2013 Mass Media Messenger

Letter from the chair Every year I think things can’t get any better than last year, and yet they do! We were sorry to lose some long-time adjuncts from last year, but have been able to add some great new people who have brought new ideas and new ways of teaching to our department.

Maria Stover took a sabbatical this year, and while we missed her teaching, we are thrilled about her book project and what that means for her reputation as a media expert and for her contribution to the media field.

Archive photo

Kathy Menzie finishes her fifth year as chair of the department.

Charles Cranston’s movies are available on Amazon, both “Through Martha’s Eyes” and “High Value.” Cranston and JaeYoon Park also have video projects in mind for the future, so we’ll see lots more from the film and video area.

Frank Chorba continues to work on the website for Follansbee, W. Va. He’s brought many stories and photos of wonderful historical events and an interesting history of sports in the area.

Regina Cassell’s position as Director of Student Media has really grown over the 10 years she has been here — Student Media continues to expand with radio and a great web and social media presence.

We are all very proud of the changes we made in our curriculum a few years ago.

We’re seeing that pay off in the internships and jobs our students have received.

We are hoping to add something new next year—a last Friday workshop. We brought in an expert in mobile marketing this spring and hope to bring in more next year. The media field changes so quickly and there are so many experts (including our graduates!) that we can draw on to help expand our regular semester offerings.

We are excited about the possibilities for new knowledge this will bring to students.

Table of contents High achievements Sabbatical leads to book Adjuncts add experience Semester at Sea brings diversity Alumni work together at the CJ Student media travels to NYC Advanced Media Lab Outside the classroom Courses add diversity Mass Media banquet Alumni class notes Mass media graduates

4 5 6 8 10 12 14 16 17 18 20 22

High achievements Dancing Blues win national title

By Fatima Oubaid The Dancing Blues claimed the title of American Dance/ Drill Team Collegiate National Champions for Division II March 23. The competition took place at the University of North Texas.

It was hosted by the American Dance/Drill Team organization and featured collegiate dance teams from across the region. Dance teams from 17 states competed in this year’s competition. To win the national honor, the Dancing Blues were judged on content/choreography, showmanship/ presentation, execution/precision and technique.

“I absolutely did not expect to win,” said Angie Price, Photo Courtesy of San Francisco 49ers coach, “It’s really hard to know how the judges are going to think. I was in shock but in my opinion they were the best #57 Michael Wilhoite plays in Super Bowl performance.”

The Dancing Blues were first out of eight schools competing in that division. They were also recognized as By Michelle Boltz having the second highest grade point average of all the Division II teams competing at the event.

Michael Wilhoite, 2010, had a great opportunity when Brooke Rollinson, a member of the Dancing Blues, is he played in Super Bowl XLVII against another Washburn majoring in mass media with an emphasis in public relations. alumnus, Cary Williams, who played for the Baltimore She graduated in May 2013.

Ravens. Wilhoite, #57, was playing for the San Francisco 49ers and was the special teams captain in the NFC Championship game.

Wilhoite was a three-year captain for the Ichabods, where he earned honorable mention all MIAA honors as a senior after recording 81 tackles. He finished his Washburn career with 203 total tackles, which is 20th on the all-time Washburn chart.

“It’s rare enough to have one player reach the Super Bowl, but we’ve had a gift in having two reach the Super Bowl, and they are both key contributors to the game,” said Washburn head coach Craig Schurig. “It shows that you can overcome and there are not any limits that players can put on themselves, and that they can make it to the highest level from Washburn.”

Wilhoite was a public relations major within the mass Photo Courtesy of the Dancing Blues media department.

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Sabbatical leads to book

Photo by Jessie Salmans

Maria Stover spends fall 2012 doing research

By Lauren Doherty Maria Stover, associate mass media professor, is writing a book about women in politics. For seven years, Stover has been researching female politicians and noticed that many of the books published focused on the western hemisphere rather than the whole world.

She wanted to learn more about women in politics in countries like Egypt and South Africa that do not have an established democracy.

“The West needs to know about these emerging democracies,” said Stover, giving another reason to write the book.

The title of her upcoming book is “Women, Politics and Media from Emerging Democracy.”

Since August of 2012, she has been working on the book. Stover sent out an e-mail explaining her project and wondered if scholars would suggest topic ideas for additional chapters. She received many responses, and e-mails came from all over the world including Turkey, Romania and India.

“The ability to connect from different backgrounds from

all over the world was amazing,” she said.

Her plan is to include as many countries and emerging democracies as possible.

The book is already going to be lengthy because it has 23 chapters so far. Stover has published chapters in books such as “Women in Higher Education” by Marian Meyers, and “Gender, Sexuality/ies and the Media” by Karen Ross.

Through her experiences she has learned that it takes two years from the time of writing to getting published.

She is working with Bloomsbury Publishing with projected publication date during spring of 2014.

“It is a privilege to work with Maria Stover. She is knowledgeable, scholarly and has experience from being around the world,” said Kathy Menzie, mass media department chair. “This book will be a reference for many scholars,” said Menzie.

Though the project is time consuming, especially now that her sabbatical is officially over, Stover enjoys finding information. “I love research. I have a passion for research,” she said.

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Adjuncts add expertise

By Mike Goehring

Adjunct professor Eugene Williams presents the Outstanding Student Award in Public Relations to Wanda Hinton, his executive assistant at KTWU at the 2013 mass media banquet.

Diverse media professionals help students prepare for the real world

by Caroline Hau

With a small department staff, adjuncts offer the expertise and experience to complement the faculty.

“We need adjuncts to cover extra classes,” said Kathy Menzie, associate professor and chair of the mass media department. “We have adjuncts with specific expertise that they bring to the department and the students.”

The department currently has six adjunct professors, teaching two to three classes per semester. The full-time faculty staff can only cover 60 hours of classes per semester.

“Adjunct teachers bring a depth of experience to the students,” said Menzie. “When you only have one teacher, you have only that teacher’s experience.”

Eugene Williams, the general manager of KTWU Channel 11 TV station, taught Advertising 2 this spring, but he has taught everything except finance and accounting. He has an undergraduate degree in broadcast and film, went to engineering school and received an associate degree, and also earned a MBA in business.

“Teaching is really an art form, there is a lot of science to Page 6

it; you have to do research,” he said. “Everybody can tell a story, but it has to be intellectual, scholarly and entertaining.

Those are some of the basic things you need. That’s what makes it an art form.”

Washburn’s diverse student body brings different challenges to the classroom.

“I love to have a mixture of students, young to old; my oldest student is 81,” Williams said.

“That really challenges the instructor.”

Lisa Coble-Krings, an adjunct professor who teaches the online section for the mass media boot camp class, agrees. She works at the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library.

“I love the student body, it is made up of students from lots of different Photo by Kelsey Wagers backgrounds, like age, social, economically, military, some have family, Lisa Coble-Krings

and some don’t. You are challenged with a diverse student body, as a teacher this is really eye opening, because it reforms your perception of what a college student is,” she said.

Coble-Krings has a background in web production and content creation, and she brings experience in social media for PR and marketing, as well as editing to Washburn. She has taught at the university from 2009 through 2010 and then again from August 2012 to the present.

“I push myself as far as a full time professor because that’s what the students really deserve. Teaching is anxiety provoking because of the standards you have to live up to.

All the professors at the mass media department really raise the bar pretty high,” she said.

Coble-Krings received her masters degree from the University of Kansas.

Another mass media graduate Sarah Van Dalsem, began teaching Introduction to Mass Media for the department, and she will teach Creative Media Writing in the fall. She is a communication strategist for the Courtesy of Sarah Van Dalsem Washburn University Foundation.

Sarah Van Dalsem Mike Merriam, a First Amendment lawyer, continues to teach Mass Media Law for the department.

Beth Davis, a mass media graduate, has taught Creative Media Writing and Creative Advertising. She works in Kansas City as a public relations consultant.

Jim Allen, general manager for KTPK-FM radio, has expertise in PR and advertising. His partnership with the department also provides quality internship opportunities for students.

“Additional teachfile photo by Mallory Shehi ers bring greater depth Jim Allen shares his professional experiof experience to the ence with students in Henderson 7. students,” said Menzie.

With Maria Stover taking her sabbatical during the fall 2012 semester, the mass media department used the strengths of many adjuncts and professors from other departments to cover her course load.

Janet Zoble, an adjunct in the art department, taught Visual Communication, a required class for three emphases.

Kathleen Dultmeier, a marketing specialist from StormontVail HealthCare, taught Public Relations II. Gina Penzig, a media specialist at Westar Energy, taught Crisis Communication, an elective that can be beneficial for students in the public relations or creative advertising emphases.

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25+ years of partnerships

Semester at Sea provides Public Relations emphasis Emily Juhnke travels the world while earning college credit Compiled by Jennifer Cox Emily Juhnke’s adventurous voyage began here in the continental U.S. in January and she was gone until late Apriland her trip concluded after visiting 16 cities and 12 countries in 106 days. Excerpts taken from Juhnke’s blog, sp13voyagearoundtheworld. blogspot.com, where readers can find the complete and final journal entries.

January 11, 2013 Juhnke’s first stop was in Hawaii, before they made the nine hour trip to Tokyo.

“I’m currently out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean sailing towards Hilo, Hawaii aboard the MV Explorer.”

January 26, 2013 The voyage from Hawaii to Tokyo was long and far more stressful as Juhnke’s ship fought through the sea’s wrath.

“We are in the middle of a huge storm right now and things are getting crazy. My professor canceled class because it’s impossible to even really function. People are flying against the walls and chairs and other things are falling all over the place. As I’m writing this, I’m struggling to stay upright in the Page 8

Photos Courtesy of Emily Juhnke

While in Vietnam Emily visited an orphanage and became friends with some of the children who live there.

She brought stickers for them to play with and it turned out to be a huge hit. This is her favorite picture.

chair I’m sitting in. According to the captain, we won’t get out of this storm until halfway through the night.

It’s a little after 6 p.m. on the 26th here right now. So we have quite a ways to go through this yet, and they just announced that it will get even worse.”

January 29, 2013 Emerging from the storm, Juhnke and her classmates arrived safely in Tokyo.

“We arrived in Yokohama around 8 on the morning of the 27th. It was pretty cold outside, but standing out there to watch us pull into

our first port outside of the United States was worth it.”

February 6, 2013 Juhnke continued her travels discovering new experiences and the joys of her semester at sea.

“We arrived in Shanghai, China around 8 a.m. on Feb. 3. After getting off the ship, my group made our way down to Yuyuan Garden.

Surrounding the garden, there are many shops and highly recommended dining places. A friend who has been to Shanghai before said it was a must see, so that is where we decided to go. We

decided to take the 45 minute walk instead of the Metro so we would get to see the city along the way.”

February 11, 2013 Boarding the ship, Juhnke left Shanghai and headed toward Hong Kong to experience the opera.

“The opera was in West Kowloon Bamboo Theater.

I was pretty excited for the performance because I had been learning about this type of opera in my Music Cultures course. We were given an English summary before it started, but the show was still hard to follow because

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Emily wishes her sister a happy birthday from the top of Lions Head Mountain in South Africa.

While in Cape Town, South Africa Emily was able to walk around.

(On left) She found the Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu’s statue in Nobel Square and (on right)tried on saris with her friends in India in New Castle, a government shop that was four stories and had all kinds of clothing and accessories to buy.

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Juhnke finds it to be a fun experience.

“India is such an incredible country. We docked in Cochin, which is in the southern part of India. I didn’t realize how completely different the north is from the south. Those that went on trips to Agra, Delhi, and other places up north had completely different experiences with the people, culture, and ways of life than I did.”

March 31, 2013 Spending her Easter Sunday in Cape Town, South Africa, Juhnke had the opportunity to head out on a guided safari tour and experience the wild and beautiful scenery.

“We saw many different animals including springbok (a form of antelope), giraffes, elephants, hippos, rhinos, wildebeests, zebras, ostrich and lions. I’ve seen all of those animals in zoos before, but seeing them uncaged and out in the wild was an awesome experience.”

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they were singing and speaking in Cantonese. Nevertheless, it was really enjoyable and I’m glad I went.”

February 17, 2013 Not realizing it at the time, Juhnke was about to embark on what would be one of her favorite parts of the trip thus far. In Vietnam she would hold a rather large snake and spend time with some special children.

“I am deathly afraid of snakes and have no idea why in the world I raised my hand when we were asked who wanted to hold it. No idea.

Luckily, another girl wanted to do it with me so I wasn’t holding it by myself. It is probably one of the scariest things I have ever done, but I’m glad I was brave enough to do it.

On our last day, today, I went on an orphanage visit.

It was amazing. Bringing along stickers turned out to be a great idea.”

March 18, 2013 Setting off for India next,

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Alumni work together at Former Student Media editors cross paths professionally

By Lillian Moss Graduating from college and finding a “grown-up” job can be pretty frightening. Often, people who are just starting out at new jobs find themselves in a new environment where they don’t know anyone. Meeting new co-workers and learning to work with them can be challenging.

But that’s not the case for a group of mass media alumni who now work at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Corey Jones, Josh Rouse, Regina Stephenson, Eric Smith and Chris Marshall all began their journalism careers in the basement of the Memorial Union working for the Washburn Review.

“It’s great. I like going to work every day and seeing people that I’ve known, in some cases, since high school,” said Rouse. “I’m really comfortable working with them.

We know each other’s strengths. I’m working with some of my best friends from college.”

Even their boss will agree the relationships bring benefits to the workplace.

“They are obviously good friends and good co-workers,” said Tomara Quinn, editor and director of reader development for the Capital-Journal. “But what I find interesting is how they work together and raise the level of their work.

They have brought a good attitude to the newsroom.”

Jones, 2009, has worked at the Capital-Journal for more

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than eight years. He started off as a part timer, working four days a week in the sports section and gradually moved up to full time.

He’s currently a news reporter and also works shifts on the copy desk. When he covers the cops beat, he listens to police scanners and goes out and reports on whatever breaking news is happening, such as homicides and serious car accidents.

“Breaking news gets you out of the office,” said Jones.

“You’re tweeting and taking down notes. It’s enjoyable to get out and talk to people and meet people.”

Rouse, 2012, had previous experience at the CapitalJournal as a student, but he returned this year as full-time staff. He is a copy editor and his job has him reading through stories and editing them to make sure there are no errors before they are printed.

“A lot of the things I learned at Washburn came from working in Student Media,” said Rouse.

Stephenson, 2011, began working at the Capital-Journal in November 2012. She is an online editor who reads, corrects and makes sure stories have good headlines and photos to go with them. As an online editor, Stephenson is in charge of sending out emergency emails to all of the Capital-Journal subscribers whenever there is an emergency.

Smith, 2009, has worked at the Capital-Journal for five years and is a copy editor and reporter. He works as a copy editor four days a week and lays out pages for the newspaper. He also listens to the police scanner and reports on the police beat Thursday evenings, which requires him to meet story deadlines that need to go online or off to printing right away.

“If there’s a police shooting at 9:30, I call it in and someone types it up right away,” said Smith.

Smith was a history major at Washburn and was unsure of what he wanted to do. Marshall, 2009, was the one responsible for getting him interested in media. Now Mar-

Topeka Capital-Journal

shall works as a copy editor for both the news and sports sections. At Washburn, he was known for his Marshall Arts cartoons, and he has had some opportunity to develop that at the CJ as well.

These alumni understand the value of a diverse skill set, and all have experience with online, copy editing, photography, social media and of course, reporting.

“In addition to good camraderie, this group has been able to pick up and take on new responsibilities within the newsroom, wich is great because we do quite a bit of crosstraining here,” said Quinn.

And this group also has a good work ethic.

“Be willing to be that person that meets deadlines,” said

Photo by Tricia Peterson

Corey Jones, Eric Smith, Josh Rouse, Regina Stephenson and Chris Marshall, began their journalism careers at the Washburn Review.

Now they work together at the Topeka Capital-Journal.

Stephenson. “And know that your skills will cross over.”

Not everyone who works at the CJ graduated from Washburn, but the school is well represented within the overall staff that includes healthy numbers from Kansas State University and the University of Kansas.

“The people who work here are really cool,” said Smith.

“They all have the same interests as you, and there are a lot of both veterans and young people.”

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Media Students take off to New York City

Photo by Fatima Oubaid

Some of the students visit the Empire State Building. The visibility was low, but they still had a good time and ended the night with a limo ride back to the hotel.

Students attend the College Media Association Conference in the Big Apple

by Tricia Peterson Student Media experienced a transformation this spring.

Using a Washburn Transformational Experience the group was able to go to the College Media Association Conference in New York City.

Eight members of Student Media, plus their adviser Regina Cassell, took the trip to the Big Apple. The conference featured media professionals, high level executive keynote speakers and thousands of students from colleges across the country. There were more than 250 unique sessions planned for four days, and the students learned a great deal of information to help them in their media careers.

“My favorite part of the trip was what I took away from it,” said Farai Harreld, reporter for the Review. “I loved how all the speakers had a visible passion for the work they were speaking about such as how to be self sufficient as a freelance writer or how your online presence affects your chances of being hired by future employers.”

The group completed one of Washburn’s Transformational Experiences in order to afford the trip. The program will provide the means for Student Media to use the information learned from the conference to create training modules that Page 12

will help Student Media provide meaningful training for its employees. Each student had to participate in a cultural aspect on their New York trip. Kayla Norton went to see “Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway, Tricia Peterson ate at various New York restaurants, including one in China Town.

A group of students went to the Empire State Building. Kelly Hurla, senior mass media major and arts and entertainment editor, attended various comedy clubs.

One keynote speaker that many students attended was Jason Wagenheim, vice president and publisher of Teen Vogue. Kayla Norton also went on a media tour, offered by the conference, to the Teen Vogue headquarters. As someone who strives to work somewhere like Teen Vogue, Norton thought his keynote speech was inspiring.

“After his message on the breakdown of an interview, it helped me know what to expect from an interview and a big time corporation,” said Norton. “I am so excited about what I can now accomplish because of the pointers and opportunities that I got.”

In April, students were able to share their experiences with the campus community at the Day of Transformation.

Photo by Fatima Oubaid

Mass Media students pose in front of Carlo’s Bake Shop in NYC. They traveled to New Jersey by a Port Authority train and waited more than 30 minutes to order their baked goods.

For additional information about the trip, check out the blog:

Newyorkcityrocks2013.blogspot.com

Advanced Media Lab

By Michelle Boltz Advanced Media Lab is one of the required core classes in the mass media curriculum. It replaced Senior Seminar and gives students the opportunity to pursue various projects that can help create valuable work for a portfolio.

The spring 2013 class was taught by Charles Cranston.

Student projects were diverse. Some studnets produced their own films. Others created websites for outside companies or graphic design projects.

Faculty members were invited during presentation days to offer additional feedback and see student work.

“I was impressed with the work and the obvious thought that went into the projects,” said department chair Kathy Menzie. “I loved seeing how much the students have Photo by Regina Cassell learned during their time here.”

All mass media students end their course work in Advanced Media Lab, which focuses on the application of skills they learned in classes.

Digital Film and Video

Arissa Utemark, a senior in the film and video emphasis, worked on a short film called “Breakfast Food.”

The film takes place in a small diner during the early morning, starring a girl who is hung over. She meets a guy and is rude to him because she isn’t expectScreen shot from Arissa Utemark’s ing him to be a decent short film, “Breakfast Food.” guy. Later, she goes to visit him where he works. He is a chef and sends her a fancier version of the diner food they first experienced together.

Utmark’s film was one of four films that were created.

Douglass Knighten created a documentary about abandoned buildings in Topeka while Jake Livgren worked with a partner to create the first of what the duo hopes will be scenes for a feature-length film.

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Contemporary Journalism

Tricia Peterson, a senior in the contemporary journalism emphasis, is working on a website for her own catering company, Two Chefs Catering. Peterson, and her husband, Ryan Peterson, have been in business for two years. They cater for many special events such as business meetings, weddings and graduations. At the clients’ requests, they will custom-make their menu for their needs.

“My husband and I started a catering business after we graduated culinary school together,” said Peterson. “We are in the process of making a name for ourselves, and I figured that creating a website with active social media would help get our name out there.”

Peterson, who has served as the editor-in-chief of the Washburn Review, has extensive experience with writing, social media, Adobe’s design products, blogging and website maintenance. These skills are critical to help the couple market their business more.

To find out more information about Two Chefs Catering, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/ two-chefs-catering.

Other students in contemporary journalism focused on graphic design work, websites and blogs.

Public Relations

Creative Advertising

Jerrica Bachmann, a senior in the public relations emKiara Williams, a senior creative advertising emphasis, phasis, is working on a website for a local photographer/art is helping a small business owner with her graphic design studio. “Visions of Joy” is a conneeds. Kretyen Fair Trade Gifts & Coffee temporary website full of works of is a specialty shop located in Lawrence, art and photography done by phoKan. Kretyen carries diverse products from tographer and artist Joy Ward. around the world.

Bachmann can’t wait to get the Customers can find handcrafted items, orwebsite published. She is hoping ganic whole bean coffee, organic teas, and that the site gets a lot of traffic and chocolate inside the small store. Fair trade helps increase Ward’s business. benefits all; especially the world’s most dis“Working with a new client and advantaged. trying to please them and what they Her project is beneficial to Debra Rukes, envision is something all new to sole proprietor of Kretyen Fair Trade Gifts me,” said Bachmann. “I enjoy get& Coffee. Rukes does not have the time to ting to work with someone else and design her own ads and the required softtheir ideas.”

Photo by Tricia Peterson ware to create them is expensive. Williams For more information regard- Pete Nicklin presents his brochure project has also redesigned the store’s gift certifiing Wards’ art, visit her website at for Riverside Marketing. cates and plans to continue to help Kretyen www.visionsofjoy.me. with its advertising needs. Throughout the Several student projects focused on helping local com- semester, Williams designed Kretyen’s seasonal ads that panies develop a more effective web presence. Senior Lyn- ran in the Lawrence Journal-World. da Zook decided to build her own website from scratch to For more information about Kretyen Fair Trade Gifts & increase her knowledge of html.

Coffee, visit the website at www.kretyenfairtrade.com.

Outside the classroom

Photo Courtesy of Regina Cassell

Media majors Paul Smith, Kara Protasio and Jake Wingo prep for their weekly radio show, Bow Tie Sports Talk. The show was created by Protasio in the Fall 2012 semester as a way to expand the program.

By Lynda Zook AirBods and TriBods continue to provide unique opportunities for Washburn students who share media interests. Both organizations are in their second years and focused on growth.

“People still don’t know about it. Although last semester we had 13,000 live hits, the best so far,” said Kara Protasio, junior mass media. “We have a new audio board that has improved broadcast quality.” She also points out that a growing listener base really depends on adding diverse programming and increasing paid sponsorship.

“We’re always looking for new show ideas and hosts. Any student can get a good experience out of this, anyone who likes to talk. The hardest part is getting advertising,” said Protasio.

“Shows that get the most audience are ‘News Bucket’ and ‘True Blue,’” said Bradley Hernandez, junior mass media.

“These shows get on average 100 to 300 hits a week.”

Hernandez is the host of “True Blue,” a weekly review of electronic games and technology. He enjoys sharing his passion for gadgets and trends.

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“ I like the ability to interact with people. They can call in and talk about things they enjoy,” said Hernandez. “ I also go buy gadgets people wouldn’t necessarily buy. I can try them out before they go spend their money.”

Shaun Collins, junior mass media, is another Airbod host and a driving force behind Washburn’s student film club, TriBods. The group has 70 members. This year TriBods has sponsored three events.

“On Halloween, we did ‘War Of The Worlds,’ HG Wells original radio broadcast,” said Collins. “We also, in conjunction with the documentary film class, put on ‘Documenters.’ This off-campus event highlighted an indepth study of three short documentary films for students and the public. The group also sponsored one spring activity.

“We are kind of the voice on campus for Planet Comicon Kansas City,” said Collins. “This is the area’s largest geek fest so to speak.” Planet Comicon includes appearances by several sci-fi and comic media stars.

“I think we could really have some interesting things happen,” said Collins.

Courses add diversity

Photo by Tricia Peterson

Film and video students gather at the mass media banquet. From left, Kelly Hurla, Mike Goehring , Brad Pechenec, Jake Livgren, Douglass Knighten and Mike Ford.

New courses within the department expand curriculum

By Chloe Majors The Mass Media department continues to provide opportunities for Washburn students to explore new topics. In the Spring 2013 semester, Jae Yoon Park offered Women, Gender and Television as a Mass Media elective course.

Park proposed and designed this class as well as American Film History, which will be offered during Summer 2013.

“Women, Gender and Television examines primetime T.V. from the 1950s through present day. The class focuses on how shows have shaped or even challenged social discourses of gender and sexuality,” said Park.

The Mass Media department is working on a possible elective that would be available in the summer of 2014 at the earliest. At this time, this course has been named Media Promotions.

“The focus is how to use social media and the online world to market and promote yourself and your product,” said Park.

The Media Promotions course will be focused on content creation and how to let other people know about those creations. Students will learn public relations strategies and

may visit other Mass Media classes in order to promote the projects of other students.

“I love to encourage faculty to teach classes in subjects they are interested in--not just the regular things, but interesting topics like gender, history, creativity, etc.,” said Kathy Menzie, Mass Media department chair.

Students seem to be just as invested in their elective courses as their required courses and the level of attendance is about the same.

“Students are generally interested and passionate and take the courses seriously,” said Park.

Many things go into creating an entirely new course, such as finding an effective book and creating lesson plans.

“Now, while it is fun, it is also a lot harder--often there isn’t a book or an already established list of topics,” said Menzie. “So faculty have to work harder to plan these classes. I admire faculty who are willing to make the time commitment and who want to accept the challenges inherent in planning wonderful, interesting new courses.”

In addition to cross-listing courses from other departments, mass media continues to expand its course offerings.

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Mass Media escapes to...

Rio Carnival

Photos by Mike Goehring

Just over a 100 students and guests came out to the 2013 mass media banquet and enjoyed their meal while listening to guest speaker Michael Wunsch, co-owner of Outpost Worldwide.

Mass Media department recognizes outstanding students

By Tricia Peterson The mass media department took a trip to Rio this year for the annual banquet. Decorated with bright colors, feathers and confetti, the banquet, themed Rio Carnival, was in the Bradbury Thompson Alumni Center.

As with every year, Kathy Menzie’s Public Relations 2 class planned and ran the banquet. Amanda Narverud, senior mass media major, was part of the committee in charge of promoting the banquet and selling tickets.

“I worked with two other classmates to create materials to get the word out about the banquet,” said Narverud.

“We designed flyers that were put around campus, created a Facebook event page and sent out reminder emails to the mass media students.”

With social media and a limited budget, the class was surprised at the turnout. Narverud pointed out that students like to see who else is planning to attend so Facebook came in handy.

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“The hardest part of putting on the banquet was dealing with the very limited budget,” said Narverud. “We tried to use free forms of publicity to get the word out about the event, things like social media and word of mouth.”

This year’s guest speaker was Michael Wunsch who is the co-owner and founder of Outpost Worldwide, a content production company located in Kansas City. He spoke about his experiences in the field and gave advice to the students.

He’s had the opportunity to travel around the world and work with important stars in the film industry, such as Dick Van Dyke, Joe Montana and Andy Williams to name a few.

“This is a field you can never get tired of because every day is a new experience,” said Wunsch. “I am fortunate enough to have produced or filmed a video on every continent, except Antarctica.”

The banquet continued with Jake Livgren’s showing of his music video he filmed for JaeYoon Park’s Digital Film-

Morgan McGrath Creative Advertising

Tricia Peterson Audriana Monteith Contemporary Journalism Digital Film & Video

making 2 class. The music video featured a local band called Monk’s Wine and was filmed on Washburn’s own campus.

“We had three major assignments for the end of the semester [for Filmmaking 2], an interview, a short film and a music video,” said Livgren. “This is the fourth music video I have shot, and [my partner] helped with the live segment of the video but I [shot] all the other segments and edited it myself so it kind of became my own thing.”

Dotty Hanger, Peggy of the Flint Hills’ daughter, was a special guest who said a few words before scholarships were handed out. Peggy of the Flint Hills’s real name was Zula Bennington Greene, and she wrote a column for the Topeka Capital-Journal from 1933-1988. Scholarships are awarded annually in her honor.

Students who received scholarships included Zoe Brown, Elizabeth Burgett, Haley Heincker, Jeri Fowler, Jordan Loomis, Amanda Narverud, Ryan Ogle, Fatima Oubaid, Bradley Pechanec, Patricia Peterson and Lynh Tran.

Each year mass media faculty select an outstanding students of the year from each emphasis. Wanda Hinton was named outstanding student in public relations emphasis.

Wanda Hinton Public Relations

“I am truly honored to have been named an Outstanding Student in Public Relations,” said Hinton. “It is due to all of the excellent Mass Media faculty (especially my adviser, Dr. Kathy Menzie) and their challenging assignments.”

Other outstanding students named include Morgan McGrath, creative advertising, Audriana Monteith, digital film and video, and Tricia Peterson for contemporary journalism.

Three students, Kara Protasio, Drew Egnoske and Lynn Photo by Mike Goehring Trahn were inThe 2013 Society of Collegiate Journalist ducted into the inductees include Kara Protasio, Drew EgSociety of Colle- noske and Lynn Trahn. Maria Stover led the giate Journalists. induction ceremony.

DID YOU KNOW? 1,805 students received privately funded scholarships in 2010-2011

Save The Date!

Gifts to the Washburn University Foundation provide support for Washburn students.

April 17, 2014 Mass Media Banquet

GiveToWashburn.org

Alumni class notes

By Michelle Boltz Kate Arroyo, 2013, has been accepted to several law schools and has chosen to attend University of the District of Columbia – David A. Clarke School of Law. Kristina (Wright) Baker, 2010, is currently enlisted in the Air Force, working with radio and satellite transmissions. She married fellow Washburn alumnus Haden Baker, and resides in Japan.

Mikki Burcher, 2010 is a research associate at GO Topeka. She will continue to work on her master’s in strategic communications at KU next year.

in Beloit, and at the location in Salina, Kan. She married Blake Housh in 2011 and lives in Beloit. They are expecting their first child in July 2013.

in 2011.

keting director for NutraCenter Supplements and Vicki Estes, 1998, is direc- Probulin out of Topeka. tor of communications and Holmes, 2011, market engagement with Briana works at Heartland VisionKennedy and Coe LLC. ing, and was a finalist for Louis Bourdeau, 2007, is Sarah Farlee, 2008, is Direc- Topeka’s Association for currently enrolled in the tor of Marketing and Spe- Women Communications Masters of Criminal Justice cial Projects at High Plains 2013 Headliner Awards.

Program at Washburn.

Journal in Dodge City, Kan. Brian Dulle, 2012, is a digital media executive producer for Kansas First News.

Andrew Dunlap, 2009, is currently an account coordinator at Allebach Communications, a boutique creative agency outside of Lydia Becker-Housh, 2006, Philadelphia. He also runs an is the sales and marketing MidcoastStation.com, entertainment news and remanager and co-owner of Becker Autos and Trailers view blog that he cofounded

Anthony Fast, 2012, is Marketing Manager for Butterfly Labs in Kansas City.

Stephanie Gigous-Moore, 2005, is graphic designer/ multimedia specialist for the State of Kansas, Kansas Curtis Kitchen, 2002, curPublic Employees Retire- rently covers Kansas State football and basketball for ment Systems.

610 (KCSP) Sports in Kansas City. He is also a proTyler Graf, 2004, is corpo- duction editor for Broadcast rate accountant for Tote Inc. Engineering magazine in in Seattle, Wash.

Kansas City.

Justin Gutirrez, 2011, is self-employed as a video technician for the NHRA on ESPN2, and technical director for the NHRA on ESPN3.com.

By Mike Goehring

Jessie Salmans, Chelsey Moran, and Chelsea McDonald all mass media students showed up to the banquet to celebrate other students achievements.

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Amanda Hughes, 2000, is assistant director of university relations at Washburn University. In April 2012, she won the Student Life Achieving Excellence Award.

Kris Klima, 2005, is the Director of Admissions at Washburn University.

Amanda Klinkenberg-Bayless, 2010, works for American Family Insurance as Kate Hampson, 2010, an agent assistant. Her son, works in the Communica- Will, was born in September tions and Public Involv- 2012. ment office for the City of Fort Collins, Colo. She is a publicity and marketing Misty Kruger, 2007, is a public information officer specialist. at Shawnee County Health Agency. Kruger is also servAnna Henry, 2011, is mar-

Jitsu Academy. Merrill won two golds at the World Grappling Circuit Torque Open in Arlington, Texas, in March. He has also with teaching selfdefense and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Topeka Jiu Jitsu.

Merrill’s performance in Texas allows him to compete at the Europa Super Show Texas in Dallas in August free of charge.

He works as a special education paraprofessional for the USD 501 school district and also teaches a Photo courtesy of Corey Merrill yoga class and volunteers Corey “MOPOP” Merrill, for the Easter Seals Capper Foundation. Merrill has 2007, (left) with Marc Monaco, owner and head been writing for the WNAP Podcast Unknown. instructor at Topeka Jiu ing as vice president of the Kansas Association of Public Information Officers as well as president of the Topeka Downtown Optimist Club.

Josh Lehman, 2011, is an administrative assistant with Shawnee County Parks and Recreation. Leman also teaches beginning guitar classes.

Josh Rouse, 2012, became a Rob Welcher, 2011, is the full-time copy editor for the marketing manager for CD Topeka Capital-Journal in Tradepost.

October, 2012 Tara Schroeder, 2009, joined Trozzolo Communications group as an account manager in 2012. She is also a head instructor for the National Dance Alliance.

Leslie Welker-Kruger, 2010, is creative production assistant for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas.

Tricia White, 2008, is marketing communications specialist for Security Benefit.

Jordan Shefte, 2011, is a reporter for KAKE Television Rachel Whitten, 2010, is the in Wichita, Kan. director of communications for the speaker of the KanMallory Shehi, 2012, is sas House of Representagraphic designer for the tives.

Osage County Herald Chronicle.

Krystal Wiltz, 2008, is director of operations at Cross Melissa Sowers, 2012, the Line Church and adminis Leasing Director at istrative/marketing assistant Northrock Apartments and at Lincoln Harris. ternational) Topeka Chap- Marketing Assistant for all ter. He is also an authorized of Mid-Land Management Molly Zeckser-Howey, distributor for Etatics for the properties.

2008, is marketing and busiregion. ness development manager Beth Warrington, 2004, for GO Topeka.

Angie Marquart, 2009, is earned her master of science the campaigns coordinator degree in Criminal Justice at CivicPlus in Manhattan, from Washburn in Decem- In memory: Kan. Her daughter, Char- ber 2012. lotte Grau, was born July George Logan, a former ad26, 2012.

Ernie Webb III, 1998, will junct professor in the mass departmarried Shana Curtis in communications Ashley Nadeau, 2011, is June 2013. ment died in January 2013. marketing coordinator/ head copywriter at Personalized Brokerage Services.

Sheena LeMay-Nelssen, 2012, is a photographer for the Topeka Roadrunners hockey team and is expect- Daphne Phillips, 2012, is an ing her first child in July admissions adviser at Na2013. tional American University in Overland Park, Kan. Thad Lockard, 2008, is a sales representative for Maggie Robinson, 2009, is Kalos, Inc. in Topeka. Lock- working at Barton Commuard is also vice president of nity College in the admisRLI (Referral Leaders In- sions office.

nd special thanks A to all of our sponsors and contributors.

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Mass Media Brian Dulle

Brooke Rollison

Fall 2012 Brian Dulle Kyle Kelly Daphne Phillips Kyle Sipe Stephanie Wilhelm Sarah Williams Jared Wilson

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Kyle Kelly

Richard Kelly

Chelsea McDonald

Kyle Sipe

Sarah Williams

Ashley Sanders

Spring 2013 Katharine Arroyo Jerrica Bachmann Wahkunah Blevins Ian Edwards Michael Ford Mariauna Hernandez Patrick Jean Jordan Kelly

Matthew Kelly Richard Kelly Douglass Knighten Chelsey Moran Peter Nicklin Brooke Rollison Ashley Sanders Lynda Zook

Summer 2013 Chelsea McDonald Morgan McGrath Arissa Utemark

Grads Chelsey Moran

Daphne Phillips

Keep in touch Facebook: Search “Washburn University Mass Media�

Phone: 785-670-1836 Address: 1700 SW College Ave. Topeka, KS 66621

Jared Wilson

Arissa Utemark

E-mail:

massmedia@washburn.edu

About the Messenger

The 2013 Mass Media Messenger was produced by students in MM393 Design and Layout, taught by Regina Cassell. Class members are listed on the cover.

Design Directors: Jessie Salmans, Kiara Williams Copy Director: Michelle Boltz Cover Design: Morgan McGrath

Photo by Mike Goehring

Contributors: Mike Goehring, Caroline Hau, Emily Juhnke, Fatima Oubaid and Lynda Zook

Seniors shake the hands of the faculty at the banquet.

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