IN THIS ISSUE:
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4
Pioneer Records chooses newest artist
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6
Josh Croup shoulders the Globe
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8
Competitve cheer and dance becomes official University sport
Wednesday, Januar y 13, 2016
Issue 1
WPPJ-AM among college radio’s best for sixth straight year
Four programs recognized by Intercollegiate Broadcast System for college radio excellence By: Anthony Mendicino Co-News Editor
Four Point Park broadcasters have been recognized by the Intercollegiate Broadcast System (IBS) as among the best college broadcasters in the nation, making this the sixth straight year WPPJ 670 AM has received such nominations. The honorees, Tim Zahren, Paul Daniels, Matt Kruth and Tyler Polk will travel to New York to attend the 76th annual Intercollegiate Broadcast System (IBS) Conference and College Radio Awards ceremony March 4-6. David Fabilli, WPPJ’s advisor will accompany them. “It’s certainly gratifying, and I’m honored the people at the college broadcasting awards thought to nominate my show,” Zahren, a senior mass communication major, said. Zahren describes his talk show, “The Tim Zahren Show,” as “extremely loose and fun.” “I usually have a live audience in the studio during my show with a lot of ideas and banter among people happening,” Zahren said. “I like to create a fun environment in the studio that permeates through the airwaves.” Zahren’s show is WPPJ’s very first nomination in the “Best Talk Show” category. Daniels and Kruth are both nominated for “Best Sports Talk Program” for their work on “The Paul Daniels-Matt Kruth Show.” “Our show is called ‘PM Sports’ and we have always had fun doing the show year in and year out,” Daniels, a junior broadcast reporting and broadcast production and programming major. said. He also serves as WPPJ’s Programming Director. Daniels added, “I was surprised when Matt texted me about the nomination, because I knew the competition nationally was strong and it’s not easy to get recognized.” Daniels noted that he became nervous considering the competition for the award when Fabilli sent an email to members of WPPJ. The email, sent a week before the nominations were due to come out, said that the committee needed more time because this year’s field was so strong.
AWARDS page 2
By: Josh Croup Editor-in-Chief
photo by Liz Berie
General station manager Trever Sheets, junior broadcasting major, is doing a show in the WPPJ studio inside Lawrence Hall.
Humanities Department conducting rare study By: Anthony Mendicino Co-News Editor
A unique study being conducted by Point Park’s Humanities Department that merges psychology and urban studies will attempt to determine perceptions of well-being in the Pittsburgh region. Through the use of an online survey, Dr. Brent Robbins, chair of the Humanities Department, and Kirill Kryuchkov, a graduate student in the department are conducting the rare study. The pair hopes to identify and connect socioeconomic issues to an individual’s own perception of well-being. “It’s about well-being and the connection to one’s environment,” Kryuchkov said. “Sometimes it is easy to see what effects on well-being in terms of the human environment, the environment where we live and how to improve well-being and give some solutions.” The study will be conducted through a survey posted online. Respondents will self-report how they perceive their own well-being. That information will then be combined
with environmental factors such as socioeconomic standing and location. “How can you measure well-being?” Kryuchkov said. “I can measure it objectively if I make you feel pain. I can measure your EKG, but in that case it is not self-reported. It is more ‘how do I perceive how I feel’.” This study is a replication of a study first done by researchers in Russia. Those same researchers will be assisting Kryuchkov and Robbins in their study. “They’re there to help us. They have the software to create a map, essentially. They are able to show a geographical map and convert the scores on the well-being study so that it reflects graphically on the map,” Robbins said. The study is targeting adults ages 18-64 in Allegheny County. “We are looking at well-being and its relationship with a geographical area. So we will be able to use this inventory to assess mental and physical well-being and see if there are correlations with certain geological areas,” Robbins said.
STUDY page 2
Cheer goes varsity in 2016
photo courtesy of Sam Robinson, Point Park Athletics
Point Park cheerleaders perform cheers on the bench during a women’s basketball game against Northwestern Ohio on Nov. 6 at CCAC South. Next year, competitive cheer becomes a varsity sport. See “Cheer” on Page 8.
The second semester for most United Student Government (USG) presidents is usually the last. However current USG President Blaine King says he is only getting started. King began his second semester as USG President this spring after he was elected last March during his sophomore year. The junior broadcast reporting major plans to serve as USG President until he graduates. “We get to be consistent,” King said in a phone interview Jan. 5. “We get to work at a better pace than previous years. We will be able to continue where we left off [next year], unlike previous years where you have to start and restart.” As a student in the School of Communication, improving the way USG communicates with students is a priority for the second-semester president. “As of right now, it’s OK,” King said. “It’s not good, it’s not perfect and it’s not bad. We definitely want to improve from OK to good, and from good to great. That’s our next step. We want to be good at communicating, and by time the year’s over, we want to try and get on the cusp of being great at communication.” For Vice President Gabe Dubin, improving communication starts by increasing USG’s presence on campus. “Part of that comes from just putting ourselves out there as USG,” Dubin said in a phone interview Jan. 9. “Some people just aren’t aware that USG exists and that they have advocates to help them with their issues. In a guerilla marketing type sense, going out into the community and showing people that we care is first and foremost.” Last year, USG introduced student concern boxes across campus as a way to gather feedback from students. USG also has a presence on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and, most recently, Snapchat. Snapchat was introduced near the end of last year and is still trying to gain momentum. “We have to figure out the metrics and how people look at Snapchat,” Dubin said. “Is having a USG Snap Story something we want to do? Do we just catalog events happening on campus so people know what’s going on? It’s an interesting tool that we ourselves have to figure out the best way to utilize its capabilities.” King wants to communicate to students that he, along with the rest of USG, is open to hearing any issue a student may have. “We are working for the students; we were elected by the students. It can be about any issue - any concern a student may have that can improve their time at Point Park.” The top two concerns King said he hears are about WiFi and food service. King said he is an easy person to contact. He has an open email policy
PRESIDENT page 3
Weather Forecast Today: AM Clouds/PM Sun H 23, L 17
Student government president eyes run at second term
Thursday: Cloudy, H 41, L 31 Friday: PM Showers, H 48, L 36 Saturday: AM Light Snow, H 36, L 24
Sunday: Cloudy, H 30, L 14 Monday: Cloudy, H 27, L 17 Tuesday: Cloudy, H 26, L 15