Bullhorn Volume 1 Issue 2 by Kevin Hawley

Bullhorn The

The School of Mass Communications Alumni Magazine Vol. 1 - Issue 2

Bullhorn The

The School of Mass Communications Alumni Magazine

table of contents 5 Letter from the director 6 A Bull in Cairo: Carmel Delshad 11 Journalistic Journey 13 khari On congress 16 Success in the city 19 rachael Lang: dancing to a dream come true

24 two sides of watson 26 Faculty Resident 28 Dr. Moonhee Cho: From South Korea to First Year Professor 30 Farewell Dr. Edward Friedlander

Bullhorn The

The School of Mass Communications Alumni Magazine

staff Vol. 1 - Issue 2

Director gil Thelen Art Director Lindsey Voltoline Designers Margarita Abramova, Casey DeFreitas, Michael Mallory, Meghan Mangrum, Christina Miller, David Rhinehart, Rachael Sena, Ragel Thys, Lindsey Voltoline writers REBECCA BAILEY, JOSEPH BOWERS, KENDALL CURTISS-ATTINELLA, GREGORY HARTLEY, CHRISTINA MILLER, GARETH A. REES, MARC SEIDE, KELSEY SUNDERLAND, MELISSA WOLFE faculty kevin Hawley, rick wilber

letter from the director

PHOTO by Melissa Wolfe Welcome to the second edition of the Bullhorn, the USF School of Mass Communications electronic magazine. My name is Gil Thelen, and I am Interim Director of the SMC. Briefly, I have served on the faculty as Clendinen Professor of Critical Writing since 2007. I retired as President and Publisher of The Tampa Tribune in 2006 after a 40-year career as a newspaper reporter and editor. Dr. Fred Pearce resigned as SMC Director in December 2012 and returned to teaching. Our biggest news in Winter 2013 was the January visit to campus of the reaccreditation site team of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC). President Judy Genshaft and Provost Ralph Wilcox said the visiting team indicated that they would be recommending to the ACEJMC that accreditation of the SMC be continued, pending submission of a follow-up report within the next two years and its approval by the ACEJMC Accrediting Council. This is referred to as provisional accreditation and is based upon identified deficiencies in two of nine ACEJMC standards: governance and assessment. The final decision will be made by the ACEJMC Accrediting Council later this year. Faculty, staff and university leadership spent more than a year preparing for this review by the accrediting agency. Important work remains to be done, and I fully anticipate that our faculty and administration will satisfactorily address questions raised by the visiting team to ensure timely

removal of provisional status. The report found the curriculum, teaching, research, diversity, facilities and equipment, student services and faculty service to community — the core of our school’s mission and work — in compliance with ACEJMC standards. We were found out of compliance on governance because of two changes in school leadership within 30 months and “an administrative process that did not seem to work in a timely manner to ensure appropriate faculty governance.” We were also found out of compliance on assessment — the collection of direct and indirect data that measures the school’s effectiveness and data that is used to improve instruction. The recommendation followed the re-accreditation visit on campus and the team’s study of materials provided by the school (self study). The team report said the school’s students were “engaged” and taught by “fine...up to date” faculty members. The report saluted our internship program, service by faculty and the innovative and effective Zimmerman Advertising Program. There are two accrediting agency votes yet to be taken on our accreditation, one in March and the second in May. I will keep you informed about these upcoming decisions.

A Bull in Cairo: Carmel Delshad Kendall Curtiss-Attinella

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Carmel Delshad live tweets during intense clashes between police and protesters in Cairo on Feb. 3, 2012.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CARMEL DELSHAD

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Delshad has taken up street photography during her time in Cairo. Here, a working class district in the capital.

A lot of the “things we’ve

been saying, people have been saying for years … thousands of years. I have respect for the idea that being creative is being able to conceal your sources. I really believe that.

armel Delshad began her time at the University of South Florida as a pre-med student, accepted into the prestigious seven year program. Yet, it didn’t take her long to realize she wanted to do something else. She went into her advisor’s office and said she was changing her major to journalism – and so it began. Now, she lives part time in Cairo, Egypt. As an Arab-American, Carmel was born in the United States but spent some time as a young girl living in Egypt, where her mother’s family currently lives. Yet, it wasn’t just family that brought the Bull back to Egypt. After graduating from USF Honors College, she moved to New York City in pursuit of an internship, where she worked with the International Radio and Television Society. During her internship, Carmel applied for the U.S. Fulbright Grant for research on youth Internet behavior in Egypt and was chosen as a finalist. While she awaited the news on her Fulbright status, she applied to some of the nation’s most prestigious Journalism schools. She was accepted to American University, City University of New York, Columbia and Northwestern. After some time, as she waited to hear if she had been accepted for the Fulbright Grant, Northwestern and American University began their fall semesters. Shortly after, she learned that she had not been chosen for the grant — a heartbreaking

”

blow. However, both Columbia and CUNY had held her spot in their journalism programs, and due to their International Reporting concentration, CUNY became her next home. In the following January, the Revolution took place. Hope was all around, hope that women would regain their respect from society. There was hope for a rebirth of Cairo, which had often been called the “Paris of the Middle East” in the 1950’s. During the Revolution, women had started to feel as if they were human first, not second-class citizens because they were female. Harassment had drastically dropped, and almost seemed to have ceased. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the discrimination and harassment to return. Carmel believes much of it was a numbers game. There were more people back on the streets, and so in turn, harassment reared its ugly head again. Most students begin work on their thesis when the semester begins, yet Carmel and a classmate created a joint idea that needed much more time than the average project. With her journalism background, ability to speak Arabic, and her classmate’s web and graphic design background, the two created the concept of “I Marched Along”. The two began discussions with their professor over the summer and started the process. The duo got clearance to go to Egypt, found internships and worked

Delshad (left) and a classmate in December 2011, upon graduating from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

on research for more than a month before conducting more than ten interviews with Egyptian women. I Marched Along was created to highlight life for women in Egypt, where sexual harassment was big, but not very often talked about. Women weren’t treated like equals, and the gender had seen a decline in treatment over the past 50 years. During an interview with an Egyptian journalist, Carmel mentioned that I Marched Along was her project and was greeted by an ecstatic response. “It was like she was meeting J.K. Rowling,” Carmel recalls. I Marched Along went on to win the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, a huge honor. The duo applied on a whim after their professor received an email about the award. A few weeks later, they got a phone call to head out to Florence for the award ceremony. The two were thrilled. Currently, Carmel is working on the project she is most proud of. She and her colleagues are working on the Egyptian Journalism Project, an effort to help grow citizen journalism and give every Egyptian a platform to be heard. The team is creating a six-month program where they will teach students how to shoot and edit video, use social media effectively, find jobs in journalism and everything in between. They will be teaching in an applied learning format, such as teaching students how to take photographs with their cell phones, as opposed to giving them a high end camera to use during the semester, only to give it back after the course concludes. They are bringing in local professionals and Skyping in others from around the globe. The program currently has space for up to 15 students, some of who are freelance and others who

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Delshad (right) and Kirsti Itameri hold the bust of Robert F. Kennedy during the 2012 RFK Europe Journalism Awards, which they won for their thesis on Egyptian women.

will work full time in the course. They will work with students to learn the difference between biases and opinions, and that it is okay to not always be objective, but you must be up front about it. The team will partner with local professionals and students of the course in hope of keeping the program going after it ends. Carmel envisions a “citizen journalism club” of sorts. “It helps me sleep at night, knowing I’m giving something back. This is a dream job for me,” she says. After the conclusion of the program, Carmel will return to America and look to continue her work in journalism stateside. Carmel went into college planning to come out a doctor, but drastically changed her path, and had much success. She would advise a fellow Bull to be open to your career taking on a different path than you thought. Equally important, she feels, is networking. “People always tell you to network, network, network — but really do it. I can’t express that enough. And if someone tells you to email them, do it. Follow up. They’ll remember it.” Lastly, be polite. It’s simple, she says, but important. With so much success under her belt, and a bright future ahead of her, Carmel is certainly making USF proud. With her prestigious degrees, international awards, and a growing impact on journalism in both Egypt and America, most would feel Carmel has really done it all. Yet this is just the tip of the iceberg for this Bull. “My image of success is always changing. I never get comfortable where I am. I always want to go up.”

Journalistic

Journey Rebecca Bailey Deborah O’Neil, associate director of Florida International University News and Communications, editor of FIU Magazine and a proud USF alum, is beaming at a recent major accomplishment. The first digital-only issue of FIU Magazine was just released after years of planning. O’Neil graduated from USF in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications. She has won several awards and was even nominated for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. She picked USF for its excellent journalism program and its warm weather. She wanted to write from a young age, working at the Salem Record and the Salem Observer when she was a high school student in Salem, NH, her hometown. After graduation, she chose to attend Northeastern University in Boston. One year later, she joined the US Army Reserves to pay for school. After boot camp and Army Quartermaster School, she attended Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill, Mass and became the news editor of the college paper there. Shortly after, she worked as a manager for a newspaper in Maine after being sought out by the owner of a chain of Maine newspapers. A friend there encouraged her to continue her education and went to USF to do so. O’Neil served as Editor in Chief for the Oracle while she was attending USF. Her experience at the Oracle from 1994-1996 and the guidance of Jay Lawrence,

the director of student publications at USF helped shape matters more than you can ever imagine.” her into a professional with an edge. Of course, she ends the advice by adding a thought That professionalism and edge she got at USF to remind everyone of one of the most important helped her win the 1996 Courageous Journalist Award parts about doing well in this industry that USF mass from the Society of Professional Journalist’s Tampa Bay communications students are learning about: chapter, which is usually given to professionals, not Learn to write well. college students.

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USF gave O’Neil more opportunities to expand her career when Dr. Edward Friedlander recommended her to one of the managing editors at the St. Petersburg Times, now the Tampa Bay Times. She was hired as a staff writer for the Times right out of college. While she was working for the Times, she was the beat reporter covering for the Church of Scientology, which is known to be a sensitive beat. She left the St. Petersburg Times in 2002 to get her graduate degree at FIU.

To do that, you must write a lot. You must also read a lot.”

“I am scandalized by journalism students who don’t read newspapers and magazines. You must read to understand the difference strong writing and weak writing. I have done a wide variety of things in my career — from speech writing to producing videos to scripting large events. At the heart of all of She got a job at FIU while she was a graduate student, it is good writing.” which led to a full-time job at FIU that continued and expanded after she finished her master’s degree. She also worked as the speech writer for FIU President Modesto A. Maidique for two years and is currently a co-director for the university’s national branding campaign. In addition to editing FIU Magazine and working as the associate director of FIU News & Communications, she works on video production and a variety of other creative projects. Her work and experience in public education allows her to give FIU students what USF gave to her, which is what she loves the most about her career at FIU. “FIU offered a chance to do what I love — journalism — at a place that gets me excited every day. I am a believer in the importance of public education and I feel good about the work I do here. Just as USF gave a chance to transform my life, FIU is doing the same for thousands of students. That’s really the best part of my job — the strong sense of purpose it gives me.” As for giving advice to current USF students, she names one thing that is essential for every aspiring journalist who wants to become an even better reader and writer: “First, pay attention in that brutal grammar class you have to pass. It

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Khari On Congress

PHOTO BY JAMISHA FORD Marc Seide

It’s

the summer of 1999 and 23-year-old Khari Williams, living in Montego Bay, Jamaica, is looking for schools to attend for his undergraduate degree. After earning a degree in entomology from the University of the West Indies, Williams wasn’t satisfied with his choice and decided he wanted to pursue a career in journalism. To do that, he had to move to the United States. As he was searching for universities, he found the University of South Florida. With family living in Tampa, Williams decided he wanted to attend USF, but before he could apply he had to get a social security card. He got on a flight to Atlanta, Ga., to apply for the

card. Once Williams was finished with the interview process, he thought he would get the card the same day. He learned it would take a year to get the card, which put a hold on his plans to apply for student loans and to USF. Disappointed, Williams flew back to Jamaica and started a new job as he waited for his card to come through. He received his card and was accepted by USF in the fall of 2000. He spent his first two years living on campus at the Villages, now known as Greek Village. With an interest in sports, Williams started writing for the Oracle. His first story was on a freshman football player. He went on to cover many sports such as men’s

Williams copy editing the Congressional Quarterly.

Fellow USF alumni and Williams celebrate Gasparilla 2013 in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Williams and the Jamaican ambassador at an event in January 2013.

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PHOTO BY JAMISHA FORD

soccer, women’s basketba The following year, h at the Oracle. In his th became associate editor in command to the edit feature stories. Before graduating in took a test for a copy ed the Dow Jones News Fu at Dr. Randy Miller’s offi a chance of getting the in “Toward the end of call from the director a they told me that I did me an internship at the D it was for the following s “Around the same tim offer from the South They offered me an intern from the Dow Jones prog offers to two, virtually ov Williams decided to offer. But when Dow Chaney heard that Wi the Sun Sentinel offer, h newspaper. Impressed wi Chaney wanted him in He asked the newspaper his program and they agr a part of the Dow Jones P During his internshi Williams made the tra stories to editing storie the Oracle, he had starte writers’ stories. “It wasn’t hard as I th first time I started work sports writer and I saw w I said to myself, I could n “During my years as to enjoy the process of section together. I realize than writer.” In the summer of 200 bag and moved to Fort L the Sun Sentinel as a cop could start his career the to a two-week boot cam College in Lakeland, FL. For him, it was a ce college as he left USF to

all, and softball. he became sports editor hird and final year, he where he was second tor-in-chief and wrote

May of 2003, Williams diting internship with und. He passed the test ffice and was told he had nternship. that semester, I got a at the Dow Jones and well and they offered Detroit Free Press, but summer,” he said. me, I received another Florida Sun-Sentinel. nship that was separate gram. I went from zero vernight.” o take the Sun-Sentinel Jones director Rick illiams was accepting he followed him to the ith Williams’ test score, his Dow Jones camp. to allow Williams into reed. Williams became Program. ip at the Sun Sentinel, ansition from writing es. While working at ed to enjoy editing his

hought it would be. The king at the Oracle as a what copy editors did, never do this,” he said. sports editor, I started editing and putting a ed I was a better editor

03, Williams packed his Lauderdale to work for py editor. But before he ere, Williams had to go mp at Florida Southern ., to edit stories. elebratory way to leave begin his career at the

Sun-Sentinel. Like many college graduates, adjusting to life in the real world can be tough – it was no different for Williams. He missed his family and friends. In his first few years at the Sun-Sentinel, he would drive back to Tampa to visit his family. For him, working at the SunSentinel was something he couldn’t imagine. “It was unlike anything I encountered before. The scale of it as a major metro newspaper, so many people, a huge newsroom, so much activity going on. Stories from all over South Florida,” he said. “It was a good feeling. I was excited. I felt I was ready from the Dow Jones residency.” In his six years at the Sun-Sentinel, Williams wrote headlines, proofed pages, edited stories for spelling, grammar, style and clarity. During his time, he would work on many major stories, but one story that stuck out to him was a feature story in 2007 about social issues in Haiti. The newspaper was following a girl in a group home. He was assigned as the main copy editor for that story. To this day, it’s one of his favorite stories from the Sun-Sentinel.” In May 2009, Williams was laid off from his job at the metro newspaper. Devastated, he made the decision to return to school for a master’s degree. After applying to eight schools and getting accepted into all eight, Williams decided to go to American University in Washington D.C. He worked as a freelance copy editor while taking classes. He edited one story a night for the Congressional Quaterly Roll Call. “My professor landed it for me. One of the bosses there was an adjunct professor at American. He emailed my professor looking for copy editors. My professor knew my background because I was a teaching assistant,” he said. “For about eight or nine months, I edited once a night.” After earning his master’s degree from American in 2011, Williams applied for a freelance copy editing position at CQ, a political publication that focuses on what goes on inside Capitol Hill. After passing the copy editing exam and the interview, he was hired. In January of 2012, Williams was offered a full-time position after an editor decided to leave, which he accepted. He said he’s still adjusting to the newsroom.

“Certain aspects are kind of new to me. It’s a smaller newsroom from what I’m used to at the Sun-Sentinel,” he said. He works on online content and edits stories for their website. Recently, Williams was part of the election coverage team. They focused on what is going on inside the Capitol. The day after the election, he worked a 10-hour shift as the publication updated its website with new congressional members who were voted-in. As he continues to edit stories, he learns more about politics and bills that are being introduced.

PHOTO BY JAMISHA FORD

Success in the City

Daniela Jimenez appreciates the view from the window of her New York City office.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DANIELA JIMENEZ

16 Alumni

GARETH A. REES

he glitz and the glamor of New York City have always been synonymous with the advertising industry. The bright lights and fast lifestyle of the city make it the perfect hub for America’s best and brightest creative minds, and for University of South Florida graduate Daniela Jimenez, looking out her new office window at the Manhattan skyline represents a dream come true. Just a year after graduation, Jimenez is living her dream as a Junior Art Director at Hill Holliday, an award-winning ad agency with over 850 employees across Boston, New York, South Carolina and Miami. Hill Holliday is responsible for major advertising campaigns including Chili’s restaurants, Major League Baseball, Liberty Mutual Insurance and more. Jimenez has her hands full at Hill Holliday, where she works primarily on graphics for a Verizon Wireless advertising campaign as well as a number of pro bono projects. “As an art director you are in charge of all visuals that are included in advertising campaigns,” said Jimenez. “I work across all mediums: web, print, retail, shopper marketing and even TV spots.” Jimenez is also part of the New Business Team, tasked with finding new clients, developing campaigns and pitching ideas to potential advertisers. “Whenever Hill Holliday is pitching in the hopes of gaining a new client, I am briefed with my partner, a copywriter, and we work on brainstorming, concepting and executing ideas to present to the client during the pitch,” she said. Three years ago, Jimenez transferred back home to Tampa from the University of North Carolina so she could be closer to her family. At the time she was interested in art but was still unsure where that love would take her. At USF she enrolled in the College of Mass Communications’ Zimmerman Advertising Program, a decision that she said she never imagined would be so incredible. “Little did I know it was going to be one of the greatest experiences of my life,” said Jimenez. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time [at USF]. The ZAP program couldn’t have prepared me better for my career. I made amazing friends and really enjoyed taking part in University events.”

Jimenez fell in love with advertising and quickly knew she wanted to work in the industry. She credits her experience at USF as giving her the tools she needed in her future career. “Honestly, I don’t think I could’ve come out of school better prepared than I was,” she said. “USF and ZAP did an amazing job at preparing me. Between classes, Ad Club and guest speakers, I had all the resources necessary to succeed in this industry. My professors were amazing and always pushed me to go to conferences and pushed me to apply for internships.” Jimenez had the opportunity to work three different internships before she graduated in December of 2011. As an intern at a small Tampa-based advertising agency called Social Forces, Jimenez learned hands-on about social media advertising and the influence new technologies have had on the industry. During the summer, she worked as an art director for The Marcus Graham Project, a Dallas based nonprofit organization that helps train ethnically diverse men and women in the media field. Then, while still at school in the fall of 2011, Jimenez earned a position as an art intern with Tampa based ad agency PP+K, where she was ultimately hired as a freelance art director after graduation. At PP+K, Jimenez gained invaluable experience in the advertising industry, but her sights were still set on the bright lights of the big city. “While I was freelancing I was still trying to find a permanent position somewhere, anywhere really,” she said. “I reached out to all the contacts I’d made through the years, attended multiple career fairs, and even contacted recruiting agencies.” While still in college, Jimenez had been honored by the American Advertising Federation’s Most Promising Minority Student program as one of the top 50 minority students across the nation, and was flown to New York City and immersed into the industry. The AAF program allowed Jimenez to meet with recruiters as well as have hands on portfolio reviews with creative directors and art directors from many of New York’s top advertising agencies. “Through the process I made a ton of contacts,” she said. “When I made my mind up to leave Tampa I started reaching out to all of them with a new portfolio and a new determination to find a job in New York City.” A recruiter from Hill Holliday had kept Jimenez in mind after meeting her through the AAF program and when a position became available she set up two Skype interviews and in one day she had a job offer. “Networking was extremely important in getting to

18 Alumni/STUDENTS

where I am today,” said Jimenez. “I encourage students to reach out to anyone and everyone they are interested in talking to because you never know when you will contact the right person for your dream job.” While a lot has changed in America since the boom of advertising in the 1950’s and 60’s, it is still one of the country’s most powerful and influential industries; one that is both difficult to break into and difficult to succeed in. Through the combination of talent, networking and hard work, Jimenez has managed to do both in a very short time. Today, she has her office window over looking the Manhattan skyline and she couldn’t be happier.

I love it all. I love “ the people I work with.

I love that it is challenging and competitive and keeps me on my toes. Most of all, I love that it is so fast paced. There is never a dull moment in a New York City ad agency.

”

Rachael Lang: dancing to a dream come true Kelsey Sunderland

PHOTOS COURTESY OF RACHAEL LANG

Rachael Lang shows off her Bulls pride in Ireland.

20 Students

Four thousand miles away from home, Rachael Lang spent the transitional summer between her sophomore and freshman year studying abroad in Ireland. While enjoying the lush history of the Emerald Isle and spending time getting to know her fellow students, her mind was tormented with anticipation awaiting the results of an audition that would inspire her career path. Lang, who has been dancing since the age of three, joined the USF Sun Dolls dance team during the summer following her senior year at Sebring High School. After being overwhelmed academically and financially with time constraints and being unable to find a job, she decided to leave the team in December to pursue other options. Before leaving her home in June to study abroad in Ireland with Dr. Rick Wilber and a group of students, Rachael auditioned to be a Howl-O-Scream performer at Busch Gardens in Tampa. “It was nerve wracking the first time, because it’s always nerve wracking dancing in front of new

people,” explained Lang. “I thought, ‘Okay, I made it through 50 girls, and I only have to audition with 10,’ but then they brought in 50 more girls who had already worked with them.” Lang would later find out that seasoned dancers were allowed to skip the first audition. Without proper phone access in Ireland, she placed her anticipation about the results of her audition to the back of her mind and made a decision to focus on her time overseas, taking in the culture and appreciating the once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Experiencing a young adult’s worst nightmare of not having cell phone service, Lang had gone through the majority of her three-week trip around Ireland without hearing anything about the audition. But after making use of her limited access to email, she found a spot to get the best wi-fi and discovered the best news she’d heard all summer. “Towards the end of the trip I got an email saying ‘We’ve been trying to call you, we have to know if you want this job,’” she said. “So I frantically emailed them back saying ‘Yes I want the job!’”

Lang proceeded so call her parents and her dance instructor to share her elation and vividly remembers screaming in the halls of an Irish hotel with excitement over her first paid dancing gig. The virtual strangers with whom she was sharing a room immediately assumed something was wrong until she told them of her dream come true. “When you dance when you’re younger, you’re working towards being paid to dance one day, so it was the ultimate goal coming true for me.” After returning to Tampa in August, Lang began her first rehearsals for Howl-O-Scream. “I always imagined Busch Gardens being so professional,” she recalled . “But I got there and they were so laid back and so nice.” Lang’s nerves disappeared after she realized that the environment she was being introduced to was a balance of being productive while having a good time.

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Her dream job is to become the next Erin Andrews, known Fox sportscaster who emerged from the Unive Florida and whose humble beginnings in dance played role in influencing her journalism career. As the child of graduates, Rachael, along with her family, admire Andre hope that regardless of what Rachael does in her future will always be a part of it. In the meantime, Lang continues to audition for mor at Busch Gardens, but this time, she is the seasoned per “I love dancing — it’s like another extension of my I’m hoping to always do something with dance and somehow integrate it (with mass communications) tha be the best.”

, a wellersity of a major two UF ews and e, dance

re shows rformer. yself. So if I can at would

“

I love dancing — it’s like another extension of myself.

”

Lang performs in one of the shows at Busch Garden’s Howl-O-Scream 2012.

Two sides of Watson Gregory Hartley

During the last week of History and Principles of Communications Law, a different Dr. Roxanne Watson sits in front of her class. As students scramble to put the final touches on their teams’ prosecutions and defenses, Watson is distanced, wearing a stern face and a black robe. She changes her laid-back, affable demeanor, and flexes her courtroom muscles. Justice will be served today. Watson’s performance pays tribute to a lesson she learned as a prosecution attorney in Jamaica. “You lose yourself. You stop thinking about ‘you,’ because it’s not really about you,” she said. Watson references the real courtroom — where the fates of real people hang in the balance — but it’s clear that her “prosecutors”, “defendants” and “witnesses” are all learning this lesson as they make opening and closing statements and examine and cross examine and testify about fictional events. Watson scrutinizes each statement. She takes pages of notes. *** Back in Watson’s University of South Florida office, the judge’s robe is put away. Without seeing her act as one or the other, it’s easy to place her roles as attorney and educator

24 faculty

discretely, but when asked for her permission to record an interview she reminds, “I’m glad you asked — I am a lawyer.” She doesn’t protest, for this, too, is a role that she knows. Watson studied investigative journalism, in part, via a news bureau at the University of Miami, and she wrote for the Gleaner, the top newspaper in her native Jamaica. Her experiences in mass communications and law meshed during her Ph.D. studies at the University of Florida, which is also where her love of teaching and research grew. “They both excite me,” she said. By the time Roxanne Watson became Dr. Roxanne Watson, she had decided that rather than returning to Jamaica to resume practicing law — a profession she has practiced for several years, and of which she credits Hilary Phillips, now a Queen’s Counsel judge, as a mentor — she would teach. Watson says that she chose to teach at USF Tampa for two main reasons: its cultural perspective and its close vicinity to Jamaica, which is where her research is based. While she says she misses the mountainous views of Jamaica, Watson prefers the accessibility of Tampa beaches over the long, winding Mount Diablo and Mount Rosser road trips required for Jamaican beach visits.

“I have to psych myself up to do that drive,” she says. In July 2011, Watson published her research on “Daggering,” a controversial form of dancehall music in Jamaica that the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica banned as the result of “a denouement to a growing tension between dancehall culture and Jamaican authorities.” Her work does not celebrate nor condemn the genre, but rather, points out that its regulation should be open to debate, that it should have its day in court. In Watson’s paper, she cites several FCC discussions focusing on censoring. She addresses some of these same issues with students in her classroom. *** The gavel comes down. The students await Dr. Watson’s ruling as she finalizes her thoughts before analyzing the events of the hearing aloud. The defense has won. Later, in her office, she reveals another lesson learned from her experiences as a prosecutor, “It’s not always about convicting someone … there are always two sides to every story.” For these mass communications students, Watson teaches a resounding lesson in fairness — a theme in every profession she has held.

there are “always two

sides to every story.

”

- Roxanne Watson

PHOTO BY CASEY DEFREITAS

Christina Miller

26 Faculty

Hal Vincent is an advertising instructor and faculty in residence at the University of South Florida. He’s taught at the university since 2009. He earned a bachelor’s degree in speech communication and journalism at the University of Richmond and a master’s in Mass Communications from Virginia Commonwealth University’s AdCenter. Despite his desire to work in public relations and because there were no jobs in public relations at the time, he dipped into the advertising business by working in advertising account management for The Martin Agency. There, he found that this “business side of the ad business” perfectly combined his love of communication and creativity, making advertising a natural fit for him. *** Vincent is one of four faculty members and families who live on USF’s campus. “I chose to live on campus for the atmosphere and community,” Vincent said. “I missed that feeling of community and being able to walk to entertainment and cultural activities like in New York and Philly.” His fascination with the city started in his youth. He was raised in the suburbs of Nashville, Tennessee. He always felt that the suburban standard of living was all about riding your bike around the neighborhood and never leaving, never venturing out. What really stirred his interest as a kid growing up in the heart of Tennessee was the

Fac

idea of downtown. Vincent admired the opportuniti downtown provided. “I always fe downtown was exciting. Downtow a real deli. Downtown, there were t pizza places. Downtown, you could and get to three different parts of the Once he was an undergraduate s University of Richmond, he turned hi a goal: “Something in me said, ‘I’m in New York City. I knew that’s whe Show was happening. I knew that Ma Garden was where the big boxing ma I knew the Bronx Zoo was a great zo He succeeded, and worked in adv there. He first worked as a paid grad at Ogilvy & Mather in account man strategic planning research. He then an account executive at FCB on Na Ahoy, Fig Newtons, Teddy Graha product launches, and on Tropicana and Tropicana Twister brands. The allure of living among many having a sense of community stayed as he journeyed to Florida for a job working on start-up companies at Fah After word spread from a former emp advertising instructor that Vincent w and enjoyed teaching, Vincent was Coby O’Brien and hired as an adjunc semesters in, he left the profession business to pursue what simply felt teaching full-time. “Teaching felt right just because natural, fun and entertaining, and I that I might have helped a young pe one day,” Vincent said.

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ies and places elt like going wn, there was three different d ride the bus e city,” he said. student at the is interest into m going to live ere the Today adison Square atch was held. oo.” vertising while duate assistant nagement and n moved on as abisco’s Chips ams and new a Season’s Best

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During Vincent’s time at USF, the Office of Housing and Residential Education presented him the opportunity to become a faculty in residence, meaning he and his family get to live on campus among the students. The idea is meant to encourage interaction between faculty and students, both formally and informally. “I ride the Bull Runner. I eat in the dining halls. I go to student plays and soccer games. It’s allowed me to integrate more into my life that feels USF-centric. I get to work with people of different motivations, beliefs, and lifestyles. My experience with them is enriched by their differences. Now, I am sorry, New Tampa, but you don’t really get that when you live in a named subdivision that may or may not have a gate where every home has an identical lanai.” In making such a decision, Vincent had no choice but to keep his family in mind. “My wife was a mutual partner in the decision and had veto power. She was 100 percent supportive. She missed and understood the urban environment. I’m happy to expose my children to such diversity — different backgrounds, values, wants in life, countries of origin. I hope it makes my four-year-old son want to be a lifelong student. He may not be in school forever, but his quest for learning and understanding of what his intellectual curiosity means will continue. And I say the same thing for my 1-year-old daughter. I love that she’s gaining consciousness of the world.” But all is not so glorious about living on campus. “Privacy, as with any urban environment, is limited. You walk outside and you’re in everybody’s backyard. There’s no pulling out a chair and

whipping off your shirt in your backyard. “Now, the same goes for students, but it takes longer to get to your car because there is no driveway. It’s a bit of a struggle with two children.” Also among Vincent’s brief list of downsides was the lack of a dry cleaners and a full-functioning grocery store on campus. Aside from this novel experience affecting his family’s life, being a faculty in residence has its impact on the students as well. Acknowledging that, Vincent said, “We are somewhat alien. We have entered their world.” Reassuringly, the students have never indicated that living on campus was weird. In fact, the residents are eager to involve him in their activities. “Virtually every night of the week, I could have something to do,” Vincent said. His students have also never felt as though he was obliged to be at their beck and call since he is so conveniently located on campus. Aside from the personal benefits to immersing himself into the USF subculture, he has allowed his experience at USF to touch the lives of everyone around him. “My son thinks of himself as a USF student. He’s known to walk down the sidewalk, and when he sees a student, out come the hands, up come the two fingers, and you hear ‘Go Bulls!’ I’ll tell you what, the most pessimistic student, who really doesn’t want to deal with anybody, lights up for a second when a cute little four-year-old pops that ‘Go Bulls.’ All of them have to stop and say ‘Thank you. Go Bulls.’ I don’t even know if he realizes it, but at least for a matter of seconds, their day got brighter. And when they smile and say ‘Go Bulls’ right back, you made my son’s day.”

Dr. Moonhee Cho

From South Korea to JOSEPH BOWERS

Being a first year professor at a un be intimidating. Learning how to in students, balancing time to grade paper to mold your own way of teaching can b task. Now imagine doing this in a cou foreign to you. These are just some of th that Dr. Moonhee Cho has faced in her fi as an assistant professor at the Univers Florida. Cho is teaching her first year relations courses in the School Communications at USF. She receive M.A. and Ph.D. in mass communicatio University of Florida. Prior to earnin graduate degrees in Florida, Cho r bachelor’s degree in both psychology and and public relations from Ewha Women in South Korea. “Learning in South Korea is total explained Cho. “Classes are much m based, not so many discussions.” This change in learning style was thing Cho had to become accustom aspect of encouraging discussion was that appealed to her and ultimately led to teach. “I never expected to be a teacher,” thought that I wasn’t that talented I was more interested in researching

“Even though

I am teaching research as a professor, I really want to contribu to society in the future.” PHOTO BY CASEY DEFREITAS

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o First Year Professor

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had the opportunity to do research with peers and colleagues. This is where I started to like the teaching as well. I really enjoyed explaining theories and seeing how people grab onto the ideas.” Before coming to the United States she worked in South Korea at the American Chamber of Commerce. There, Cho worked with fundraising and was in charge of managing the internship program. The work helped her gain valuable experience interacting with students preparing for the professional world. “I would prepare orientations and training programs for students to learn how to adjust to the real world setting. I liked to engage with the students,” Cho said. After leaving South Korea and getting her Ph. D., Cho found herself working in nonprofit organizations such as the United Way. In these organizations she worked as a fundraiser and public relations practitioner. “I didn’t really want to get involved with nonprofit because of the stereotype that that sector makes no money,” Cho said. “I tried to steer away from it, but when I got a job in Korea my boss asked me to do a nonprofit sector, working for a social cause. It was when I started to do this that I found my passion for helping those in need.” Cho helped develop scholarship opportunities for students in South Korea by getting money from bigger corporations. Allowing herself to see both sides of society, she was able to find her calling in nonprofit. “Whenever I saw these kids graduate after receiving scholarships from the corporations it was a huge joy. I knew I couldn’t leave the area and realized that I loved the nonprofit sector and fundraising,” Cho said. Cho, wanting to stay in Florida, found an opportunity to teach at USF after her time working

nonprofit. She didn’t know much about USF at first, but decided it might be a good fit. “I realized the school was growing and there were a lot of opportunities here,” Cho explained. “I saw the amount of interaction that USF and its students has with the community. Even though I am teaching research as a professor, I really want to contribute myself to society in the future. Tampa also has a lot of nonprofit organizations that will give us the opportunity to collaborate together.” Teaching her first semester of school did not go without its challenges. Cho says that dealing with a different culture can be difficult. Finding common culture can be tough for teachers and students, but it is even more so when the teacher is from another country entirely. Cho balances her time between teaching her classes and conducting research with graduate students. Her research area studies how nonprofit organizations utilize social media to communicate with not only its donors, but the public in general. “We are really interested in public empowerment through social media,” Cho said. “Because of social media many organizations are finding new ways to interact with the consumer. We find that many companies are just using social media to inform in a one-way communication. If they were to utilize a more two-way symmetrical communication, almost to nurture a relationship with people, it establishes better engagement from the public.” Cho’s research finds more effective ways for corporations to establish better communication with its public. She hopes that further study will lead to better understanding of how the public receives and reacts to social media. Using her passion for both public relations and nonprofit work, this first year teacher continues to engage her students in exciting new ways.

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MELISSA WOLFE

This

December, the School of Mass Communications bid a fond farewell to one of our own. Dr. Edward Friedlander retired as Professor Emeritus of Mass Communications at the end of the Fall 2012 semester. Prior to joining USF, Friedlander taught and served as chairman at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for 20 years before retiring Professor Emeritus of Journalism. Dr. Friedlander has been with USF since 1995. He served as director of the School of Mass Communications for “15 years, one month, one week and one day,” setting the record for the longest administrative tenure in Mass Comm. As director, he was instrumental in the growth and development of the school. Under his watch, it obtained over a million dollars in grants and contracts, tripled the number of pre-majors and majors, and built six computer labs and a new television studio. The school increased foundation holdings from $250,000 in 1995 to more than $4 million in 2010. Almost all of those funds were used to award student scholarships, increasing the annual budget from $12,000 to $100,000. In his time as director, Friedlander hired 14 faculty members and 12 staff members, and lead the school through three successful national re-accreditation efforts in 1996, 2001 and 2007. At UA, he primarily taught feature writing with photojournalism and reporting as secondary courses. As a USF professor he taught only photojournalism. In his career, he has also co-authored four major textbooks, all with multiple editions and one with Spanish translation, that have been used widely across the United States and internationally. Friedlander is truly a Renaissance man. Before becoming a professor, he worked as a magazine writer, newspaper reporter, managing editor, motion picture publicist and a photojournalist. *** While teaching at UA in 1979, Friedlander produced and directed the television documentary, “A Place Called Rohwer.” The documentary featured two Japanese-American internment camps that operated in Arkansas from 1942 to 1946. The camps, which were dubbed ‘relocation centers’ by the government, held thousands of Japanese families who were bused in from surrounding states. Many of the inmates were actually U.S. citizens, but were minors whose parents were Japanese immigrants. In order to avoid separating children from their parents, entire families were placed

in the internment camps. “I discovered that of the 17,000 people who were incarcerated at these two camps, only one family was left,” said Friedlander. “Everybody else had left the state. But the one family, the Yada family, that stayed in Arkansas kind of focused the story.” Sam Yada’s story still resonates with Friedlander. In his office, he keeps a framed photo of Yada’s son at the dedication of one of the camps. On his desk rests a stone with the engraving: “shikata ga nai.” “The kids were pretty angry about what happened, even years later. But the parents adhered to an essentially Confucian philosophy, which in Japanese translates to ‘Shikata ga nai’ or ‘Can't be helped.’” After almost 40 years of research on the camps, Friedlander has one more paper he wants to publish on the subject. The camps hired well-educated men from prestigious colleges to run the camp’s weekly newspapers. Friedlander conducted interviews with both editors before they died. “The fundamental question was why did you do it and was there overt censorship?” said Friedlander. “I'm probably the only person in the country who knows the answer to that question.” “That's one of the things after I move into emeritus status that I need to take care of because it's pulling together years of research and a lot of personal recollections with these guys - most of whom are dead. I think it’s important to tell the story and answer that mystery because I certainly think it will happen again.” *** Friedlander has a long list of things he wants to do once retired. Over years of working 50 to 60 hours a week, things tend to fall by the wayside. “I've always wanted to learn to speak better Spanish. This is going to be an opportunity to do that. And, I need to finish this research. I've also got a book contract for the 8th edition of my Feature Writing book. My part of it is due by July 1st. I've also got interpersonal deferred maintenance too, friends I haven't kept up with. And you know, I should probably be walking a couple miles a day. That takes an hour or two and if you don't have an hour or two, it’s tough.” Friedlander will be traveling a little over the next year, but plans to leave his camera behind. “Shooting was always something that I was forced to do… and to this day, I do not take a camera with me when I go on vacation.” He’s looking forward to taking a trip to Jackson

PHOTO BY CASEY DEFREITAS

Hole, Wyoming, where he’ll visit the Grand Teton National Park. He attended his daughter’s swearing-in ceremony by the Virginia Supreme Court in December. Friedlander intends to broaden his creative horizons. He’s considering taking a few acting courses and, perhaps, auditioning for local theatre roles. “I have always believed that teaching is basically a theatrical endeavor anyway,” Friedlander said. “So I think the theatre will probably enhance the teaching more than the teaching would enhance the theatre.”

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“I’m also interested in videography,” said Friedlander. “I have an editing system at home but I haven't had time to learn the software to the point I need to. I'm probably going to dig more seriously into short video just for the fun of it.” Although he’s retired, you haven’t seen the last of Dr. Friedlander. The university has asked him to return in January 2014 to teach one course per year. After 17 years of teaching only photojournalism, Friedlander looks forward to teaching his true passion and expertise: long-form feature writing.

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