences. “This puts us in a position to be a top program in terms of the options we have,” Foote said. “There aren’t many universities
Erich Sommerfeldt Strategic Communication Position at Towson University
in the United States that offer all five majors [JMC] all the way through to the doctorate level. It moves us to more of an elite level.” Aside from Carstarphen, 15 faculty members are involved in the doctoral program: Fred Beard, Ralph Beliveau, David Craig (associate dean), J. Madison Davis, Joe Foote (Dean), Peter Gade, Julie Jones, Michael Kent, Robert Kerr, Namkee Park, Charles Self, Elanie Steyn, Maureen Taylor, Katerina Tsetsura and Doyle Yoon. Students are individually advised by Graduate Adviser Kelly Storm. The diverse faculty possess a wide range of interests and experiences related to the three concentrations. Among the areas of faculty expertise are management, ethics and normative theory, law, race and gender, international public relations, new media advertising, message strategy and tactics, and documentary, according to the overview. “The faculty has increased the overall intellectual capabilities of everything we do,” Foote said. Students develop a one-on-one relationship with their professors because they are constantly working with one person that is the chair of the student’s dissertation committee, Craig said. “Our mission for a college of journalism and mass communication is that we do want to be comprehensive and be able to train students at all these levels,” Craig said. “We want to prepare people to be thoughtful researchers and strong teachers in the field. Typically they’re going to get faculty positions and we’ve had some positive initial success. One of our goals is to help them get faculty positions based on their preparation here.” Many of the students set to graduate from the program already have jobs lined up at newsrooms or as faculty at universities across the nation, ultimately pointing their success back to preparation at OU. And Dean Foote could not be more proud. “There will never be another time like having that first graduate,” he said. Oklahoma City native MJ Casiano, a journalism senior, would like to cover the NFL draft in the future. 13
DonorProfile
Investing in Journalism Bob Ross fulfills the charge of Edith K. Gaylord BY LINDSAY WHELCHEL
T
he economic earthquake we are experiencing seems to be shaking the very pillars of journalism, and simultaneously, technology is changing the name of the game faster than Apple’s latest MacBook Pro. With such circumstances in mind, the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation is helping to facilitate journalistic efforts to persevere through adversity. The foundation is also funding educational programs to help students embrace the new face of journalism.
Bob Ross, president and CEO of the Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation. 14
“With the downturn in the economy and the major impact that [has] had on media and the journalism industry, we see a big opportunity for the foundation to help,” says Bob Ross, president and CEO of the foundation. Ross, a 1999 graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law, came on board at the organization in 2003. He equates the foundation’s role with that of a venture capitalist, reaching out and funding nonprofit investigative journalism projects that would otherwise be impossible in today’s struggling news world. One example is the Daniel Pearl Project, in which a team of investigative journalists and students sought the truth behind their fellow journalist’s death at the hands of al-Qaida. It seems only natural that this particular foundation would be interested in such groundbreaking efforts, given that its founder, Edith Kinney Gaylord, was a pioneer herself. Gaylord worked as a journalist for the Associated Press in New York and Washington, D.C., during a time when women journalists were few and far between. “She was very passionate about journalism her whole life,” Ross says. The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation was founded in 1982 and has three areas of focus, according to Ross. Two involve the education of journalists and student journalists, respectively, and the third deals with investigative journalism ventures. Ross says these undertakings will benefit the community as a whole because journalism is more than just a profession. “Journalism is the chance for our country and our citizens to be informed and understand what’s going on in the government and in their cities and neighborhoods,” he says. This is a burden that media outlets are finding harder to bear. Ross cites increasing bankruptcies of both large and small news organizations around the nation as hindering this watchdog process. “It’s just a real stressful thing for our country and our citizens,” he says. “So I think the most exhilarating thing is seeing [that] we’re able to fill a void and provide this muchneeded service for communities.” It is a time of change in the industry, and Ross says he is hopeful a successful model will develop among the different nonprofit projects. The investment is not without risk.
“You’re really backing a leader, and the most difficult thing at the beginning is not knowing whether that person is going to be successful,” Ross says of the new nonprofit starters. “In every instance they were a great journalist, but now, can they translate that into nonprofit work?” It is a chance worth taking for the foundation, and it is in this uncertain future that many journalism students are also finding themselves. That is why the foundation is quick to address this challenge, as well. “The next generation of students needs to know the world has changed,” Ross says. “It’s not like it was even five or 10 years ago.” Due to the change in traditional media, Ross says students must expand their skills. “They need a very broad understanding of journalism,” he says. “You can’t just focus on one aspect of it. You have to be able to take a photograph and a video and write a story. It’s definitely a multitask situation.”
Journalism is the chance for our country and our citizens to be informed and understand what’s going on in the government and in their cities and neighborhoods. – Bob Ross
To help schools achieve this, the foundation is involved in many university grants, has played a role in bringing to life OU’s state-of-the-art home of the Gaylord College and helps to fund many of the programs at work within the college walls. “We’re very proud of that building and all the programs now that are under way because of the facility,” Ross says. Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote says the foundation has helped many endeavors such as Oklahoma Watch, the investigative reporting project tied to Gaylord College, as well as the Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism, a summer program for under-represented high school students. “It’s hard to go anywhere in this college without seeing the positive impact they’ve made,” Foote says. In this environment, students are learning how to be journalists who can make the new platform fuse with the traditional values of the profession. “The training is critical [to] prepare students for this new world and not focus on the old way of teaching students to be successful, because it’s changed so much,” Ross says. And it certainly seems that if the students and nonprofit projects are paving the way toward the future, then the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation is providing the cement. Lindsay Whelchel is a print journalism junior from Mustang, Okla. She wants to see the world and thinks getting lost will be half the fun.
Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation’s mission is to invest in the future of journalism by building the ethics, skills and opportunities needed to advance principled, probing news and information. EEJF does so through contributions to media institutions and journalism schools nationwide, primarily in areas of investigative reporting, youth education, professional development and special opportunities.
Projects Funded at OU • Immigration in the Heartland 2011 Funding fellowships, in conjunction with the Institute for Justice and Journalism, for professional journalists exploring the effects of immigration in Oklahoma and other Heartland states. The program also explores immigration issues being played out across the nation, including state legislation and labor, education and legal topics. • Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism Introduces students from high schools with large concentrations of under-represented populations to the possibilities of journalism careers. The multimedia summer workshop teaches basic journalism skills through an in-residence, hands-on learning experience on the OU campus. • Oklahoma Scholastic Media Initiative Provides grants to high schools starting, maintaining or improving newspapers. • Oklahoma Watch An investigative and in-depth reporting team that collaborates with other news organizations and higher education to produce journalism that makes a difference in the lives of Oklahomans. The program is housed in Gaylord Hall. 15
CommunityService
Immigration in the Heartland
Professional journalists tackle complex issues BY LEIGHANNE MANWARREN
R
alph de la Cruz expected to meet a few people, go to a couple of seminars and show off some of his University of Texas Longhorns pride at the University of Oklahoma. What he got instead was one of the most “hands-on learning experiences” he has ever had at a journalism conference.
The blend of informational sessions, featuring speakers directly involved in immigration reform laws, and opportunities for connecting journalists with individuals entirely affected by these laws created a very well-rounded experience in a very short amount of time, said de la Cruz. A reporter for the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, de la Cruz was one of 15 professional journalists chosen to participate in the eight-day Immigration in the Heartland conference in March at Gaylord College and in Dallas. “This conference was just chock full of top-notch speakers, hands-on seminars and information, to a much higher level than I had expected,” de la Cruz said. “The folks they [enabled] us to get to interact with are really high-level folks who are driving the debate, particularly in the Midwest, with immigration.” This year marked the second Immigration in the Heartland conference, with Gaylord College’s Visiting Professor Warren Vieth planning the Norman, Okla., portion, and Dianne Solis of The Dallas Morning News organizing the Dallas event. Both are Institute for Justice and Journalism senior fellows. Vieth became involved in the project when he received an email from a member of the Institute for Justice and Journalism, asking if OU would like to participate with IJJ in an immigration-focused program in summer 2009. “The planning process is kind of like planning a wedding,” Vieth said. “It gets more and more frantic as you get really close to the actual end and the volume goes way up toward the end. So it is kind of a really slow ramp-up.” Starting the planning 12 months ahead of time to ensure foundation funding, Vieth enlisted the help of students during the months leading up to the conference. “We added the student component because none of the other conferences that IJJ had done had any thorough student participation process,” Vieth said. “It just seemed like it would be a good idea, so I created this idea of having five or so minifellowships. To me, that’s an important part of the whole project.” Helping Vieth plan the conference during the school year was journalism senior Whitney Ortega, who also participated in the
16
first conference in 2010. Ortega first learned of the conference soon after Vieth received the email from IJJ. Ortega assisted Vieth by contacting fellows and speakers before the conference, and helped with the field trips and a Wordpress website to host the resulting stories. “Last year, I really felt like I learned a lot about immigration and how journalists address immigration topics, and I thought that it was such a really great experience for me, then a junior, because [immigration] is something I want to cover in the future,” Ortega said. “Last year just made me passionate for the whole conference, and so this year, while I wasn’t really involved in writing stories or talking primarily about the immigration topics, I was still heavily involved, which I was happy to do.” The other students who participated in the conference were professional writing graduate student Graham Brewer, journalism graduate student Logan Layden, journalism junior Ricky Maranon, and journalism seniors LeighAnne Manwarren and Melissa Morgan as student mini-fellows. Students received class credit for stories written before the conference and for participating during the conference. With the ultimate purpose of helping professional journalists learn how to better cover this particular issue, the conference planners had the fellows meet with immigrants, both documented and undocumented, at churches and high schools, as well as bring in speakers such as Sen. Ralph Shortey, R-Oklahoma City; Sen. Andrew Rice, D-Oklahoma City; former U.S. Census Director Steve Murdock; and Federation for American Immigration Reform President Dan Stein. One of the fellow favorites during the conference was the field trip to Santa Fe South High School in Oklahoma City. “I felt such a connection with those kids,” de la Cruz said. “I remember after I parted ways with the kids, I chose to walk around the school and the neighborhood because I felt such a connection with them that I wanted to feel a connection to their place as well.” After meeting the students, de la Cruz says he also felt a great sense of frustration. >> CONTINUED ON PAGE 19
The 2011 Immigration in the Heartland Fellows visited Chelino’s Mexican Restaurant in the Bricktown entertainment district of Oklahoma City. Chelino’s is owned by successful Oklahoma City businessman, entreprenuer and now-legal Mexican immigrant, Marcelino “Chelino” Garcia. Pictured from left to right, top left: (back row) Sandra Baltazar Martinez, Diana Correa, Jason Buch, Ralph de la Cruz; (second row) Sarah Gustavus, M. Scott Carter, Alex Kellogg, Jaclyn Cosgrove, Jens Krogstad, Kari Lydersen; (front row) Maria Bastidas, Teresa Puente, Michael Baker and Rachel Cernansky. Not pictured: Rebekah L. Cowell. Photo provided. 17
CommunityService
Oklahoma Watch Dogs
Investigative reporting team takes on incarceration rates BY BETH WEESE
‘T
hey’re not angels … but they’re not necessarily all devils either.” Those are the words of Oklahoma Watch editor Tom Lindley, describing prison-bound women. And many more women will be joining them. So many that Oklahoma has the unflattering distinction of sending more women to prison per
capita than any other state. This has been true for 14 of the last 15 years, but why? This is the question Oklahoma Watch, a nonprofit reporting “This is journalism, pure journalism,” Lindley said. “We have team, wants to answer. Its current investigation focuses on a responsibility to engage the community in the story.” sentencing practices and examines the possibility of a better He explained that sharing the stories enlightens Oklahomans method to deal with nonviolent offenders. and can motivate them to take a more proactive role in various The large team of reporters was able to come together quickly issues. Providing accurate information to the public includes and effectively to begin working on the investigation. With them in the problem-solving process. funding from the Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation, “Involving the community is an important way to keep the George Kaiser Family Foundation, the John S. and James L. the story fresh and keep it alive, keep it resonating, keep it Knight Foundation and the Tulsa Community Foundation, percolating as long as it needs to,” Lindley said. The Oklahoman and The Tulsa World — who were already sharing And it may take years, according to Lindley. The high rate of content — collaborated to form the team in October 2010. By female incarceration is a trend that could easily be traced back December, the team began producing content. before statehood. That is why the model for reporting on it is so “I think Oklahoma is the only state in the country that could unique. Focusing on a few issues at a time—and currently only have gotten everybody on board so quickly and mobilized in incarceration—allows the team to research cases and analyze the such a unified way,” said Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote, who causes that could eventually lead to a solution. is the secretary and treasurer for Oklahoma Watch. “We are trying to identify the issue, trying to background the Many of the stories are written by Oklahoma Watch staff, problem, talk about its impact, talk about the human side of this including “Incarcerations Imperil Children’s Futures” and equation, and then look for solutions,” Lindley said. “It’s not “Women Find Religious Freedom in Prison.” Other articles are written by The Oklahoman journalists, such as “Judges Defend State’s Incarceration Rate.” The Tulsa World also contributes several articles to the project, such as “Punishments Linger after Prison Sentence.” Gaylord Hall serves as the headquarters for Oklahoma Watch, which provides opportunities for students to get involved in the reporting. The influence of students in this initiative lies in their knowledge of social media. “The synergy there is going to be vital, especially understanding how to reach audiences in the future, what they respond to, what they need from us,” Lindley said. One of OU President David Boren’s requirements for hosting Oklahoma Watch was that they provide internships for Gaylord students. Two are available each semester. Oklahoma Watch is also working with News 9, News on 6, Public Radio Tulsa, OETA, the Oklahoma Press Association, Oklahoma State University and the University of Tulsa. “We think there’s tremendous promise in having a consortium of journalism organizations interested in serious investigative journalism,” Foote said. Lindley calls the project a “dream assignment.” It is an opportunity to focus on one topic for an extended period until the issue gets resolved. Visit oklahomawatch.org to read the stories and examine the issues.
18
a problem that was created overnight, and it’s not going to be solved overnight.” But the project is generating attention from people via online communities. The Oklahoma Watch website (www.oklahomawatch.org) has more than 10,000 unique views. One of its stories posted on The Tulsa World website received more than 20,000 hits in a single week. The initiative also has a Twitter and a Facebook page with an increasing number of followers. “The public is getting more engaged,” Lindley said. “It’s a complex issue, and I think there is more understanding of it today.” The model for Oklahoma Watch lends itself to public interest because it will continually answer the question, “But what happened next?” While normal news formats follow breaking news and inform the public about what is currently happening, Watch has the opportunity to pry deeper. It reveals the implications of the news, the effect it will have on Oklahomans and possible solutions. For instance, the female incarceration investigation seeks to reduce prison costs and the overall number of nonviolent offenders in prison. The stories aim to make the issues more relatable and understandable for Oklahomans. When they learn about the high incarceration rates, they may then begin to care enough to find ways to fix it. If they are able to view the female offenders as people who may have children they need to care for — about 85 percent do—then maybe they will understand that simply
sticking them in prison does not solve the problem. If anything, it continues the trend of troubled lives with their children. One prisoner, Teresa Malone, is a woman Lindley considers to be symbolic of the problem. She is a repeat offender who received 35 years in prison for possession of methamphetamine with the intent to sell. “There she sits in her 50s today,” Lindley said. “If you follow in her footsteps, you’ll get a better understanding of how the system works, where they go wrong, and how it’s hard to get off of that road.” As Albert Einstein said, “The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them.” Oklahoma Watch is providing that higher level of thought that may solve Oklahoma’s incarceration problem. But with the help of an educated community, media-savvy students, receptive legislators and at-risk women willing to change their lives, it will have an even better chance at success. In June, Oklahoma Watch began focusing on the next big issue at hand: state tax breaks. The website cited the nearly 500 suspect tax breaks that can be found in the Oklahoma code as needing inspection. Beth Weese is a broadcasting and electronic media sophomore from Westville, Okla.
Immigration (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16)
“The kids I spoke with were so sharp, so expressive, had so many ideals and goals and love for this country, and yet a lot of them would not have the opportunities we would consider,” he said. “They were being shut out of the American dream but they personified the American dream. Very few kids I had interviewed before invocated the American dream quite like these kids did.” Jaclyn Cosgrove, a reporter for Oklahoma Watch and another Immigration in the Heartland Fellow, said that through this crash course on immigration, she felt empowered and confident to report on such an intimidating topic. “I was probably one of the only people who wasn’t a full-time immigration reporter, and there were a lot of people there who had done a lot,” Cosgrove said. “I thought I was going to leave the conference with a lot of sources, but I didn’t expect to have the confidence to do my project.” Cosgrove also found that the diverse group of fellows contributed to the strength of the program. “I know people across the nation now who I can come to with questions,” Cosgrove said. “I can ask a lot of questions and make my story a lot stronger without having to always bug my editor.” With the planning process already started for 2012, Vieth says the curriculum may focus more on the elections, explore immigration as a political issue and examine it as a demographic phenomenon of how it affects who votes. “You might hear stories or read stories about immigration, about immigrants, about issues within immigration, but you never quite understand them until you meet somebody who is embodying all those things you hear about,” Ortega said. LeighAnne Manwarren is a journalism senior from Oklahoma City. She will be interning in Washington, D.C..
Professional journalists and students listen to guest speakers in the Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation Auditorium during the Immigration in the Heartland conference. Photo by Celia Perkins.
WEB CONTENT
Visit http://immigrationintheheartland.wordpress.com or scan the QR barcode above with your smartphone for more information and to read the fellows’ projects.
19
CollegeNews
One Night in History
Washington, D.C., intern gets caught up in the furor after Osama bin Laden’s death BY KAREN HUDSON
A
fter the fall media tour with Professor Kathy Johnson, I knew I had to find a way to return to Washington, D.C. It was my second visit to D.C. and it was just as magical as I remembered. I started searching for internships in the district when two of my professors suggested that I apply for the
Washington Center for Politics and Journalism program. The timing was perfect. I was accepted and moved into an apartment with five other women in my program in February 2011. I was assigned to the National Law Journal, where I was told I would have the chance to cover hearings on Capitol Hill and Supreme Court arguments. That didn’t happen for a while; I started to wonder if I had made a mistake. My internship turned around after I wrote a few small stories for the blog and soon I was doing what I had been promised. The other reporters were grateful that I was always eager to cover the Hill. They had covered plenty of hearings, but for me they were new and exciting. Entering the Capitol through the staff entrance never got old; I felt like a real reporter and I knew that I belonged in D.C. Washington, D.C., was the perfect place for a news hound like me. I thought the government shutdown would be the biggest story I covered until the night President Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden. It started with a post on Twitter. One short, simple online posting thrust me from being just another Washington intern to a witness to history. Nothing about the April 30, 2011, weekend was typical. One of my roommates and I joined other news and political junkies at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, nicknamed “nerd prom” by attendees. We did not have tickets for the actual dinner; instead, we lingered in the lobby of the Washington Hilton with hundreds of others who also lacked tickets.
It started with a post on Twitter. One short, simple online posting thrust me from being just another Washington intern to a witness to history. – Karen Hudson
20
We watched television coverage from the downstairs ballroom and laughed as Seth Meyers, the head writer for Saturday Night Live, joked that Osama bin Laden had a show on C-SPAN. “People think he’s hiding…but did you know that every day from 4 to 7, he hosts a show on C-SPAN?” Meyers joked. Some people in the bar laughed, while others groaned. My Facebook status updates for the weekend were to be all about what I thought would be the highlight of my four-month internship in Washington – ending up in a revolving door with Myers and his former SNL co-star Amy Poehler. Late Sunday night, I was about to upload my photos to my Facebook page. Then came the tweet. “BREAKING: Obama to address the nation at 10:30 p.m.” It’s rare that the president speaks without giving the press or public a heads-up on the topic, I thought. This must be something big. I checked different news websites and found nothing. Reporters in D.C. speculated on Twitter. MSNBC reporter Luke Russert wrote, “Tons of speculation now on Obama 10:30 p.m. speech. Thinking it’s Libya related but no one really knows.” I kept checking news websites, but the information was coming faster on Twitter. ABC’s Matt Gutman tweeted, “National security issue to be dealt with in White House. ABC’s Martha Raddatz reports top secret meetings at WH these past few days.” Then I saw this and screamed at my computer: “House Intelligence committee aide confirms that Osama Bin Laden is dead. U.S. has the body.” A CBS News producer’s tweet was a statement I thought I’d never read. The U.S. had been searching for bin Laden for almost 10 years; I was convinced he would never be found. He was this generation’s Jimmy Hoffa, a figure whose whereabouts would remain a mystery forever. I ran to the living room to tell four of my five roommates who were watching a movie. The movie will be over in a couple of minutes, they said, then we’ll watch the news.
Crowds fill Lafayette Park and streets around the White House after President Barack Obama announced Osama bin Laden had been killed by U.S. troops (above). An excited crowd member climbs one of the lamp poles to get a better view (below). Photo by Karen Hudson.
We tuned in just as the networks announced bin Laden’s death and saw a small crowd in the background of a White House reporter’s live shot. My roommates laughed and someone said, “We should go down there!” I thought it was a joke at first until we all looked at each other. We lived just two subway stops away, and in an apartment full of journalists; it was our instinct to check it out. “We can’t miss this if it’s so close. This is history!” one roommate said. We didn’t want to miss President Obama’s remarks, which had been pushed back from the original 10:30 p.m. announcement. Repeated attempts to watch on my phone failed but we boarded the next train anyway, not knowing if the reports on Twitter were true. Once we exited the Metro station, I realized we weren’t the only D.C. residents who wanted to see what was happening at the White House. A man in front of us was dressed in an American flag body suit. His right sleeve had the stars and his body was covered in red and white stripes. We could hear chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” from at least a block away. Two of us broke into a sprint. When we rounded the corner and saw the crowd, we were speechless. I’m used to seeing U.S. Park Police officers on horses when I pass the White House, along with a Capitol police car blocking the street. This time, the crowd filled the street and extended far back into Lafayette Park. It was like a huge tailgate party, complete with people batting a beach ball in the air. The American flag was everywhere: hanging on a light pole, draped on people’s shoulders and waving in the air. We worked our way to the middle of the crowd. People were singing, high-fiving and celebrating. Every few minutes, people started singing the national anthem or “God Bless America.” Different chants broke out. “U-S-A! U-S-A!” “YES, WE DID! YES, WE DID!”
Karen Hudson (second from right) and her roomates witnessed the crowd in front of the White House. From left to right: Katie Perkowski, University of Kentucky, Julie Mianecki, Michigan State University, Hudson, Talia Schmidt, University of Oregon. Photo provided by Karen Hudson.
“FOUR MORE YEARS! FOUR MORE YEARS!” I’m not so sure that we were celebrating that a man was dead; it felt more like we had some sense of freedom again. Sure, alQaida could attack again soon, but for at least one night, we could stop worrying about bin Laden. He would never terrorize us again. We were free from our fear of him. Karen Hudson is a journalism junior who, while interning in the nation’s capital, also wrote for the Routes webzine where this story first appeared. Read more stories by students at routes.ou.edu.
21
DonorProfile
Pay It Backward
Pride inspires alumni to enable new generations BY DWIGHT NORMILE
A
wards ceremonies can be perfunctory parades of handshakes, posed snapshots and polite applause – assembly lines of achievement. But leave it to those in charge at Gaylord College to turn its annual Scholarship and Awards Ceremony into sheer entertainment. From a creative, student-produced video
to the closing remarks and OU Chant, the event was as stimulating as it was inspiring. Credit much of the success of the actual proceedings, held April 16 in the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Auditorium of Gaylord Hall, to Dean Joe Foote. As emcee, he was an engaging blend of Walter Cronkite and Billy Crystal. And through his words he conveyed a deep pride for the journalism school, which constitutes one of the largest programs at the University of Oklahoma. It also is housed in a state-of-the-art facility that is a veritable media Disneyland. Indeed, once you enter, it is difficult to leave. “In many ways there’s no reason for this event,” Foote said to a standing-room-only crowd, comprised mainly of accomplished students and their proud families. “But we think that scholarships are more than just a check. Each of these donors has a specific reason why they started their scholarships.” Which is precisely why several donors, who were seated on the auditorium stage, made the trip to Norman, Okla., from all parts of the United States. One of them was 1974 advertising alumna Debbie Yount, who is a private advertising consultant. “The reason that I ended up at the Gaylord College was because of [donors] like you see here,” said Yount, who grew up in Michigan. “So, 40 years later … I’ve run major advertising agencies primarily in Los Angeles and New York, but my roots are right here in the Gaylord College. … And because I’ve come from here … I feel very much that it’s our job, it’s our responsibility, to give back. And that’s why I’m a very proud donor.” Behind the scenes, Director of Development Kristen Lazalier kept things moving efficiently, as approximately 120 students, one by one, received more than $175,000 worth of scholarships. Lazalier works throughout the year as a liaison between Gaylord College and OU journalism alumni, maintaining relationships and adding finishing touches, such as thank-you notes from the recipients to their respective donors. “Between the recipients and donors, it is impossible to determine who enjoys the scholarship program more,” Lazalier said. Many of the scholarships are designated for specific majors within the journalism school, or for particular classes. Some are to honor deceased alumni or family members, while others are simply gifts of gratitude. The McMahon Memorial Scholars program, for example, has been around since the 1960s. It goes to five freshmen, each of
22
whom can receive the award annually for four years by meeting certain academic requirements. The Arney Brown Memorial Scholarship was established by the C. Arnold Brown family of Tulsa. It is awarded annually to students in advertising or public relations, and is in memory of the Browns’ son, Arney, a 1972 advertising graduate who died of pancreatic cancer in 1997. It was an emotional experience for the Browns, especially when they posed for a photo with the grateful students who received their generosity. “After the event, [the Brown family] met me out in the hall, and the widow had tears in her eyes,” Lazalier said a few weeks later. “And it made me choke up, and I’m choking up just talking about it. It was important to them.” The Gaylord Family Scholarship, part of the $22-million gift by the Edward L. Gaylord family, went to nine deserving students in their sophomore, junior or senior years. Perhaps no recipient was more appreciative than Chinh Doan (read more about Doan on pages 24-25), who is one of the most involved students at Gaylord. Doan, a journalism major with a spark-plug personality, received the Richard L. Reynolds and Lee Reynolds Senior Scholarship, the largest individual award and one that will completely cover her final year at Gaylord College. “These scholarships are a tremendous help for me, because as an immigrant from Vietnam, we don’t have much, if anything,” Doan said before the ceremony. “I cannot wait to meet [the donors] and let them know how much this really means to me, not only for my education and future, but just like in my heart.” The scholarship was a joint effort between Lee, a 1977 public relations alumna, and her father, Richard, a 1955 finance alumnus and Norman business leader and owner of the Reynolds Auto Group. “Last year, I gave a scholarship and came to this event on my own,” said Lee, Vice Presdient of business development for MedTouch in Monroe, Conn. “And I told my dad about this event, and he said, ‘Oh my gosh, I think we should both give a scholarship to someone, a senior that maybe doesn’t have the means.’ So that’s how it started. But it was my enthusiasm about reconnecting with the journalism school last year that enabled me to help fund a scholarship.” Doan, who earned an internship at NBC for the summer of 2011, did meet her donors, and they hit it off immediately.
PHOTO BY DWIGHT NORMILE.
Journalism junior Chinh Doan (center), with Lee Reynolds (left) and her father, Richard Reynolds (right), who donated the scholarship that will completely cover Chinh’s tuition for her senior year in 2011-2012. The Reynolds Scholarship is the largest single scholarship given by the Gaylord College.
“She has a remarkable story,” Lee said. “And she’s going to be in New York City this summer, and I live in Connecticut, so we’re going to get together.” Turns out they did meet in Connecticut and Doan has been blogging her N.Y. City experiences on her blog (http:// chinhtdoan.wordpress.com/). Said Foote with a grin, “Chinh didn’t invent social networking, but she’s perfected it.” Doan is just one of numerous outstanding Gaylord students. Prior to the presentation of scholarships and awards, journalism major Allison Harris gave an inspiring student perspective. “Our students have an unrivaled closeness,” said Harris, who received first place for TV News Anchor at the national Broadcast Education Association awards in Las Vegas. “The camaraderie in this college is unmatched.” Judging by the overwhelming emotion that filled the auditorium on both sides of the handshakes and hugs, the shared bond between alumni and students is certain to remain intact indefinitely. Doan, for one, already has plans to pay back what she has received during her time at Gaylord.
“[Receiving this scholarship] reminds me to invest in the future,” Doan said. “Whenever I get older and am able to put money into a grant or scholarship like this, I would love to one day have a scholarship fund at Gaylord, just like all these people have done for me.” Such noble intentions from a third-year student are testament to the well-rounded educational experience that Gaylord College provides. “I, as dean of this college, am energized every time I’m in a room with students,” Foote had said during his introduction. On this particular Saturday morning for Foote, when an empty seat could not be found, payback probably never felt so good. A writer and editor for more than 25 years, Baltimore native Dwight Normile taught the Magazine Practicum in the 2011 spring semester. He is proud of his students, who produced much of the content for this issue of Pulse.
23
StudentProfile
Gaylord’s Superwoman
Chinh Doan is a journalism and social media dynamo BY COURTNEY GOFORTH
N
ervous. Quiet. Frantic. Most freshmen have a hard time muttering anything other than their name 50 times on the first day of class. But Chinh Doan was eager to speak up.
“I remember seeing her the very first week of classes, and she asked me, ‘How do I get involved in OU Nightly?’” Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote says. “I’ve never had a first-week freshman come up and ask me something like that. Within her third week she was involved, and that involvement just spread.” A junior journalism major with an emphasis on broadcast media, Doan is ubiquitous in Gaylord College. She is a Gaylord Ambassador, the Magazine Interest Group president, reporter for OU Daily and the OU Nightly, former intern for KFOR-TV and Oklavision, officer for the Oklahoma College Broadcasters and Immigration in the Heartland participant. But school titles are only part of her story. She is also a Vietnamese immigrant, a family immigration sponsor, a loving daughter to multiple sets of parents and someone with one heck of a résumé. Doan’s childhood was far from typical. After her father served 10 years in a Prisoner of War camp for fighting against the communists for America, the U.S. government wanted to bring children of American soldiers or people who served two or more years in a POW camp to the states. This was her first opportunity to rise above.
[Chinh is] the universal Gaylord student. She lives, eats and breathes what we talk about in this college. [She’s] an extraordinary person. We may never see a student quite like her again. – Dean Joe Foote Doan and her father came to the United States hopeful for education, money and freedom at the expense of leaving behind the rest of their family, including Doan’s mother. Doan’s father found a job at The Oklahoman as a janitor and would bring home copies of the paper every day. As a young girl, Doan did not understand what her dad’s profession really was. She only knew that he worked for The Oklahoman, and her love for the news blossomed. Doan says she was always “the curious one.” At a young age she replaced cartoons with the news, books for newspapers and 24
restrictions for opportunities. She read The Oklahoman every day and would watch the 9 o’clock news with her father every night before bed. “I loved how you could find out everything,” she says. “I loved the visual aspect of it and I knew that I wanted to be a news reporter or someone to depend on.” Interestingly for Doan, the latter came first. Several years after moving to the U.S., Doan’s father got in a near-fatal car accident. No longer able to physically take care of his 10-year-old daughter, he allowed Chinh to move in with a friend during the fifth grade. But that arrangement fell apart after a year. So Doan went to her church to find guidance, and her Sunday school teacher embraced her with open arms. Doan likes to think of it as fate. This single teacher in her 40s, with no kids of her own, found all of the love she needed and created a mini-family with Doan, who was searching for the same. Doan has lived with her Sunday school teacher for 11 years now, still talking to her birth mother by phone every week and visiting her dad. Doan also handles all of her father’s bills, takes him to the doctor and does all of his translating, while juggling her schoolwork and organizations. “When people stress out and things, I’m like pshh, because I’ve been through a lot and I know that the Lord has taken care of everything,” Doan says. “I have learned to rely my trust in Him, because obviously it has to be Him; I don’t have this kind of control on my own. He is taking care of it for me, including all of the big things, and the little things just don’t matter.” School is the easy part for Doan. Right now, she is working to accomplish her current goal: bring her birth mother to the U.S. in time for her graduation in May 2012. Although Doan and her father have been separated from her mother for 17 years, her parents are still together in spirit and think of each other as family. Though her mother has missed most of her milestones, Doan wants to change that. She became a naturalized citizen when she was 18, and after turning 21 on Christmas of 2010, she became a sponsor to officially petition and start the process of getting her mom to the states. Family always comes first for Doan, and she wants to finally bring hers back together, keeping her own future on hold. She plans to first reunite her parents, buy them a house and open a Vietnamese restaurant to provide income for them. “I have the rest of my life to chase my dreams,” Doan says. Doan has little free time after being superwoman on a daily basis, but when she does have a break, she likes to retreat. You
PHOTO BY DWIGHT NORMILE.
won’t find her on Campus Corner until 2 a.m., but more likely at a coffee shop hanging out with a friend, one-on-one. Her nightlife consists of a lot of homework and studying, while her social life involves getting to know people in intimate settings. Her favorite newspaper is still The Oklahoman, and she sees herself growing old and raising her family in Oklahoma, although she also would like to see the world. Doan has fought through hard times, one smile at a time, and her personal experience seems to translate into her own advice for aspiring journalists. “I would first see if you are passionate about journalism,” she says. “There are many heartbreaking things about journalism when you are covering news-breaking events, when you are covering crimes and seeing all of these evils in the world – it breaks your heart. But we can’t turn away from sad things like that, because amidst those sad things are the happy things. If you
don’t do what you are passionate about, you are never going to be good at something.” As a result of her own success at Gaylord, Doan received the Richard L. Reynolds and Lee Reynolds Senior Scholarship that will cover her senior year. This summer, she received a 10-week internship at NBC in New York, working on the “Today Show.” Dean Foote and the college could not be more proud. “Everyone knows Chinh,” Foote says. “She’s the universal Gaylord student. She lives, eats and breathes what we talk about in this college. [She’s] an extraordinary person. We may never see a student quite like this again.” Courtney Goforth, a native of Frisco, Texas, is a journalism junior who aspires to publish her own music magazine and own every owl figurine known to man. 25
StudentProfile
Man for All Seasons
Matt Carney masters writing, photography, multimedia BY COURTNEY GOFORTH
H
e is the guy you see at every music festival within a 100-mile radius, the guy you can catch reading a pop culture book at the kitschy coffee shop; the guy whose portrait is plastered on the Gaylord Ambassador’s wall; the guy you would want to take home to meet Mom and Dad.
He is also the guy who is never seen without his camera. Carney’s love for music and passion for writing have Though Matt Carney has several diverse interests, he says he intertwined into a perfect union with his recently discovered loves a good story “more than anything.” hobby of concert photography. After covering the Norman “I was going to be a baseball-playing, astronaut-painter,” Music Festival and the Austin City Limits music festival – where says Carney, a native of Tulsa, Okla. “I was very committed to his “heart kind of just flipped in [his] chest” after meeting the those professions as a kid. I think I also wanted to be a zoologist front man for his favorite band, LCD Soundsystem – Carney – I wanted to hang out with panda bears.” wishes to document more music festivals in his future. But his Carney is a senior professional writing major who claims to interests are not limited to creative endeavors. He is also an have never really even thought about being an Oklahoma State avid runner, camper, certified scuba diver, official OU Ultimate Cowboy, but did not really aspire Frisbee club member and all around to be a Sooner right away, either. outdoorsman. I’d really like to be someone who But that changed once his mother If this well-rounded college guy encouraged him to apply for a has not captured your heart yet, is known and respected for doing position as a writer for the Tulsa he asserts that he values time spent good work for people in the World’s supplement paper, Satellite, with his family and “being a part which provided insight from of a community that is caring and community. – Matt Carney Tulsa-area teens. invested in each other.” Therefore, After his first review of an Carney claims that he would not be “extremely cheesy” Ted Nugent sad at all if he continued living in the concert at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, which he proudly takes Oklahoma City area, even though he would like to travel around credit for, Matt knew his love for comics, life sections, movie the world and return to London someday. reviews and feature stories was steadily blossoming into a passion “I want to be that kind of thinker who can realize something for writing. The Gaylord College at the University of Oklahoma and see a void where maybe somebody isn’t asking questions seemed a perfect fit. about this, or maybe there isn’t enough information on this and Since Carney has been at OU, he has been inspired by be able to go fill that void and do it in a meaningful and accurate authors such as Klosterman, who wrote Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa way,” says Carney, a member of Brothers Under Christ fraternity Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto. He also had the honor of at OU. meeting Klosterman in spring of 2009, thanks to the efforts of “I’d really like to be someone who is known and respected for the Gaylord Ambassadors of which he was co-chair his senior doing good work for people in the community, in a specific kind year. He also likes the works of Sylvia Plath, John Steinbeck, of subset of a community, wherever I’m living.” C.S. Lewis and Truman Capote. Wherever Matt Carney ends up, it seems that his vibrant Along his college journey, Carney has also spiced up his creativity and enthusiasm for life will reflect in his work and credentials by dabbling in several creative ventures. He has been continue to inspire other ventures for his fulfillment. But if a part of the Gaylord Ambassadors program for three years. His he ever finds his picture-perfect lady, he claims he will set experience with the Oklahoma Daily, which he likes to think everything aside for a backpacking honeymoon in Europe. of as a “learning lab,” includes three years as the Life and Arts Ladies, you can find him at the Gray Owl almost every reporter. He has recently taken on the role of photographer after Wednesday night. purchasing his shiny new Canon. Carney has studied abroad in London on the British Media Tour and has interned for The Courtney Goforth, a native of Frisco, Texas, is a journalism junior Oklahoman, Tulsa World and World Literature Today. He has also who aspires to publish her own music magazine and own every owl worked as the photographer and videographer for the Norman figurine known to man. Music Festival.
26
27
PHOTO BY ALEX WINTERS.
28
PHOTO BY DWIGHT NORMILE.
StudentProfile
Passing Down the Legacy Outgoing PRSSA president, Taylor Hall
T
BY MJ CASIANO
aylor Hall has always been interested in writing, research and strategic planning, but was an undecided major when she came to OU in 2007. Now she is one of the more recognizable faces on campus, which comes with the territory when you are president of the OU chapter of the Public Relations Student Society
of America. As a result, Hall was learned how to use her time efficiently and develop her leadership skills. “As the president for PRSSA you have to oversee the other on a weekly basis. The program only had two clients in the first officers,” said Hall, a public relations senior. “We did an agency semester, so there has been positive growth, Tarpenning said. trip this year, so that meant I had to check in and make sure As the clients have increased, so has the billing, which has things were being done. Then you plan events like the speed risen from $10,000 last year to $25,000 in 2011. The biggest networking seminar and the fundraiser in April. It can be a account is American Airlines, and was headed in 2011 by heavy load.” account managers Andrew Rice and Aaron Coleman (both Michelle Stephenson, public relations junior, thought Hall graduated in the spring). With the agency reaching its two-year was an excellent fit for the position. anniversary, leaders such as Hall are graduating, so they’ll be “She is a great leader and communicator,” said Stephenson, starting over to an extent, Tarpenning said. who will take over as president in the fall. “She took the PRSSA “The agency is difficult to get into and they only choose the president position seriously and changed the organization best of the best,” Stephenson said. “I don’t think the committee completely in one year. Since her stint began, we have triple the thought very long about admitting Taylor.” attendance at annual Hall definitely will events, [which] will leave a legacy at Gaylord, There’s definitely a time when staying involved continue to grow.” and she is described by Under Hall’s peers as one of the few on campus can be stressful, but I try to balance leadership, membership students who should has grown to 69 paid my outside activities and not overload myself… have no trouble finding a members in 2011. job after graduation. it’s definitely better to load up on activities that “Taylor is a kind, “When there’s spirited and ambitious something that needs are more important to your future rather than young professional that to be done, Taylor is is always willing to go the first to raise her ones that have no long-term benefit toward above and beyond for hand and volunteer your career path. – Taylor Hall success,” said Public herself,” Stephenson said. relations senior Rachel “The difficulty or time Bradley. “Any time consumption of a job there’s a chance to get involved, she’s the type of person to apply isn’t an issue … The Fort Sill job is a prime example of that.” for the spot. We could use more people like her in Gaylord Hall and fellow public relations senior Benjamin Paston College.” served as the leads for the Fort Sill team. The purpose of their Hall also serves as senior account executive for Lindsey + Asp, work was to attract visitors from across Oklahoma to the the student-operated advertising and public relations agency Lawton-Fort Sill area, and to the Fort Sill museums. The team within Gaylord that was developed in 2009. There are two fullwas awarded the two-year contract, worth close to $23,000, in time faculty advisers heavily involved with the students: David 2010. Tarpenning (advertising) and Robert Pritchard (public relations). “Last semester we completed secondary research,” Hall said. The agency is a concept in experiential learning, and provides “This semester we are working on primary research and we will an opportunity for advertising and public relations students to conclude the research phase before summer begins. We’ve also practice what they have learned with real-world clients. completed an informational brochure on a traveling museum Lindsey + Asp currently has 16 clients and 80 members in the exhibit and are currently working on a press packet for the post agency, and the students are divided into teams that usually meet band.” >> CONTINUED ON PAGE 30 29
PR Legacy
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29)
Although the Fort Sill job may seem like more than enough work for most students, Hall’s devotion to Lindsey + Asp did not end there. She served as an account executive for the Oklahoma Arthritis Foundation and implemented a national campaign throughout 60 counties. The duties for this position included conducting extensive media pitching, writing news releases and distributing press material to target the public. In fall 2010 Hall also interned with Saxum in Oklahoma City, where she conducted research, writing, planning, media tracking and social media assignments on five client accounts, and assisted in generating daily intelligence reports for clients. Before she became involved with Lindsey + Asp, Hall was a travel communications and sustainable initiative intern with the Department of Tourism and Recreation, where she used research methodologies to create a survey that probed interest on sustainable travel initiatives in the state, and generated bi-weekly updates of Oklahoma Travel Wire industry updates. Everyone has a start in their chosen industry, and Hall’s was with the American Red Cross in the summer of 2009, when she prepared a presentation and spoke at a local Kiwanis Club meeting to increase knowledge of the mission and services. Hall’s motivation for applying for the Lindsey + Asp agency was simple: she wanted to join an activity on campus that would help her stand out when she begins interviewing for jobs. “The reason I applied for the agency was to get real on-the-job experience, because I hadn’t done any internships at that point,” she said. “So I thought this was the best way to not only add to my résumé but get experience in something that would help me in my future job.” Hall discovered another benefit, too. She said it became a great way for her to meet friends, because most of the students in the agency take the same classes, which ultimately makes for a smoother social transition during college. “Between classes and meetings, you see these people all the time,” Hall said. “We’re like a family. They’re always willing to help you on your projects, even if they’re not on the same account, so it’s great to have that bond with your school family. I can see myself staying in contact with these people for the rest of my life.” Hall stresses the importance of getting involved but says students must learn to balance all their activities. “There’s definitely a time when staying involved on campus can be stressful, but I try to balance my outside activities and not overload myself,” she said. “It’s a lesson that I’ve learned throughout college, and it’s definitely better to load up on activities that are more important to your future rather than ones that have no long-term benefit toward your career path.” Just a few weeks into a summer post-graduate internship in Weber Shandwick’s Dallas office, one of the world’s leading global public relations firms, Hall has been hired full-time as assistant account executive on the American Airlines Business/ Traveler Team. “She is dedicated to everything she does and follows through on every commitment she makes,” Stephenson said. “I learned a lot from her about how to delegate and lead a group or organization.” Oklahoma City native MJ Casiano, a senior journalism major, would like to write features on high school and collegiate athletes someday. 30
Taylor Hall leading a PRSSA meeting.
A project status board in the Lindsey+Asp agency.
Students in the agency gather each Friday morning for a status meeting and professional development.
CommunityService
Unique Summer Camp OIDJ offers high school students a stimulating introduction to the world of journalism BY PAGE GROSSMAN
E
arly in the morning on Monday, June 14, 2010, Miranda Sanchez grabbed a quick breakfast and walked to her 8:45 meeting. She had a big day ahead of herself. She was about to spend the next 14 hours immersed in a brand new environment.
While many teens spend their summers camping and canoeing, Sanchez and 25 high school students from all around the nation traveled to the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication for journalism camp. These dedicated students gathered in the extreme heat of the Oklahoma summer to learn the tricks of the journalism and broadcasting trades. The high school students chosen for the Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism summer workshop are those “who would otherwise lack access to journalism training or who face other barriers to pursuing careers in journalism,” according to the OIDJ website. The first of the two six-day workshops focused on broadcast techniques and allowed the students to produce a full newscast. The second week covered print journalism and the students practiced news-gathering techniques and wrote articles for the Red Dirt Journal, which can be found at reddirtjournal.ou.edu. Both 2010 workshops introduced the students to using media in the field, such as shooting video and editing sound bites, and eight of the 26 students stayed for both weeks. Each day was packed with the various journalistic activities available in Gaylord Hall, but there also was time for recreation. The students got to cool off at the OU swimming pool, have a cookout at the house of Norman Transcript Executive Editor Andy Rieger (1980, news communication) and meet many professors from OU. “I thought the OIDJ workshops were very informative, especially with the camera tutorials and getting to interview professionals and getting connections with those people,” Sanchez said. “It was immensely helpful.” The students gain other benefits from the program. After spending time on the Norman campus with professors and graduate students, they learn plenty about the j-school. College can be intimidating for a freshman, so seeing a familiar face and just knowing your way around the building can be great advantages for an incoming student. Kenzie Clark, past OIDJ participant and OU freshman, says that she benefited from this program because she was able to meet Mike Boettcher, an ABC News correspondent and Gaylord visiting professional professor. She felt that it also helped her in “getting pluggedin and involved” at OU. Because of her
participation in OIDJ, she was allowed to skip the basic training when she applied to OU Nightly. Started in 2004 by former Gaylord Associate Dean Fred Blevins, the OIDJ program is sponsored by many organizations, including the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation and The Oklahoman newspaper. Unfortunately, the 2011 program received less funding than in past years, forcing the OIDJ staff to conduct only one week of workshops and reduce the number of participants, as well. Regardless of its size, OIDJ has always strived to offer relevant instruction. “As the media changed we had to change along with it so that it became not strictly a newspaper thing. It became more multimedia,” said Ray Chavez, OIDJ director and journalism professor. >>CONTINUED ON PAGE 46
The Red Dirt Journal can be found online at reddirtjournal.ou.edu or scan the barcode above with your smartphone to go straight to the page. 31
FacultyProfile
Empowerment Trip
Fulbright Scholar Kathryn Jenson White BY MELISSA MORGAN
A
t age 9, Kathryn Jenson White moved with her family from tiny Henryetta, Okla., to the vibrant culture of south central Los Angeles. Living there in the early 1960s and meeting people from various ethnic groups, she captured a firsthand glimpse into the lens of the colorful American culture. Pandora’s box
opened and her zest for exploration began. “I can’t thank my parents enough for taking me out of a small town and into a rainbow coalition of culture,” Jenson White said. Jenson White eventually returned to Oklahoma, and in 1996 she became the Sooner yearbook adviser at the University of Oklahoma. Eventually, Associate Professor and Journalism Area Head Peter Gade recognized her talents and encouraged her to teach. So in 2004, Jenson White began her career as an associate professor of journalism. “I wanted her to be a part of the Gaylord team,” Gade said. Although Jenson White is based in Oklahoma, her passion for diversity hasn’t diminished. She continues to run with every culturally enriching opportunity that flies her way. Her latest adventure landed her in southeastern Europe. During the summer of 2010, Jenson White traveled to Bulgaria, where she worked and researched as a Fulbright Senior Scholar in the program’s international summer institute experience. “The Fulbright Scholarship gives you the opportunity to research the subject you’re interested in and live among the people you’re researching,” Jenson White said. “It was an enriching experience, personally and professionally.” During her time overseas, Jenson White taught a “Women in Media Leadership” class at Sofia University, the first university in Bulgaria, established in 1888. She also traveled frequently to other universities, and conducted a total of 10 workshops in the region about various topics pertaining to new media and its impact on journalism, media literacy and film criticism. Her class in Sofia comprised 25 students who spoke English at various levels of proficiency. “I consider myself a hyper-verbal person, so the thing that really got me was going to a place where I didn’t even know the alphabet,” Jenson White said. “It was very hard for me, and my [vocabulary] still remains very low.” Despite the language barrier, Jenson White remained steadfast in her mission to spread the Fulbright goal of public equality. She diligently advocated the importance of women in leadership roles, and also served as an ambassador for the U.S.
32
“People have distorted ideas of what America is, and I know I corrected a lot of misconceptions that people have about the U.S.,” she said. Not only was the Bulgarian language exhausting for Jenson White, the university facilities were drastically different from those of Gaylord College. Their system was outdated, and the students learned by memorization, with one big exam at the end of the semester, Jenson White said. “There aren’t computer labs, the library is composed of books dating back to the 1960s and they even have to bring their own toilet paper to school because their bathrooms have none,” Jenson White said. “There is no money.” While Gaylord’s biggest struggle may be to maintain the latest and most advanced software systems on its vast array of top-notch Apple computers, Jenson White’s Bulgarian students didn’t know if the school would even remain operational for the rest of the term. “We are so spoiled,” Jenson White said. “I can’t tell you how much I was brought up short there … It makes me very grateful.” Not only do teachers in Bulgaria take home a relatively small salary by U.S. standards, but the students had to protest to the government for more money to keep the school open, Jenson White said. “It’s an embarrassment of riches, walking into Gaylord Hall,” Jenson White said. “There, it’s blank walls and one LCD monitor to share among the entire faculty.” While Jenson White was abroad, she said she used some of the grant money to buy the university a $500 projector and some books that were more recent. “There are no separate buildings like Gaylord, Price and Rainbolt at OU,” she said. “[Our] donors give millions and millions of dollars to fill in the gaps [remaining from] what the government gives the university. They don’t have any of that in Bulgaria.” But Jenson White is one of those people who can be in a different culture and a different situation and make it work, according to Elanie Steyn, a journalism assistant professor.
>>CONTINUED ON PAGE 48
Associate Professor Kathryn Jenson White just returned from her sabbatical in Bulgaria, where she taught Women’s Leadership classes as a Senior Fulbright Scholar. Photo by Shevaun Williams.
33
FacultyProfile
Deep Thinker
Professor Peter Gade continues to challenge his students in the changing world of journalism BY MELISSA MORGAN
S
ince 2004, Peter Gade has been infusing Gaylord students with philosophical thought, challenging assignments and a fervent desire to pump the heart of journalism in the midst of bewildering times. Gade is focused, hard working and determined without fail, but there is one subject that seems to
crack his tough exterior and expose the workings of his soul, and therefore his teaching methods: his past. The question is posed, and suddenly all the paperwork, class assignments and pressing meeting schedules fade to the background as warm memories explode like a round of Black Cats on the Fourth of July. “I’ve always been independent minded,” Gade says. “It’s a blessing and a curse.” Gade grew up in Albany, N.Y., helping his father and his brother cultivate a fruit and vegetable farm that had been in the family for five generations. Gade was the first male in three generations to leave the farm. Although he knew how much his family wanted him at home to continue the tradition, he wanted to see what he could do on his own. “I knew I didn’t want to stay on the farm because all it was, was work, work, work,” Gade says. “Then I was foolish and went into newspapers.” Gade didn’t find his way to journalism immediately, though. He began his college career in 1973 at the State University of New York at Brockport, where he majored in history and physical education. He also played football. In the midst of his academic education, Gade and six friends decided to pitch in $100 apiece for a school bus. They replaced the old seats, built closets and cabinets, and added a generator. Then, a different education began. At age 20, Gade and his friends decided to skip a semester of classes and discover America. “We had a huge thirst for life,” Gade says. “Some days we just drove wherever the sun shined.” During their five-month adventure, Gade and his friends relaxed in the Everglades and Key West in Florida. They hit the French Quarter in Louisiana, then on to Houston and Dallas, Arizona, Colorado and California. They saw much of the country. “In 1975, times were different,” says Gade, adding that gasoline was only 35 cents a gallon, and the Vietnam War had just ended. “You could be anything you wanted to be.” The explorers made it back for the following semester and Gade finished his history and physical education degrees in 1977.
34
“I didn’t go to get a career,” Gade says. “I went to get an education.” Following graduation, Gade began coaching Division III football at SUNY-Brockport, and in 1980 he was listed as the youngest offensive coordinator in the nation. During the off-season, he worked a total of 13 jobs but never missed an opportunity to travel. In 1981 Gade took a six-week trip to Europe, and went back repeatedly for the next three years. “You learn a lot about yourself when you go places where people don’t know your name,” he says. “You begin to appreciate simple kindness from others, and learn the person you are and how to make yourself into the person you want to be.” Gade traveled everywhere in Europe except for Poland and Albania. He also hitch-hiked his way into Northern Africa by way of a truck driver who got him into Morocco. Not only did Gade run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, but he also picked grapes in Southern France, apricots in Greece and worked as a carpenter in Germany. “Life is about doing new things,” Gade says. “I like to push the envelope.” Gade also decided to go to the Soviet Union, a country he said he was taught to hate all his life. He wanted to see for himself. “Reagan called them the Evil Empire,” Gade says. “It’s very rewarding to have a curiosity about others [and learn that] people aren’t that much different.” After educating himself abroad, Gade decided to get his master’s degree in journalism. “I had never written a story nor did an interview, but I liked people, I was curious and I liked to write,” he says. “So journalism seemed like a good career choice.” Gade attended the University of Louisiana, where he was taught by extremely influential professors, including John Merrill and Robert Picard. After graduating in 1987, he returned to upstate New York, where he wrote for the The Corning Leader and finally the Elmira Star Gazette, climbing the ranks through reporter, photojournalist, assignment editor and bureau chief.
>>CONTINUED ON PAGE 49
Associate Professor Peter Gade, journalism area head, took advantage of the opportunity to “find himself� during the 1970s and many of those experiences resurface in his teaching and certainly in his philosophy of life. Photo by Dwight Normile.
35
CollegeNews
Faculty Excellence
Research, teaching and service recognized Taylor Receives 2010 Pathfinder Award for Research
San Josè State University, the University of Texas at El Paso, the University of Colorado, and at the University of South Dakota, where he served as chairman of the journalism department.
Fischer and Hodgson Receive Awards from BEA Festival
Professors Ken Fischer and Scott Hodgson received awards for their outstanding service with the Broadcast Education Association Festival the past 3 years (2009, 2010, 2011). Hodgson served as the creative producer and Fischer as producer. Professor Hodgson’s Client-Based Production class has served as the production staff and crew for the Festival program. Seven students on the crew made the trip this year to Las Vegas.
Maureen Taylor received the 2010 Pathfinder Award from the Institute for Public Relations.
Maureen Taylor, Professor and Gaylord Family Chair of Strategic Communications, received the 2010 Pathfinder Award from the Institute for Public Relations. She accepted the award at the IPR Distinguished Lecture and Awards Dinner on Nov. 11 in New York City. The award included a $2,000 cash grant. The Pathfinder Award recognized Taylor’s significant contribution to the body of knowledge and practice of corporate communication and public relations through scholarly research during her distinguished career. Since 1984, the Pathfinder has been presented annually to scholars who are thought-leaders and broaden the intellectual horizon and professional points of view of the Public Relations profession.
Chavez Named Teacher of the Year
Ramòn Chávez, journalism instructor and director of the Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism, was honored with the Teacher of the Year award from the Oklahoma chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. A former city editor at the El Paso Herald-Post, Chàvez’s unique blend of humor, passion and stage presence reach students in deep, personal ways. Former student M. Scott Carter said, “He cares for his students, pushing them, testing them and urging them to hone their skills as journalists.” Chàvez has previously worked as a reporter at the Seattle Times and the Ray Chavez Yakima Herald-Republic, the Albuquerque Tribune, the Miami Herald and The (Sioux Falls) Argus Leader. He is a two-time winner of teaching awards from the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and has taught at 36
Professors Scott Hodgson (left) and Ken Fischer received awards for their service the past three years with BEA.
In addition, Fischer has also served as the chair of the BEA Sports Division for the 2010-2011 academic year and was recently named Secretary/Treasurer for the Oklahoma Broadcast Education Association.
Fischer Named Professional of the Year
Professor Ken Fischer was named the Professional Member of the Year by the National Broadcasting Society at the recent national convention held in Los Angeles. Fischer also was chosen as one of 15 American radio and television journalists and educators to participate in a fellowship administered by the Radio Television Digital News Foundation. The group traveled to Germany June 12-26 and meet with top-level German political, business and media figures, and also met at the European Union and with NATO.
Vieth receives CAIR-Oklahoma Award Professor Warren Vieth (1977, journalism) was recognized with the Excellence in Journalism Award by the Council on American-Islamic Relations Oklahoma chapter for his dedication to journalism excellence in his own work and in the students he teaches. Vieth assigned his students to do numerous stories about Muslims in Oklahoma helping to open their eyes as future journalists to many of the misrepresentations that exist in the media about Muslims and Islam. The student stories can be found at routes.ou.edu.
Kent and Taylor were also ranked in the top 50 authors for Internet research published in communication journals in a paper presented at the conference on “The Internet Turning 40” held at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, in June 2010. Taylor is tied for seventh with eight publications and Kent is tied for 28th with five publications. The study also ranks Kent and Taylor’s 1998 paper, “Building Dialogic Relationships through the World Wide Web,” as the 43rd most-cited article. It was cited 41 times within the literature reviewed.
Warren Vieth
Tsetsura Receives Top Paper Award from IPRR
Katerina Tsetsura and her co-author Dean Kruckeberg (University of North Carolina-Charlotte) received the Brigham Young University Top Ethics Paper Award at the 14th International Public Relations Research Conference. The paper entitled “Media Practice or Media Opacity? Conceptual Considerations and Implications” was based on a larger research project by Tsetsura and Kruckeberg for the Katerina Tsetsura upcoming book “Transparency, Public Relations and the Mass Media: Combating Media Bribery Worldwide” (Routledge, Journalism Studies Series).
Kerr Ranked First in Individual Rankings for Top Convention Paper Productivity
Associate Professor Robert Kerr was ranked first in Individual Rankings in Top Convention Paper Productivity for 19992008 in a study published in the Spring 2010 Journalism & Mass Communication Educator.
Robert Kerr
Carstarphen Signs Exchange Agreement in Ghana
OU Professors, Loretta Bass, sociology, and Meta G. Carstarphen, journalism, traveled to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, to sign a student and faculty exchange agreement on Dec. 9, 2010.
Visiting Professor Win Blevins’ Novel Named as One of Top Sci-fi/Fantasy Novels of 2010
Visiting Professor Win Blevins’ latest novel, Shadows in the Cave, written under the pen name Caleb Fox, has been named one of the best sci-fi/fantasy novels of 2010 by Kirkus Reviews, one of the three largest publishing industry journals.
Pritchard Named National Faculty Adviser
Professor Robert “Pritch” Pritchard was named as the 2011 2013 National Faculty Adviser for the Public Relations Student Society of America. The National Faculty Adviser is a counselor to the National Committee and assists in setting and achieving the goals and objectives for PRSSA each year. Pritchard was also featured in the spring publication of Teaching Public Relations Monographs presenting the results of research on the role of extrinsic rewards on the intern’s engagement, enjoyment and attachment to their Robert “Pritch” Pritchard internship activities.
Taylor and Kent Highly Ranked for PR Research Productivity and Internet Research Published
Maureen Taylor, Professor and Gaylord Family Chair of Strategic Communications, is ranked number one in terms of public relations research productivity in a study published in the October 2010 issue of the Journal of Public Relations Research. Associate Professor Michael Kent is tied for seventh in the review of public relations literature’s most-cited works from 2000-2010.
Jenson White Receives Scholastic Media Award
Professor Kathryn Jenson White received the second place award in the 2011 Innovative Outreach to Scholastic Media award program conducted by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. The Oklahoma Scholastic Journalism Initiative began in 2008, as both Oklahoma Scholastic Media and the Ethics and Excellence in Journalisim Foundation discussed the plight of journalism programs in Oklahoma high Kathryn Jenson White schools. Funded by a grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the program has trained 32 high school newspaper advisers.
37
CommunityService
Native Connections
Symposium examines new ways for tribes to connect BY BETH WEESE
‘I
think the Creator has blessed us,” Gaylord College Professor Ray Chàvéz mused. “He has told us that we are at the center of the universe in our tradition of storytelling. He is teaching us new ways through our friends and members of our tribes.”
Chavez led a blessing at the beginning of the Native American Symposium that reflected the thoughts of the whole day: how tribes are using new media and technology to remain at the heart of storytelling. The symposium, titled “New Media in Indian Country” and sponsored by the Native American Journalists Association and Gaylord College, was an opportunity for people from tribes across the nation to meet, listen, learn and share information. Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote welcomed the visitors as they settled into the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation auditorium on March 30, 2011. “No industry is changing faster than the communication industries,” Foote said. “We’re very proud here in Oklahoma to have some tribes that are leading the way in new media.”
During the first session of the day, “The Collision of Old and New Media,” Tom Arviso, CEO and Publisher of Navajo Times, shared the accomplishments of his weekly newspaper and online version. He said that although the Navajo Times has a paid circulation of 25,000, he estimates the average readership is about 165,000 every week. He credits this to the long life of a newspaper on a reservation. “People save it,” Arviso said. “They share it with their children when they come home from school. They’ll share it with their grandparents. It gets passed around.” During the same session, Cherokee Phoenix editor Bryan Pollard demonstrated how the online version of his paper has evolved from a bare bones website to one that is rich with Cherokee culture. The site offers videos, photographs and stories written in English and Cherokee.
We’re very proud here in Oklahoma to have some tribes that are leading the way in new media. – Joe Foote
Geoffrey Blackwell, chief of the Federal Communications Commission Office of Native Affairs and Policy, was the keynote speaker. Photo by Dwight Normile. 38
Pollard and Arviso both spoke of how they had to battle censorship from their own nations, who funded the newspapers. Arviso solved the problem by securing financial support elsewhere. The Cherokee Phoenix, still funded by the tribe, gained censorship protection under Principal Chief Chad Smith, who supported the Independent Press Act. Pollard said that using new media – Twitter, Facebook and an iPhone app – to allow more people to access the Cherokee Phoenix will protect them as well. “Ultimately, I feel like our readership will give us the greatest independence,” Pollard said. The second session, “New Media Tools to Promote Language and Traditional Culture,” began with two teachers from the Cherokee Nation Education Services, Roy Boney Jr. and Joseph Erb. They spoke of how they are using new media to help preserve the Cherokee language. Through a recent development, Google searches can now be made in Cherokee, and the language has also been supported by Apple computers since 2003. Erb and Boney are using laptops, iPads and iPhones to encourage children to learn and use the native language.
“Kids do what’s cool,” Erb said. “We had to make language cool, and we started working with Apple.” Erb said that the technology is even being used by older Cherokees. “For us, this is huge,” he said. “I get text messages from elders.” Jason Salsman, a Muscogee Indian and OU journalism graduate, also spoke during the “Media Tools” session. He is the executive producer Jason Salsman (2005, journalism) and host of “Native showcased how Native News Today is News Today,” the only incorporating new media into the news network show dedicated to cycle. Photo by Celia Perkins. Native American news in Oklahoma. The show airs on Tulsa’s CW channel, and is also archived and viewable on the Creek Nation website. “While we realize that not everyone may have a computer and access to the Internet in our rural, tribal communities, I bet a lot of them have a television, and they can access us on network TV,” Salsman said. In his portrayal of tribal news stories, Salsman also said he wanted to get away from the stereotypical “stoic, quiet Indian that sits in the back.” “The 21st century Indian is kind of what I was hoping to convey and show on our television show,” he said. “And that’s exactly what we do every Saturday at 1:30 p.m.” The keynote speaker was Geoffrey Blackwell, chief of the Federal Communications Commission Office of Native Affairs and Policy, which was formed in August 2010 and is the third-smallest agency of the U.S. government. Blackwell gave a brief rundown of the current state of communication, or lack thereof, on tribal lands. He pointed out that about 69 percent of tribal lands have telephones, which is close to 30 percent lower than the rest of the U.S. Even more shocking was the level of broadband access: 5 to 8 percent in tribal lands compared with 65 percent nationally. Calling such numbers “unacceptable,” Blackwell said he and his team, comprised of attorneys, engineers and economists, left their office in Washington, D.C., and went out in the field to learn why the tribal lands were so isolated from the rest of the country. “We saw with our own eyes ... there’s just an alarming lack of connectivity,” said Blackwell, a native of Holdenville, Okla., who is of Muscogee (Creek), Omaha, Choctaw and Chickasaw heritage. He added that just to call home from their visits, they had to find high ground to use their cell phones. A graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia School of Law, Blackwell discussed a three-part plan that was under way to expedite the advance in communication technology to tribal lands. The initiative involves radio broadcasting licensing, wireless services and a national broadband plan. “We’ve got to come up with new business models [to expand] broadband,” he said. “We’ve always been a highly adaptive society.”
In closing, Blackwell mentioned some of the various challenges the FCC faced, and that even building towers can be tricky. “The best place to put a tower is often also the best place to pray,” Blackwell said of the sacred lands. Session three, “The Future and Exemplary Practices,” was a presentation by Chickasaw Nation employees Rebecca Chandler, Karissa Pickett and Tony Choate, accompanied by Jeanette Elliott from Ackerman McQueen advertising. They discussed how they are using new media for public relations and branding. They used the work they have done for the Chickasaw Cultural Center as an example of how the media can be used. The campaign included radio, television, online and print media. The Chickasaw Nation media team is also forming a website to get children involved in the culture, has made “Pearl” a feature length film about the first Native American female pilot and launched the online video network CNTV. The final session allowed participants to share what they had learned throughout the day.
Rod Boney, Jr. (at lectern) and Joseph Erb (speaking) presented the Cherokee Nation iPhone/iPad application that teaches the Cherokee alphabet while Jason Salsman (seated) watches. Photo by Celia Perkins.
“At first I was thinking, ‘Well, maybe there will be this great competition between the tribes,’” Associate Dean John Hockett shared. “But I’ve seen today that there is a lot of collaboration.” Gaylord College intends to have another symposium and include workshops that would allow hands-on training with the technology. So for now, as the Cherokee would say, “Donadogahv’i.” Until we meet again. Beth Weese is a broadcasting and electronic media sophomore from Westville, Okla. She would like to create great sitcoms like the ones older than she is.
WEB CONTENT The full sessions from New Media in Indian Country Symposium can be viewed online at http://gaylord. ou.edu/native or by scanning the barcode at right with your smartphone.
39
CommunityService
Technology Diplomacy Facebook and iPads fuel relationship building BY CELIA PERKINS
I
n May and June, 20 university students from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka visited the University of Oklahoma as part of a U.S. State Department grant to study social media. The workshop curriculum taught the mechanics of newsgathering, reporting and producing multimedia
stories while incorporating social media skills such as creating and administering a Facebook Page for the workshop, creating Twitter accounts and writing their own blogs. Technology was a unifying force throughout the workshop. The students used new Apple iPad 2 tablet computers to take notes, conduct web research, view media, and to take and edit photos and video for their own blogs and social media sites. The college developed special tripods for mounting the iPads for use as video cameras making them excellent tools for “backpack journalism� and creating web video.
40
A central component of the program was the Facebook page (www.facebook.com/OUNewMedia). Here the students shared articles and posted updates of the program. The page remains a connection point for the participants as they put what they learned to practice in their home countries.
1
2
3
4
5
6
1) The students worked in small groups led by Gaylord College students; 2) Umme Mahbuba of Bangladesh (left) and Yashaswini Shivalingappa Narayani of India research a story online using an iPad 2; 3) The group traveled to the Chickasaw Nation Cultural Center in Sulphur, Okla.; 4) Bonds formed across nationalities as Rizvi (Sri Lanka), Chris (USA), Kalyani (Nepal), and Yazdani (Bangladesh) worked together as a team; 5) The group participated in several community service projects while in Norman including a day with Habitat for Humanity; 6) The last day in Norman was presentation day. OETA recorded Yazdani and others for a newspot on Oklahoma News Forum while a classmate records on the iPad.
WEB CONTENT
OETA featured the institute on the “Oklahoma News Report” as part of their series about the “21st Century Classroom.” Watch at http://goo.gl/VfDcD. 41
The National Weather Service and the University of Oklahoma partner on training meteorologists and television weather anchors. Photo provided by National Weather Service. 42
CollegeNews
Tornado Alley Alliance Norman campus neighbors partner to produce award-winning weathercasters BY DAMIEN LODES
M
any people get their weather forecasts off the Internet or from their smartphones. And of the few who still watch them on television, most only pay attention to the seven-day outlook. The only time TV meteorologists ever get their time in the spotlight is when wild weather strikes. And in Tornado Alley,
that happens a lot, making the broadcast meteorology major a perfect fit for the University of Oklahoma. The program is a unique, collaborative effort between the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication and the National Weather Center, which opened in 2006 on the southern end of the Norman campus near State Highway 9. The 250,000-square-foot NWC facility comprises five stories plus a rooftop outdoor classroom and enclosed weather observation deck. The Weather Center provides the meteorology instruction, while Gaylord College handles the broadcasting. Students who complete a meteorology degree can pursue a variety of careers, including weather forecasters, storm chasers and aviation forecasters. If they also complete a broadcast minor from Gaylord, they can become broadcast meteorologists, as well. Broadcast Meteorology may be intimidating to most prospective students, with 10 math and physics classes, such as Calculus IV and Atmospheric Dynamics. But there is a lighter side, which is interesting in its own right. The broadcasting aspect also offers classes such as “Electronic News Gathering” and “Television News,” the latter of which provides students the rare opportunity to actually perform on camera. “OU Nightly is a daily experience to get a large number of repetitions [on camera],” said Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote. “If you were minoring in this area, you have an abundant opportunity to get very, very good at it.” The new broadcasting minor at Gaylord College also offers students the opportunity to sharpen their writing skills through classes such as “Writing For Mass Media” and “Magazine Practicum.” “I think people who go through this [program] will find years from now that the writing and basic journalism training will have been more important than just honing your on-camera skills,” Foote said. To complete the broadcasting minor for meteorology, students must successfully complete at least 13 hours at Gaylord, 10 of which must be upper-division. The classes are very diverse, offering students the opportunity to write, perform, research and shoot their own news packages. Senior broadcast journalism major Gabe Lenners is a prime example of how the diversity of Gaylord College can develop and expand a student’s talents. After five years in Norman,
Gabe Lenners, journalism senior, was named the second-best student weather caster in the nation by the Broadcast Education Association. Photo by Dwight Normile.
Lenners is all parts reporter, producer, host and anchor of more than nine productions. A native of Imperial, Neb., Lenners enrolled at the University of Oklahoma to pursue his dream of becoming a TV weather anchor. “Upon arriving at OU, I had heard the meteorology program was one of the top programs in the country,” he said. After being exposed to the various aspects of broadcasting at Gaylord College, his interests spread to new territory. In the >>CONTINUED ON PAGE 46
43
CollegeNews
Puppets Admitted to OU New puppet web series is no child’s play BY CELIA PERKINS New broadcasting and electronic media professor, Kyle Bergersen, developed the concept of using puppets to introduce students to the various roles in producing an ongoing series. FPU: The Series, is in the style of the adult-oriented comedies and animated series featured on [adult swim] by Cartoon Network. It has been published as a Web series and has been featured on OUTV. The premise of the show is that puppets have been admitted to the university for the first time and follows the trials and tribulations of Palmer and Dakota as they struggle to fit in on campus. Students enrolled in the “Dramatic Series” class have the unique opportunity to try their hand at all of the behind-the-scenes roles of a production crew from puppeteer to sound to lighting, camera and scriptwriting.
WEB CONTENT
Watch an overview of the project on our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/GaylordCollegeOU. PHOTOS PROVIDED BY KYLE BERGERSEN.
44
Kindle Authors Students find new outlet for publishing short stories BY CELIA PERKINS
The road to published author is a long and frustrating battle for most aspiring authors. Some students may have a short story published in a magazine, picked up by a webzine or included in an anthology while still in college, but for many publication is an unrealized dream come graduation. Not so for one group of Professional Writing students this spring. Students enrolled in Professor Mel Odom’s Writing the Short Story class embraced a new publishing platform, Amazon Kindle. Each student in the class published at least one short story or novella. Most are in the crime, mystery or supernatural genres. Through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing authors can self-publish their works without the costs of a publisher or distributor. Once published, the works are immediately available to the public for download through the Amazon Kindle online store or via smartphone applications. One of the distinguishing factors of the OU professional writing program is the focus on preparing writers to be marketable. Learning to prepare an ebook property is as important in today’s publishing marketplace as learning to prepare a typed manuscript. This new skillset will help the writers when they eventually do work with a publishing house. “Students are already learning more about how to put an ebook property together than many New York publishers,” says Odom. However, two services traditionally provided by the publisher are now left to the authors: editing and cover artwork. “No writer is good enough on his own to simply throw books out there,” says Odom. “That’s why I’m coaching them to work with each other as sounding boards and editors. Traditional publishers also provide cover art. I’m teaching the students how to do that, and what to do to create a cover, on Photoshop.” One graduate student, R.J. Young, published half a dozen stories during the semester and has added several more since. Others have also continued to publish after the semester. “I’ve finished the first draft and am now in the process of editing a sequel to “Casco Bay Crooks” called “Chi-Town Shootout”,” said Mike King. Kindle authors are eligible for up to a 70 percent royalty on the sales of their works. Most of the student works are listed at 99 cents with some a bit more so it is to be expected that, student reports of earnings are modest. “I’ve made some money. I’m not sure how much, but the last time I checked it was somewhere around $40,” said King. Fellow author Steven Thorn reports about 30 downloads for his stories. Another benefit of the Amazon platform is authors can receive feedback from readers. Several of the authors have received reviews for their works. We hope you will take the time to download and read a few of the stories and leave the authors some feedback. Phillip Ybarra created a “Listmania” list on Amazon that compiles all of the works published by the students and can be found at http://goo.gl/DYXOz. The list has grown since the semester ended and now includes several works by other Gaylord College professional writing students. Download, read and review!
Jump straight to the Listmania featuring the students’ stories by scanning the barcode below with your smartphone.
45
OIDJ
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31)
One of the goals of the OIDJ program is to introduce students to journalism and teach them to love it. Professor Chavez says that the majority of students who attend the summer program end up attending OU. Chinh Doan attended OIDJ in 2008 and has thrived at Gaylord College ever since. Baxter Holmes (2009, journalism) also started in OIDJ and is now writing for the Los Angeles Times. “It was awesome because we learned so much within about 10 days,” said Doan, who will be a senior in the fall of 2011. “We lived in the dorms and we lived in, breathed in Gaylord Hall physically. They trained us so that by the end of the program we would have made a newspaper, a live newscast (just like OU Nightly), and a website. Just to think that as high school students we were able to do something like that, and the fact that we were able to pitch our own stories and we were doing a lot of this on our own … it was an incredible experience. It helped me love Gaylord College even more.” Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote says that the OIDJ summer workshops have helped the Gaylord College attract students like Doan. “It is a great testing ground for high school students to find out what they are really interested in,” Foote said. “We are hoping to find people from communities where journalism is not necessarily on the radar and cultivate an interest in this field so that it is more diverse. So that the people who report on the day’s events are more reflective of the society that is around them and not just a sliver of people who have always reported the news.” The students of OIDJ may not have learned how to canoe or shoot an arrow, but they learned life skills that will make them better journalists and communicators as they progress into the world of college and job searches.
Award-winning from the start For the seventh consecutive year, the Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism high school workshop hosted by the Gaylord College has a national winner among its participants. Miranda Sanchez, a participant in the 2010 workshop, won first-place honors in the Dow Jones News Fund’s annual competition for student reporters. Each year Dow Jones sponsors a nationwide competition for students who participate in the approximately 25 workshops the foundation co-sponsors around the nation. Each workshop director submits nominees at the end of the summer for the Dow Jones’ Writing, Photography and Multimedia categories in the competition. The OIDJ has a perfect record for its seven-year existence, producing at least one national winner each year. Sanchez won for her story, “U.S. delays settlement with Native Americans,” published in the OIDJ Red Dirt Journal. Sanchez was a senior at Boswell High School in Fort Worth, Texas, at the time she wrote the story, and will be a sophomore journalism major this fall.
Page Grossman is an online journalism sophomore from Colleyville, Texas. Someday she hopes to travel and shoot photography for National Geographic.
Weather
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 43)
summer of 2009, Lenners landed an internship with ABC News in Hollywood, where he helped cover the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett for “ABC News” and “Good Morning America.” “Gaylord College has really helped spur my interest in all facets of media,” Lenners said. “My interests over the past five years have grown in celebrity entertainment news, extreme sports reporting, TV hosting, as well as my drive for weather forecasting.” His credentials are growing too. This year, Lenners was named second in the nation in the Broadcast Education Association Television Weathercast category. His was one of eight national awards received by Gaylord College students. Lenners says he will never forget OU after graduation. “I am from Nebraska, and OU is like a second home for me,” he said. “The relationships that I have had here will be a part of me for the rest of my life.” Likewise, Foote is excited about a much bigger bond on the Norman campus, and one that is likely to grow stronger. “We’re very proud of the relationship with meteorology and Gaylord College,” he said. “It’s about an outstanding meteorology program and an outstanding journalism program, and the intersection of those two, and that over time can produce 46
a higher quality of on-air weathercaster than we could have ever expected had you not had these twin excellence centers.” Damien Lodes is a sophomore broadcast meteorology student from Kingfisher, Okla. He is very excited to have reached the halfway point of the math and physics classes.
WEB CONTENT
Watch a sampler of the OU Nightly newscast and highlights from the meteorologists as well as news and sports at http://www.youtube.com/GaylordCollegeOU or watch the video on your smartphone by scanning the above barcode.
Travel like a student again! lph Beliveau and a group Join Dean Foote, Professor Ra students as they explore the of energizing Gaylord College of London and Paris! media and cultural landscapes College will provide the For the first time, the Gaylord participate in the annual British opportunity for our alumni to The trip will take place in MayMedia Study Abroad program. in the works). June 2012 (specific dates are
SPACE IS LIMITED! rticipating If you are interested in pa Director in this trip, please contact zalier at of Development Kristen La 325-7670 klazalier@ou.edu or (405) with more and she will provide you s available. information as it become
and tour international media Stay in flats with the students locations in London, Paris and and strategic communication Bristol with the students. offices in both London and Typical visits are made to BBC vertising Standards Authority, Bristol, SkyNews, the British Ad Guardian newspaper. Ogilvy Advertising Paris and the time to visit typical tourist Of course the group also takes , the London Eye ferris wheel, spots like the Tower of London el Tower and the Louvre. Globe Theatre, Stonehenge, Eiff
47
Kathryn Jenson White
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32
“She was bold enough to apply for a country that people often don’t go to and is often forgotten,” Steyn said. “She knew what she was getting herself into. She could have picked an easier route in a country similar to this one (America).” While the language barrier and technology deficiencies created hurdles in her race to educate and learn, the rich Bulgarian culture provided Jenson White with the oxygen she needed to cross the finish line. She resided in a fifth-floor walkup near the scenic Vitosha Mountains, and she walked miles a day to the university, the vegetable and fruit markets, and Mom-and-Pop operations. “The archeological riches there are truly astounding,” Jenson White said. “I was captivated every minute I was there. You could be digging in your garden and find treasures. Every day was a new adventure and discovery.” Not only did Jenson White absorb the culture, but she also added to it by initiating Bulgaria’s first quilt guild, called Patch Work BG. The woman she partnered with to start the guild currently runs her own shop, teaches quilting classes and has built a community of 65 to 70 women. During her time in Bulgaria, Jenson White also researched the topic she is most passionate about: women in leadership. She first studied the issue with Steyn, and the two even traveled together to Bangladesh twice and also worked with Bangladeshi women during various programs at OU, serving as examples of women in leadership roles for women everywhere. “We take skills and knowledge and spread them to places where women have their own skills and knowledge,” Jenson White said.
Steyn said that in addition to Jenson White’s endless energy, she made a good impression on the students and helped them to learn how to implement these skills in their lives. “Kathryn was able to connect with the students on a personal and professional level,” Steyn said. Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote wrote one of Jenson White’s recommendation letters for the Fulbright Scholarship, and speaks very highly of her accomplishments both at OU and in Bulgaria. “She plunged right in,” Foote said. “In just six months, she’s done more than any Fulbright scholar they’ve had in years.” Although she enjoys her work overseas, Jenson White is determined to affect change closer to home, especially in Oklahoma. “We think that women at OU need to be thinking about how to develop skills and strategies to advance their careers in management, leadership and entrepreneurship starting now,” Jenson White said. “Watching women from these other countries has made me realize that all women face many shared realities to access of positions of power.” Although her mission in Bulgaria was nothing less than a success, Jenson White says she still has a long way to go in educating women around the world about their potential. She considers her work and experiences in Bulgaria a milestone in her life and is a strong advocate for the Fulbright Scholar Program. “It was a career and personal high for me, and I wish that for others,” Jenson White said. “Once you make the commitment it is incredibly worth it. It pays you back tenfold.” Melissa Morgan is a journalism senior from Keller, Texas, who aspires to write for a health and fitness magazine.
Associate Professor Kathryn Jenson White started Bulgaria’s first quilt guild, called Patch Work BG, while on her Fulbright trip. The woman she partnered with to start the guild currently runs her own shop, teaches quilting classes and has built a community of 65 to 70 women. Photo provided by Kathryn Jenson White. 48
Peter Gade
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34
During his time there, he also volunteered to be homeless for three days in New York City. His mission was to enlighten citizens who were unlikely to have this experience themselves. “We used to have debates about letting people live in poverty,” Gade says. “Now we don’t even talk about it. That tells us a lot about ourselves.” Immediately after marrying Susan Winters in 1990, Gade quit his job at the newspaper after they told him to write fewer public affairs pieces and more feature stories, which he believed to be philosophical differences of what is good journalism. He took his first teaching job in the fall of 1990 at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania, where he stayed until 1995. Gade Peter Gade was one of only a few westerners invited to speak at this international conference held in Beijing, China. taught the entire curriculum, from writing to editing to design to press performance analysis, Though Gade has received many job offers, his nomadic and he advised the student newspaper, he says. appetite is satisfied for now. He’s content to remain in Norman, “The students couldn’t even get out a paper when I got there, Okla. and within three years we were winning national awards,” Gade “We’ve raised a family here,” says Gade, who has two says. children. “I feel like we just built the house and I want to live Since he didn’t have tenure, Gade decided to earn his here for a while.” doctorate in journalism at the University of Missouri, where he When time permits, he continues to travel as much as he can. concentrated on media management and mass communications He has been to Mexico, Central America, and was one of three theory. He finally arrived at the University of Oklahoma in U.S. scholars to speak about the future of journalism and media 1998, having turned down multiple job offers on both coasts. economics in Beijing, China, in 2010. “I saw a lot of opportunity here because it was an Although the landscape of journalism ethics is quaking in underachieving, small school,” Gade says of OU. “After 12 weeks the midst of this uncertain time in media, Gade loyally fills the being here, I was asked to be the journalism coordinator, known cracks in its foundation every chance he gets. as the area head today.” “No matter how many demands he has upon him or how Gade has been teaching Gaylord College students for 13 years staggering they may be, Peter will always stop whatever he is now and has taken the small school of journalism and turned it doing and devote his immediate attention to any matter of into a comprehensive college that is nationally competitive. He principle that comes before him,” Kerr says. “That was true when has also helped to build a graduate program. But he couldn’t I first met him, and it has remained true to this day.” have done it alone, he says. Gade actively engaged himself in From American drifter to football coach to worldly explorer, trying to build a strong faculty. Gade has inspired many through his eagerness to learn and his “As area head, I’ve helped shape and guide who our faculty is passion for stabilizing the foundation of journalism. He also has and our curriculum,” he says. “I have high expectations.” served as the catalyst to the success of Gaylord College. Gaylord Professor Robert Kerr says his experience as Gade’s “You get one chance in life, and what you choose to do with first teaching assistant was, in one word, enlightening. that chance makes all the difference,” Gade says. “I used my “He always pushes you to go beyond the adequate and pursue freedoms well.” true significance in scholarship,” Kerr says. “Peter Gade’s insights Gade had a new book published in April: Changing the News: and influence very much traveled with me and helped shape my Forces Shaping Journalism in Uncertain Times. The book has 10 doctoral work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel contributors and is available on Amazon. Hill.” Says Gade, “My greatest challenge is to get students to see Melissa Morgan is a journalism senior from Keller, Texas, who their potential in what they don’t know. You’ll never be great if aspires to write for a health and fitness magazine. you think it’s fine to be OK and settle with what you like and what’s comfortable.”
49
AlumniNews
Far and Wide, Alumni Make Their Mark on the World Excellence is a trademark of OU journalism alumni BY CELIA PERKINS
I
n October 2010, the JayMac Alumni Association celebrated the careers of three Distinguished Alumni and one Young Professional with an award ceremony and luncheon in their honor. Those recognized were: Carol Burr, editor of Sooner Magazine; John D. Montgomery, publisher of the Purcell Register; and J.C. Watts, former U.S.
Representative. In addition, Jennifer Johnson Hicks, editor of the European edition of the WSJonline.com, was named the Young Professional of the Year. Carol J. Burr
Carol J. Burr graduated with a journalism/professional writing degree with special distinction in 1959. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Theta Sigma Phi, Alpha Lambda Delta, Mortar Board and Tassels honor societies as well as a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. Burr was also editor of The Oklahoma Daily under adviser Louise B. Moore. Her distinguished career has centered on OU and Sooner Magazine. Burr started at the magazine part-time as assistant editor in her senior year and became editor upon her graduation. She worked there until 1963, during which time the magazine was the official magazine of the alumni association. Also during that time she met her future husband, David Burr, the late OU vice president for university affairs. They were married in 1962. During the mid-60s and 70s Burr took a “sabbatical” from OU and raised three children, Michael, Kathleen and Thad, returning to OU in 1980 to edit the institution’s 90th anniversary history, The Sooner Story: Ninety Years at the University of Oklahoma 18901980. Since 1980, she has served as director of publications for the University of Oklahoma Foundation and once again took on the moniker of editor of Sooner Magazine in its new incarnation as a general interest magazine for the foundation. She also served as author and editor of Centennial: A Portrait of the University of Oklahoma. She has long been an active member of the Norman community, serving on boards for all manner of nonprofit and social organizations.
50
John D. Montgomery
John D. Montgomery graduated with a degree in journalism/ news communication in 1976 and has worked for a multitude of Oklahoma community newspapers, beginning in his hometown at The Hobart Daily Democrat-Chief, as well as The Kiowa County Star Review, The Daily Oklahoman, The Oklahoma City Times and The Madill Record. While at OU, he worked in the Sports Information department and was a member of Sigma Chi. Montgomery became one of the youngest publishers in the state when he purchased an interest in the Johnston County Capital-Democrat in 1977, just one year out of college. In 1990, he purchased the Purcell Register with his wife, Gracie; both have been inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame. Montgomery was named president of the Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation on July 1, 2010. He has served on every committee of the Oklahoma Press Association and was elected the youngest OPA president in 1992-93. A member of the National Newspaper Association, Montgomery has been Oklahoma chapter since 1996, and joined the board of directors in 2004.
J.C. Watts
J.C. Watts graduated with a degree in journalism/public relations in 1981 while serving as quarterback for the Sooners. He led the Sooners to two consecutive Big Eight Championships and Orange Bowl victories and was voted the Most Valuable Player in the 1980 and 1981 Orange Bowls. He went on to play in the Canadian Football League and was voted the Most Valuable
Player of the Grey Cup, the CFL’s Super Bowl, during his rookie season. After returning to Oklahoma, Watts served as a youth minister at Sunnylane Baptist Church in Del City for seven years before becoming associate pastor. In 1990, Watts was elected to the Oklahoma State Corporation Commission and became chairman before being elected to the U.S. Congress from the fourth district of Oklahoma in 1994. In 1998, he was elected by his peers to serve as chairman of the Republican Conference, the fourth-ranking leadership position in the majority party in the U.S. House of Representatives. In this capacity, Watts provided daily counsel to the Speaker of the House, participated in weekly meetings with the President of the United States and served for eight years on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee as well as the House Banking Committee.
Jennifer Johnson Hicks
Jennifer Johnson Hicks graduated with a double major in journalism and political science in 2002 and received her master’s in journalism from Columbia University in 2003. She was Outstanding Senior for the Gaylord College in 2002 and received the New Media Award from Columbia in 2003. She was a Knight New Media Fellow in 2006 and has taught graduate journalism courses at Columbia and City University of New York. Hicks is the online news editor for the European edition of The Wall Street Journal Online in London, where she oversees the europe. wsj.com site, including multiple regional blogs and special projects. Before moving to London, Jennifer led the WSJ.com night crew in New York and was responsible for the WSJ. com homepage, breaking news and production. She edits original content for WSJ.com and has written about politics, education and health care for both online and print. Prior to joining The Wall Street Journal Online, Jennifer worked as night editor at the Muskogee (Okla.) Phoenix and was an intern for The Boston Globe and the Washington, DC bureau of The Oklahoman. She was editor-in-chief of The Oklahoma Daily and aserved as night editor, managing editor, online editor, copy editor and reporter.
WEB CONTENT Watch video profiles of each 2010 honorees by going to the Gaylord College YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/GaylordCollegeOU or watch on your smartphone by scanning the appropriate barcode below. Carol Burr
Editor, Sooner Magazine Director of Publications, OU Foundation Professional Writing, 1959
John D. Montgomery
Publisher, Purcell Register Regional Chairman for National Newspaper Association News Communication, 1976 J.C. Watts
Chairman, J.C. Watts Companies Former U.S. Representative Public Relations, 1981 Jennifer Johnson Hicks
JayMac is pleased to announce the 2011 Distinguished Alumni and Young Professional honorees Mick Cornett, Mayor, Oklahoma City Howard Price, President, Multi-Net Marketing, Inc. Kari Watkins, Executive Director, Oklahoma National Memorial & Museum Jake Basden, Director of Publicity, Big Machine Label Group
News Editor, European edition Wall Street Journal Online Journalism, 2002 51
AlumniNews
Alumni Receptions
Alumni, friends and students gather across the nation
Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote and Director of Development Kristen Lazalier criss-crossed the country this past year to meet with alumni and friends and share the latest updates on Gaylord College and OU. Paul Massad, 1960 PR alum and senior associate vice president for OU’s Office of Development, accompanied Foote and Lazalier on two of their trips. Small and large gatherings were held in a variety of venues, hosted by dedicated alumni and friends of the the college. Keep your ears open for our next event – we’re coming to a city near you!
1
3
4
5
52
2
6
1) OU Clubs of Southern Arizona, Tucson, April 2011; 2) Beat Texas alumni reception at Moroch Partners Ageny, Dallas, Oct. 2010; 3) Lou Priebe (‘64, PR), Jonathon Lunardi (‘02, MIS) and Paul Massad (‘60, PR)visit during the Washington, D.C., Sooners reception, Capitol Hill, June 2011; 4) Dean Joe Foote (‘71, ‘72, JOURN) and South Asian journalists visit with Congressman Dan Boren in his Washington, D.C., office, June 2010; 5) Ambassador James R. Jones (‘61, JOURN) and Dave McCurdy (‘75, JD) catch up and reminesce with Dean Foote; 6) Dean Joe Foote and Max J. Nichols (‘56, JOURN) in New York City, Oct. 2010; 7) Members of the Gaylord Ambassadors join Dean Foote and Assistant Dean John Hockett (far right) at the Beat Texas alumni reception at Moroch Partners Agency in Dallas, Oct. 2010; 8) Dean Foote with Melissa Walters (‘05, PR) at CitiField in Flushing, NY, Oct. 2010; 9) Kristen Lazalier (‘87, R/ TV/F) with Jim Dolan (‘71, JOURN) outside the Four Seasons restaurant in New York City, Oct. 2010; 10) Linda Johnson (‘67, JOURN), president of the OU Club of Southern Arizona, presented Lazalier, Massad and Foote with club t-shirts during the alumni reception held at the Old Pueblo Grille in Tucson, April 2011; 11) Dean Foote is surrounded by young alumni at the Heartlland Brewery by Radio City in New York City, Oct. 2010; 12) D.C. Sooners reception co-host J.P. Moery (‘87, R/TV/F) with Gaylord in Washington program participants and Dean Foote, June 2011; 13) D.C. Sooners reception co-host J. Steven Hart (‘76, ACCT) visit with R. D. Folson (‘71, POLSCI, ‘74, JD) at the D.C. event, June 2011.
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
53
Alumni Association
The Friends and Alumni Association of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication, nicknamed JayMac, was organized in1983 with a mission to promote pride for the college and its faculty, students and alumni and to encourage the pursuit of excellence within the college and among the practitioners in the profession.
Specific objectives:
Distinguished Alumni
JayMac Board Members
JayMac also sponsors new graduate receptions in both the fall and spring as a part of the college’s convocation ceremonies.
• Develop a continuing interest in the college from its graduates and former students • Encourage students through incentive programs such as awards and scholarships • Promote an interest in the college among high school students • Create an awareness of financial needs of the college
The JayMac Alumni Association is led by a group of volunteer directors. The directors and officers for 2011 are: Nancy Coggins, president James Tyree, vice president Ja’Rena Lunsford, secretary/treasurer Jolly Brown Pugh, immediate past president
Cost
Annual dues for JayMac membership are $50 per person. A lifetime membership is available for a one-time gift of $1,000.
For nearly 30 years, JayMac has hosted an annual event on campus featuring the Distinguished Alumni Award recipients. In 2006, the club also began honoring a Young Professional at the event as well as recognizing excellence in teaching and research by presenting the JayMac Teaching and Research award to a deserving faculty member.
Pulse Magazine and Alumni Newsletter
The organization underwrites the printing of Pulse, the college’s annual four-color alumni publication. December 2007 marked the beginning of a newsletter for the Alumni and Friends of Gaylord College. This email newsletter supplements the information provided on the website and in the Pulse giving alumni and friends up-to-date news about Gaylord College throughout the year.
For more information about JayMac and supporting the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication, please contact Kristen Lazalier, director of development, at (405) 325-7670 or klazalier@ou.edu.
JayMac Life Members Jari Askins Ben Blackstock James T. Bratton Bob G. Burke Carol Burr Philip R. Caudill Fred L. Cook* Jean Duke Charles Engleman* Joe S. Foote Judith A. Garson Mike Hammer* 54
Carol J. Hebert C. Joe Holland* James K. Howard John C. Johnson Eric M. Joiner Jill Kelsey Roy Kelsey, Jr. E. K. Livermore, Sr. Gary McCalla* Tom McCurdy, II Charles McWilliams, II* Max J. Nichols
Elizabeth N. Ray John A. Rector, Jr.* Jan D. Rogers Ralph Sewell* Arlen Southern* Kathryn L. Taylor Preston A. Trimble Steven C. Trolinger Larry Wade* Lynda Lake Young
* Deceased.
Thank You JayMac Members July 1, 2010 - July 18, 2011 Wendy H. Adair Debbie Copp Ann E. Adams Jerry L. Cornelius Dot Adler Mick Cornett Alex K. Adwan Richard R. Couch Hannah S. Allam Alison Counts A. L. Allgood John D. Cox Frances T. Andrews Joseph E. Coyne Peggy S. Aycock Heather F. Cregar Mark Bagby James A. Cundiff Marleen L. Bailie Jerry H. Daman Paula E. Baker Don C. Davis Diana H. Baldwin Jon R. Denton Terry Baransy Kristi A. DesJarlais Deborah B. Barnes Loretta L. Di Grappa Jennifer A. Barnhart James P. Dolan Jeff Barrington A. L. Douthitt Bob B. Barry Mary Ellen Hipp Doyle Monica L. Bartling Dow Dozier Jake H. Basden Rick Drisko Charlene F. Bassett William E. Dutcher Fred K. Beard Jacqueline M. Eckstein Don Bentley Mickey Edwards Stephen F. Bentley William P. Edwards Bob A. Bernstein John M. Elbow Katie Blum Beth Emery Jean F. Bollman Charles M. Ervin Doug Bonebrake Peter M. Feldman Tommy G. Booras Larry R. Ferguson Kevin Brooks Lew Ferguson Gracelyn A. Brown Nina G. Ferguson Karen W. Browne James F. Fienup Michael D. Bruce Jack Foster Jan F. Budreau William G. Frame Matthew C. Buell John C. Francis Amanda L. Byte Susan R. Francis Susy Calonkey John E. Frank Linda H. Carter Jonella J. Frank Steven T. Carter Steve Garman Virginia L. Caudle Franklin R. Gaskin Allan V. Cecil Jennifer L. Geiger Joanna M. Champlin Matthew T. Geiger C. R “Cap” Chesser, Jr. Randy D. Gibson Julia D. Chew Robin R. Gladstein Dana Hope Chism Phyllis Glickman Lawrence B. Clark Cherlynn A. Glover Shirley Cobb CoCo N. Good Nancy A. Coggins Jane K. Goodell Athena M. Coleman Wallace Goodman Bart W. Conner Judy Gorman-Prinkey Kevin S. Conway J. Kent Graham Heather M. Cook Mark D. Green Aaron K. Cooper Gail Greenberg Jo Ann K. Coorsh Robert I. Greenberg
Michael D. Gregory John T. Greiner, Jr. Pam Gutel Margaret M. Habiby Lisa K. Haines Jim “Tripp” Hall, III Mildred Hamilton Fredrick L. Halstied Joe Hancock Bill Hancock David A. Harris E. Brooke Harry, III Carolyn G. Hart James B. Hartsell Lou D. Hawks Kelli D. Hayward Frank E. Heaston Cathey R. Heddlesten Edward R. Heintz James D. Helberg Kathryn K. Herman Michael L. Herman Frank B. Hermes Robert G. Hess Kevan P. Higgins Scott Hilgeman Kristin A. Hincke Mike Hinton Sue B. Hinton Maggie C. Holben Suzanne A. Holloway Michael S. Hosty Patrick D. Hough Janis W. Hruby Elizabeth S. Huckabay Martha J. Hudak Linn A. Huntington Steven J. Iatrou Keith D. Isbell Bill Jackson, Jr. Larry Jenkins Terry J. Jenks John P. Jeter, Jr. Linda Johnson Brenda K. Jones Ronald J. Jones Frederick N. Jungman Evan H. Katz Sherry J. Keck Ronald Keener Cindy R. KelloggCason Debra Kerr
Jim Killackey Karen A. Killackey Billie J. Kincade Timothy S. Kincaid Amy L. King Steven E. Kizziar Kirstin M. Krug James F. Langdon Vincent C. Langford Kelly M. Larrow Jeneanne J. Lawson Kristen A. Lazalier Alesha M. Leemaster Diane Lewis Edward K. Livermore, Jr. Marcia H. Livermore Kuyk Logan Ja’Rena M. Lunsford Richard C. Luttrell Ashriel Lutz Karen Madden Dr. Mavis D. Martin Debra Levy Martinelli Paul D. Massad William Massad Erma H. Mathis Richard D. Mauldin Terry W. Maxon Doug Mayberry James W. Mayo Joyce P. Mays John R. McClymonds Lu McCraw Linda G. McLain Kathryn McNutt John Martin Meek Kristen Mees Larry Merchant David R. Million, Sr. William A. Moakley, III John D. Montgomery, Jr Emma R. Moore Pattye L. Moore Sydney L. Moran Charles E. Murphy Mary M. Nalefski R. Stephen Neumann Ben E. Newcomer John L. Nicholas Trude Norman La Vena P. Nuzman Joanne S. Orr Ann S. Palmer
Mack R. Palmer Lynn C. Palmerton Jackie K. Papandrew Trish M. Parks Lauren Patrick Karen M. Paul Elaine Pereboom Beverly L. Perkins Celia A. Perkins William J. Phillips Nicola F. Pintozzi Thomas M. Poteet, Jr. Dorea S. Potter Natasha A. Prada Marcus Price Louis V. Priebe Jolly B. Pugh Britt Radford Carter R. Reid Paul L. Renfrow Lee Reynolds Lynn Rice Andy Rieger Karen S. Rieger Tracy A. Rinehart Jack Rix Winona Roberts Karina V. Romero Karie Ross John M. Rowley Greg Rubenstein Bob M. Ruggles Connie Ruggles Eve K. Sandstrom Susan E. Sasso Courtney M. Scarpitti Philip M. Schoch Wendi W. Schuur Barbara W. Sessions Harry B. Sherman Claire O. Shisler James T. Shorney Barbara L. Simmons Rosemary R. Simpson James D. Sims Sheri H. Singer Stan J. Skinner Blaine H. Smith, Jr. Carla L. Smith David J. Smith John H. Stevens Irish L. Stogner G. Clayton Stoldt
H. Dean Stone Sharon A. Stratton David R. Stringer J. C. Strow Dean Suddath Stephen A. Summers Derieth L. Sutton David Swafford Mary Swafford Suzie M. Symcox Franklin G. Talley David Tarpenning Kendal M. Tate Ed Taylor Jamie F. Taylor Cathy Thomas James C. Tincher, IV Katherine A. Tippin Valerie C. Tolman Irv Trachtenberg Robby W. Trammell Ronald S. Turner James S. Tyree Michael E. Utter Warren D. Vieth Janet M. Vitt Jack Vondra Daryle D. Voss Karen V. Waddell Ray Waddle, Jr. Lynne R. Walker Helen Ford Wallace Melissa A. Walters Weldon L. Watson J. C. Watts, Jr. Martha J. Webb Dorothy D. Welsh Shane E. Whisler Jon J. White Keith White Susan W. White Annette WhiteKlososky Dennis J. Whittlesey Karen K. Wicker Helen Wolk Ronald L. Word Megan E. Yinger Debbie Yount Trish Zagrzecki Joseph M. Zovak
55
56
15
2 1 24 1 1 2 4 1
CHINA (REPUBLIC OF TAIWAN)
DENMARK
FRANCE
GERMAN FEDERAL REP (WEST)
HONG KONG
ISRAEL
52
10
NUMBER
105
14
CHINA (PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC)
31
6
CANADA
COUNTRY
10
416
36
83
174
4
109
15
4160
17
34
PANAMA
NORWAY
NETHERLANDS
MALAYSIA
MEXICO
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH KOREA
KUWAIT
JAPAN
COUNTRY
1825
5
1
41
75
107
117
23
1
1
2
2
1
7
1
2
NUMBER
65
20
23
38
23 41
Gaylord College of Journalism & Mass Communications
11
29
71
125
VENEZUELA
UNITED KINGDOM
THAILAND
SERBIA
SINGAPORE
PERU
COUNTRY
143
108
7
26
132
8,544 Total Alumni
55
2
4
29 3
6
5
3
1
8
1
1
NUMBER
0 3 3
0 2 2 0 1
30
33
24
4
AlumniNews
Journalism Centennial 2013 marks 100 years of journalism at OU In the year 2013, Gaylord College will commemorate 100 years of journalism and mass communication education at the University of Oklahoma with a celebration of our history, our success and our future. The Oklahoma State Board of Education approved the University of Oklahoma’s School of Journalism on May 24, 1913. First classes in the school were held in the fall semester of 1913 offering two courses to a total of 28 students. Alumni of the program can be found across the nation and around the globe in corporate boardrooms, newsrooms, advertising and public relations agencies, the halls of the U.S. Capitol, and institutions of higher learning. They continue to be pacesetters, industry leaders and ground-breaking award-winners. J-school alums Bob Burke (1970, journalism) and Andy Rieger (1980, news communication) are co-authoring a keepsake coffee-table book, but they need your help. All alums are encouraged to participate by sharing your memories, stories and photographs of the years you spent at OU. Please note that due to space limitations, there is a 500 word limit and no guarantee of full inclusion in book. Additionally, in recognition of the beloved J-School director, H. H. Herbert, charter memberships are available for a special giving society – the Centennial Circle – which will ensure the bridge between our past connects us firmly to our future. The H. H. Herbert Society recognizes a gift of $5,000 and the Centennial Sustainers recognizes a gift of $2,500 (both contributions payable over a five year commitment). For more information or to contribute memorabilia to the effort or to join the Centennial Circle, please contact Director of Development, Kristen Lazalier, at (405) 325-7670 or klazalier@ou.edu.
57
Board of Visitors 2011-2012 members
Rob Boswell BOV Chair Moroch Partners Agency
Ann Adams Motorola (Retired)
Gracelyn Brown MGM-HD
Forrest Cameron Greater Tulsa Reporter Newspapers
Pam Carter Synergy Marketing Associates
Linda Cavanaugh KFOR-TV OKC
Jim Dolan The Dolan Company
Roger Frizzell American Airlines
Genevieve Haldeman Symantec
Bill Hancock Bowl Championship Series
Robert Hess 24/7 Real Media
Ed Kelley The Washington Times
Kathy Leonard Freeman+Leonard Advertising
Michael Limón Salt Lake Tribune
Ken Luce Hill & Knowlton Public Relations
John McClymonds Macy’s (Retired)
Pattye Moore Communications Consultant
Roy Page Third Degree Advertising
Steve Pickett KTVT Dallas
Howard Price Multi-Net Marketing, Inc.
Harry Sherman Sherman Media
Renzi Stone Saxum Communications
Suzie Symcox First Fidelity Bank
Weldon Watson OK House Rep. and ONEOK (Retired)
Emeritus members:
58
Doug Williams Omni Communication
Debbie Yount Advertising Consultant
Alex Adwan Phil Caudill Don Cogman Joanne Orr David Stringer Steve Trolinger
ClassNotes
2011 Regents’ Alumni Award and Major Career Move
Ed Kelley, Journalism, 1975, was awarded the OU Regents’ Alumni Award in 2011 and as of July 1 left The Oklahoman after nearly 40 years to take the reins as editor at The Washington Times in Washington, D.C. Ed became editor of The Oklahoman in April 2003, succeeding the late Edward L. Gaylord and becoming the first non-family member to run the newspaper. As editor he oversaw both the news coverage and the opinion pages of the newspaper and helped the newspaper embrace the technical changes prevalent in the industry. He first came to the newspaper as a summer intern in 1974.
Ed was named national Editor of the Year in 1996 by the Washington-based National Press Foundation; a JayMac Distinguished Alumni in 1995; and was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2003. He served as a juror to the Pulitzer Prizes in 1998 and is a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and sits on the Gaylord College Board of Visitors. Ed graduated Phi Beta Kappa from OU in 1975 and was reared in Perry, Okla., where he got his first taste of newspapering by writing about sports events for his hometown newspaper, the Perry Daily Journal.
Advertising Meghan Doyle, AD, 2010, is Assistant Broadcast Negotiator in the Dallas office of Moroch. Prior to graduation she held internships at Razor and Zeko Media. Samantha Gallo, AD, 2011, has joined BraveMatters, a branding and marketing company located in Oklahoma City as Integrated Communication Specialist where she works directly with clients to determine specific marketing objectives and construct strategic marketing and promotional initiatives that reflect those goals. Prior to leaving OU, she was a marketing and promotions intern with OU Athletics. Jim Helberg, AD, 1983, joined Autobytel, Inc. in 2010 as the executive vice president for product, marketing and analytics. Jim has had a successful career in strategic marketing, advertising and media accomplishments with some of the leading automotive ad agencies and also held an executive marketing position with Time Warner. Jim has held various marketing positions at Time Magazine, Grey Advertising, Foote, Cone and Belding and Rubin Postaer and Associates, as well as at several Omnicom Group agencies. Safia Hussain, AD, 2001, received her juris doctorate from Fordham University School of Law in 2007 and is now an
associate with the Quinn Emanuel, LLP law offices in New York. Brian Wright, AD, 2008, is Assistant Account Executive at Serino Coyne, Inc. a theatrical advertising agency in New York. Previously he worked for Esquire Magazine and Young & Rubicam. Laura Walker, AD, 2010, is an Assistant Account Executive with Publicis in the NY office. While at OU she was Strategic Brand Planning Director at Lindsey+Asp Advertising and Public Relations Agency and interned with Publicis.
Broadcasting and Electronic Media and Radio/TV/Film Joni Ayn Alexander, Journalism, 2003, went on to receive her master’s in International Journalism from Cardiff University and is expected to receive her Ph.D. in Journalism from Staffordshire University, both in the UK. Since graduating she has worked as a journalist at The Oklahoman, USA Today, and Media Wales. She has also worked as a communications specialist for several organizations and has started her own hyperlocal website, www.llandaffnews. com. She also teaches online journalism at both Cardiff and the City of London universities.
Justin Barnes, R/TV/F, 2003, is the deputy project manager for Logistics at L & M Technologies, Inc. in Houston. Katie Blum, BEM, 2007, is a Production Associate with Dateline NBC in New York. Greg DeCuir, Jr., R/TV/F, 1997, worked as a television news director for several years before going back to school to earn his MA in Cinematic Arts-Critical Studies from the University of Southern California. He is currently completing his Ph.D. studies and defending his dissertation at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade and is a lecturer on Yugoslav cinema. The National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan named him Emerging Diversity Scholar for 2010-11. Mark Green, Broadcasting, 1978, has recently joined the American Petroleum Institute after spending 16 years as national editorial writer in the Washington Bureau of The Oklahoman newspaper. Mark is one of several writers for the institute’s blog, EnergyTomorrow. org. In all, he has been a reporter and editor for more than 30 years, including six years as sports editor at The Washington Times. Mark earned his MA in journalism and public affairs at American University and is currently working on a MA in history at George Mason University, where he also teaches as an adjunct professor in the Communication Department. Deborah (Bunton) Harbsmeier, R/TV/F, 1988, received her fourth Emmy Award for “Thunder over Louisville, 2009.” Thunder over Louisville is an all-day air show and fireworks extravaganza that kicks off the annual Kentucky Derby Festival. Harbsmeier has won the award three times for Thunder and once for a sports special. She is the Executive Producer of University of Louisville sports at WHAS11 in Louisville, Kentucky. Tim Miller, R/TV/F, 1975, is the owner of Big Chief Entertainment and is currently developing a new television show focusing on antiquing, named “Buried Treasure,” for the Fox Network. The first episode will air in August and star Leigh and Leslie Keno, the antique dealer twin brothers. The brothers will travel the country hunting for hidden gems in peoples’ homes. Tim is the series creator and executive producer. Tim was named a JayMac Distinguished Alumni in 1989.
59
Elizabeth Sexton, R/TV/F, 1985, is now a talent agent in Los Angeles. Jason Salsman, Broadcast, 2005, is the host of Oklahoma’s only all-Native news based format on network television, Native News Today, which has now aired over 245 consecutive weeks on Tulsa’s CW 12/19. Jason has been involved in all disciplines of media throughout his career including as writer for the Creek Nation’s official publication, The Muscogee Nation News, and 4 Love of the Game Native Sports Magazine. He also served as co-host of the Creek Nation Radio Hour on KOKL AM 1240 in Okmulgee. Currently, he is the director of Muscogee Creek Nation Audio/Video Communications.
Journalism Annie Gasparro, Journalism, 2007, recently joined the Dow Jones Newswires Consumer Products reporting team covering restaurants and supermarkets. Most recently, Annie has been a member of the Wealth Management team as a BROKER’S WORLD columnist, covering the retail brokerage industry. Previously, Annie reported for the Wall Street Letter on news and issues affecting financial advisers. She was also a reporter at the Journal Record in Oklahoma City and the Tulsa World following graduation. Darryl Brent Harris, Journalism, 1971, MBA, 1987, has spent most of his working life in financial institutions and in private school education. He is currently the Director of Education of Platt College in Moore, Okla. Professional
Writing was an area of emphasis during Brent’s undergraduate years, and writing has always been a hobby. In 2008, he published a Christian devotional book called “Between The Sundays.” Kimberly Hulsey, Journalism, 2008 joined Tulsa’s NewsChannel 8 as the station’s second Videojournalist in October 2010 where she shoots and edits her own stories. Previously, she worked as an associate producer at Oklahoma City’s KWTV- News 9. Kimberly also competed in the Miss Oklahoma Scholarship Program where she earned the title of first runner up in 2009 and won numerous community service awards on the state and national level. Nicholas Jungman, News Comm., 1997, has been named managing editor for the Wichita Business Journal. He is a former Wichita Eagle editor and has been a Knight Visiting Professional at the University of Missouri School of Journalism working with the Columbia Missourian student newspaper and teaching courses since 2009.
Stephanie Frederic, R/TV/F, 1982, is the Emmy Award-winning owner and Executive Producer at FGW Productions and Transmedia in Los Angeles. Stephanie and her company were featured on Fox News’ “Beyond the Dream” in March 2011.
Christine Meyer, News Comm., 1988, is the director of development for Randolph-Macon Academy in Fort Royal, VA. She has previously worked in development for Outward Bound USA and the Sports Legends at Camden Yards museum. Elise Smith, Journalism, 2010, is the Morning and mid-day Producer for KJRH-TV2 in Tulsa.
Dari Nowkhah to lead ESPNU As of July 27 ESPNU viewers should be seeing a new, but familiar face on the 24-hour college sports network when ESPN’s Dari Nowkhah (1999, BEM) takes a permanent seat at the ESPNU studio desk in Charlotte, N.C. Since joining ESPN in 2004 as an ESPNEWS anchor, Nowkhah has established himself as a college sports expert hosting College Football Overdrive, College Football Live and SECNetwork studio shows, as well as regularly anchoring SportsCenter. Additionally, this past January, Nowkhah and Mel Kiper Jr. debuted ESPN Radio’s weekly Dari and Mel Show (Saturday from 8 a.m. – Noon ET).
60
Making Her Mark in Hollywood
Watch the video at http://goo.gl/0bX9y. Stephanie has been recognized seven times by the National Association of Black Journalists including its distinguished Salute to Excellence Award. Other professional honors have come from the California RTDNA, the Houston Press Club, the Houston International Film Festival, the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, the Sabaoth Int’l Film Festival in Milan and most recently the Turks and Caicos and Redemptive Film Festivals. Starting in 1988, Stephanie was a familiar face as a network news correspondent for Black Entertainment TV. She spent two decades in the industry working for King World Production’s “Inside Edition”, “American Journal” and a host of other local stations around the country including KRON- San Francisco (NBC), KRIVHouston (FOX), KWTV-Oklahoma City (CBS) and KLAX, Alexandria, Louisiana.
ClassNotes
Irv Trachtenberg
Irv Trachtenberg, Advertising, 1950, was recognized with the Class of 2011 more than 60 years after he graduated with his Bachelor of Arts. Irv served in the Air Force for three years before coming to OU, where he became a member of Alpha Delta Sigma Advertising Fraternity and served on The Oklahoma Daily advertising staff. Irv has had a long career in advertising working in print, outdoor and blazed the trail for radio advertising in the 1950s. He retired more than 25 years ago, but has been working as a tutor teaching English as a second language in the Portland, Oregon school system. He received his degree in Journalism with emphasis in Advertising in 1950 but was unable to attend his graduation ceremony because he had to return home to be at the bedside of his gravely ill father. OU and the Gaylord College were pleased he and his family were able to attend both the campus Commencement and the college Convocation programs this May.
David Stringer, News Comm., 1981; MA, 1989, is the new Publisher of the Hannibal (Mo.) Courier-Post after serving more than a dozen years as Publisher of the Norman Transcript. David is an emeritus member of the Gaylord College Board of Visitors. Lauren Westbrook, Journalism, 2008, is now the morning anchor for 9 News This Morning in Baton Rouge, La. Lauren was previously with KWTX News 10 in Waco, Texas where she covered everything from severe flooding and tornadoes, to the Ft. Hood massacre in November of 2009.
Public Relations Jake Basden, PR, 2006, has recently joined Big Machine Label Group as Director of Publicity where he will oversee all aspects of media relations for the three record labels under the BMLG umbrella (Big Machine Records, The Valory Music Co., and Republic Nashville).
Karen A. Brown, PR, 2008, is living in Dallas and is Public Policy Consultant & Event Coordinator for Dean International, Inc., an international public policy consulting firm in Dallas, Texas. Karen was the event coordinator for the 13th Annual Transportation and Infrastructure Summit and 3rd Annual Global High Speed Rail Forum held in Irving, Texas, in August, 2010. Christina Ciminelli, PR, 2006, is a Media Planner/Buyer at Razor, a marketing agency in Dallas. She held previous positions with Moroch and TM Advertising both in Dallas and was also a sales assistant for CBS. Brianna Corbett, PR, 2008, received her Master’s in Publishing from Oxford Brookes University in the UK and is working in the publishing industry in Oxford, UK as an eBook Process Administrator with John Wiley and Sons converting books to the ebook and mobile formats.
Diana Busch Hartley, APR, PR, 1983, MA in PR, 1996, works as a program officer at Sarkeys Foundation in Norman, Okla. She recently graduated from Leadership Oklahoma Class XXIV, serves on the City of Norman Planning Commission, and is president of a local nonprofit, Bridges, which provides educational support to high school students. Rachael Kahne, Journalism, 2005, is a newcomer to Hollywood recently making the move from Tennessee to Los Angeles and trading in her PR credentials to pursue acting. Rachael has had a varied PR career working in the press office of the White House under President Bush; as sales and development representative for Emma, a national email newsletter service provider; and as a communication professional. The aspiring actress has had recent guest spots opposite Chris O’Donnell on “NCIS: Los Angeles” and on “The Young and the Restless.” While still at OU, Rachael was anchor on the “News 4 Norman” nightly newscast. Rachel Leonard, PR, 2007, and Matt Hinderman, Journalism, 2006, were recently married. Rachel is an account executive at Saxum and has held similar positions at Beckerman Public Relations and Stern + Associates. Matt is the senior production assistant with the OKC Thunder and was previously a production assistant at NBA Entertainment.
Larry Merchant still calling the shots in the ring
Larry Merchant (center) visited Professor Ken Fischer’s Television Reporting class in January.
Larry Merchant, Journalism, 1952, is still enjoying a career as boxing commentator on HBO Sports. While a student he served as sports editor and editor of The Oklahoma Daily. In 1952 and ’53, he served in the U.S. Army as a reporter for the Stars & Stripes in Europe. Returning to civilian life in 1954, he joined Wilmington, N.C. NEWS as sports editor and joined the Associated Press as a sports writer the following year. For ten years beginning in 1956 he was photo editor, sports editor and sports columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News. In 1966 he returned to his hometown of New York City to become a sports columnist for the New York Post. In 1976, he became a reporter, commentator and producer for NBC Sports, and in 1978 served as a general columnist for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. He was named JayMac Distinguished Alumni in 1997. Over the past three decades Merchant has served as co-producer and host of “Sports Probe” on the USA cable network, and as commentator, investigative reporter and writer with HBO Sports. In addition to numerous columns, some of which have appeared in the New York Times, he is the author of three books – And Every Day You Take Another Bite, The National Football Lottery, and Ringside Seat at the Circus. 61
ClassNotes Brent LeVecchio, PR, 2004, is the Public Relations Manager at Men’s Health magazine in New York. He has held similar jobs at Fortune magazine, People magazine and Money Magazine. While still in school he held an internship at Sports Illustrated. Jodi Nelson, PR, 1993, is a filmmaker and founder of Hip Chik Productions, an independent production company specializing in film, music and digital media, Jodi has produced feature films, an award winning short, documentaries, music videos and music albums. Through her company she has also developed and implemented successful marketing and public relations campaigns to deliver those projects into niche marketplaces, film festivals and markets through alternative distribution initiatives. Melanie Rinehart, PR, 2003, is the new Director of Events for Bridle and Bit magazine, which is published by the National Reining Horse Association. Melanie manages all of the NRHA’s major annual events like the NRHA Futurity and NRHA Derby. She started her career at NRHA in 2004 in the Member Services Department as a Customer Service Representative and was then promoted to Member Services Supervisor. Brittni Shull, PR, 2010, is currently working as a Communications Specialist for the Oklahoma-based Love’s Country Stores. While at OU, she was one of 18 students to start the student-run firm, Lindsey + Asp and also interned at Ackerman McQueen, one of the largest agencies in the region. Lindsay Nelon Stout, PR, 2006, is a Senior Account Executive at the Dallas offices of Edelman Worldwide. She previously was Account Executive at Vollmer Public Relations also in Dallas. She interned at Saxum in Oklahoma City. Cheryl Thornton, PR, 2009, is the owner of Little Root Creative special events and design company in Houston where she works with non-profits and small businesses on their marketing including basic logo and website design, social networking, promotional materials and special events. Elizabeth Rodke Washburn, PR, 1992, co-authored a book with her husband, Kevin K. Washburn (also an OU grad) and several others, entitled “American Indian Law: Native Nations and the 62
Gaylon White, design innovator Gaylon White, Journalism, 1967, received a Personal Recognition Award from the Industrial Designers Society of America. Gaylon started his career as a sportswriter and served in a variety of communications-related positions before joining Eastman in 1992. In his current role, he is the director of design programs. Under his leadership, Eastman launched the Innovation Lab, an award-winning website for designers and brand owners. He is regarded as a pioneer in collaborating with some of the premier design firms in the country to create innovative approaches to connect the manufacturing and design industries. IDSA presents the annual Personal Recognition Award to an individual whose involvement in the support of design has made him or her a special friend of the profession and a major contributor to its long-term welfare and importance.
Federal System, Cases and Materials.” authors Carole Goldberg, Rebecca Tsosie, Kevin K. Washburn, and Elizabeth Rodke Washburn. Elizabeth and Kevin are both members of the Chickasaw Nation.
Professional Writing Amanda Sutton, PW, 2000, received her master’s degree in English-Rhetoric and Writing from the University of New Mexico in 2010. She is now the owner and publicist at Ampersand Communications in Albuquerque, N.M.
Master’s Ryan Baker, MA, 2008, is now director of client services at BraveMatters, a branding and marketing company located in OKC. Most recently, Ryan was partner in Spiral Writing Services and was account executive at Moroch. While still at OU, Ryan interned in the theatrical marketing department of 20th Century Fox.
Four in Moore Four OU journalism grads have found themselves working for Trifecta Communications in Moore, Okla. Trifecta is a locally-owned strategic communication and news media company, owned by Brent Wheelbarger (an OSU grad who obviously knows good talent when he sees it!), that is providing a new approach to community journalism by operating the tabloid magazine Moore Monthly, providing video production for the local cable channel, and most recently starting a news media platform called the Moore Monitor where a weekly newspaper is available as an iPad application and in print. Tim Hart, AD, 1992, is an account executive. Tim has worked previously worked for Devon Energy in records management and as an account executive for both The Oklahoman and The Journal Record. While at OU he was a member of The Pride, Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and Kappa Kappa Psi band fraternity.
Christine Whitten, Journalism, 2011, is a news reporter. While at OU she worked as a volunteer reporter and international news anchor for OU Nightly. In addition to volunteer work, Whitten also worked as a writer for KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City.
Abigail Ogle, Journalism, 2010, is a sports reporter. The Ogle name is ubiquitous in Oklahoma news reporting with Ogles found on two of the four networks in Oklahoma City. Her grandfather Jack Ogle was a forerunner in Oklahoma’s sports reporting and journalism history. Abigail gained experience as an intern at KFOR-TV News Channel 4 where her father Kevin Ogle is an anchor for the station. She also interned with Van Shea Iven’s High School Sports Express. She covers the Moore Public Schools athletics programs.
Brian Wall, AD, 1996, is vice president of creative services. Brian has worked in the advertising and communications industry in Oklahoma City holding positions at Oklahoma City University and Delta Dental before going it on his own as a business owner with Ads-nMoore for a few years before joining Trifecta. Brian has also taught advertising as an adjunct professor at both Oklahoma City Community College and OU.
CelebratingLives We were notified of the following deaths since July 1, 2010. Joanne D. Arnold Robert F. Branan Ella L. Burgess Cliff M. Cameron Joy Shockley Clark Carlton C. Cornels Richard H. Dale Paul D. Deal Eileen T. Donaldson Patricia Jacques Gay Mildred Nichols Hamilton Almarian Berch Hollingsworth
Harold R. King Donald C. Mainprize Vernon I. Mansfield Harriet E. McCaleb Terry W. McKenna Betty Buhl Mead Charles E. Miller Wendaleen Milligan Michael F. O’Loughlin Franklin I. Presson James C. Quillian Mary Jackson Roland Reba Simmons Sutherland
William “Bill” Bowie Roberts, died from complications due to lung cancer June 25, 2011 at his home in Prague, Oklahoma.
Raymond J. Tassin Joyce M. Taylor Guy True, Jr. Beverly Rice Wade Larry R. Wade Roy M. Wade J. Pat Walker Dorothy Arnote West Jack D. Wettengel Michael B. Williams Ben W. Wofford
For more than 40 years, Bill was a trailblazer in the arena of public relations in Oklahoma working with such clients as Halliburton, Phillip Morris, The City of Oklahoma City, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Shawnee Mills, Thomas Concrete Buildings, St. Anthony Hospital, McDonald’s and the Oklahoma Rural Electric Cooperatives. Bill was a writer, editor, and publisher of Oklahoma Business Magazine, CB Magazine, Indian America, and Oklahoma Living. He organized the first economic exchange tour from Oklahoma to Germany. Toward the end of his career, he worked to re-energize rural Oklahoma through cooperative economic development projects as a board member of the National Rural Economic Development Association.
Remembering Larry Wade, 1961 journalism alumnus From his obituary in The Norman Transcript
Regents, having been appointed by Gov. Brad Henry in 2004 to a sevenyear term.
Larry Wade, Journalism, 1961, chairman of the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents, publisher of the Elk City Daily News died Sunday, March 6.
He endowed many scholarships for students. He served on OU’s Reach for Excellence Campaign board and on search committees for two OU deans and the director of the Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band. He was a member of the Touchdown Club, the Tip-in Club and the Pride of Oklahoma Alumni Club. Larry also helped many local students obtain scholarships by writing letters of recommendation or helping in other ways.
Larry graduated from Elk City High School and earned a Bachelor of Arts in journalism in 1961, where he’d served as editor of The Oklahoma Daily, the OU student newspaper. After graduation, Larry joined the U.S. Army Reserve, where he served at Fort Ord in the early 1960s. Larry joined the staff of the Elk City Daily News as a cub reporter at age 13. He became co-publisher with his father in 1966 and publisher when his father passed away in 1972. He was married to Mary Jane (English) Wade in Cordell on Aug. 1, 1970. (Mary Jane also passed away, March 31.) After their marriage, he remained publisher and maintained the tradition of publishing almost daily hometown editorials (one of the few newspapers in the state to do so) giving him the title of the “Most Prolific Writer in Oklahoma.” In 1981, Larry was inducted into the Western Oklahoma Hall of Fame. A longtime supporter of OU, Larry was an endowed OU associate and member of the President’s Associates, had received the OU Benefactor Award, was a lifetime member of and served on the executive board of the OU Alumni Association; lifetime JayMac Alumni Association member and was a longtime member and current chairman of the OU Board of
Larry served on many Oklahoma Press Association committees and was OPA president in 1983. He received the OPA’s highest honor, the Milt Phillips Award in 1995. He also was inducted post-humously into the Oklahoma Press Association Hall of Fame in May 2011. He also served as president of the Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation. Larry was active in the community having been city commissioner and mayor of Elk City, president of the chamber of commerce, United Fund, Kiwanis Club and Arts Council. Additionally in 2003, he was appointed by Gov. Brad Henry to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation Commission and was instrumental in the building of the four lane highway from Elk City to Altus, and also assisted in securing state assistance in local road projects. His lifelong passion for supporting education included his founding of the Elk City Education Foundation, where he raised $1,170,221 since its founding in 1989 to support local schools. Larry was extremely active in the Elk City United Methodist Church, having served on the church board for many years as well as singing in the church choir and serving as chairman of numerous local committees and councils and on district as well as conference committees.
63
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GAYLORD COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION 395 W. LINDSEY STREET, ROOM 3000 NORMAN, OK 73019-4201
NON-PROFIT ORG. US POSTAGE PAID UNIV. OF OKLAHOMA
Get Connected to Gaylord College www.ou.edu/gaylord
NTH!
NI MO M U L A IS R E B O OCT 3
2
10
9 16
17
23
24
30
31
Mark Your Calendar
1
Watch for these upcoming events
5
6
7
8
4
13
14
15
11
12
18
19
20JayMac
21
22 Homecoming Texas Tech
25
26
27
28
OU/TX Reception
Ceremony
29
OU/Texas Reception 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 7 Moroch Partners Agency in Dallas JayMac Distinguished Alumni Awards Ceremony 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 20 Gaylord Hall Homecoming Celebration Gaylord Hall, OU/Texas Tech, Oct. 22 2 1/2 hours prior to kick-off Gaylord Prize Details coming soon!