Communicator, Fall 2016

Trailblazing Leadership Alumnae in top communications positions serve as examples, mentors for students

Dean’s Message

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think most of us would agree that it’s good to have 2016 in the books.

It was an election year in the U.S. like none other.

News on the national and international scenes was troubling. And scrutiny of the media reached a new high. Many Americans say they have become pessimists about our collective future.

I don’t share that pessimism.

Let me tell you why: Emaleigh Mowry, Garrett Ross, Kiarra Powell, Yan Huang, and Erin McCarthy.

And hundreds more – really, too many to name.

They’re students in the College who’ve crossed my path this semester. I see them in class, I hear from them by email, or I read their work in The Daily Collegian, Valley magazine or The Lion’s Roar. I see them on “Centre County Report,” the student newscast that goes to homes across the region. I also hear praise from faculty members, internship supervisors and others who work with them.

Take Emaleigh Mowry, a first-year student who took my class on “personal branding.” We focused on skills like resume building and smart social networking. Emaleigh was ahead of the game. As class valedictorian, winner of Miss Teen Pennsylvania, and author of a book about succeeding in high school, she arrived here with an impressive resume. She chose Penn State because she knows we can help her grow.

Garrett Ross and Kiarra Powell are at the other end of the Penn State journey. Both will graduate in May. They also have something else in common: an embedded travel class in our

journalism program. Garrett traveled to Rio de Janeiro as part of our Paralympic coverage team for the AP (see page 18), his first trip outside the U.S. Kiarra, who hopes to land a job in broadcast news, will head to Panama in March with the international reporting class.

Yan Huang is in our Ph.D. program.

She demonstrates the way our doctoral students bring experience, talent, and a thirst for research to the College.

Yan has published her studies on how storytelling can drive understanding of health issues. She’ll graduate this year.

You can go to our Comm Showcase (comm.psu.edu/showcase), or turn to page 24 to see an award-winning story

by Erin McCarthy, one of our senior journalism students. Erin won third place nationally in the Hearst Awards, the most prestigious college writing competition in the U.S., for her story on millennials and the Catholic Church.

As you’ll see, her story is meticulously researched and carefully written.

Our students, guided by committed faculty members, are eager to make their mark as ethical, engaged journalists in our democracy.

These students are chasing big dreams.

And they embrace the values we collectively cherish, including integrity, honesty, and courage. As our great alumnus Larry Foster put it, it’s the will to “do the right thing.”

If the students who cross my path in Carnegie are any barometer, I’m feeling good about our future.

And I hope you do, too.

When I moved into the dean’s office, I made it a goal to interact with at least one student every day. It was one of the best decisions I’ve made, because it keeps me grounded in why I’m here.

It also keeps me smiling.

Best wishes for 2017.

Dean Marie Hardin

the

Communicator The Communicator magazine is published twice a year for alumni, students, faculty and friends of the College of Communications.

DEAN Marie Hardin EDITOR Steve Sampsell (’90) ASSISTANT EDITOR Trey Miller (’12) CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Gene Foreman All items relating to the College and its faculty, staff, students and alumni will be considered for publication. Opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by the University, College or editorial staff.

CORRESPONDENCE The Communicator Penn State College of Communications 302 James Building University Park, PA 16801-3867 Email: comminfo@psu.edu Twitter: @PSUCollegeComm Web: http://comm.psu.edu

features

Rob King, vice president of SportsCenter and news for ESPN, talks with Rani Johnson during a visit to the set of the student-produced “Centre County Report” newscast.

(Photo by Trey Miller)

12 Women in leadership

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Alumnae forge ahead as leaders and role models in media industries

A matter of faith

Student Award Winner: Millennials struggle with Catholic church

30 Endowing the future

Alum’s $1M gift supports opportunities in the Penn State Washington Program

32 Lethal opportunity

TV series jump starts alum’s on-screen career, with an ironic twist

36 A media marriage

This publication is available in alternative media on request. Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to minorities, women, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and other protected groups.

Nondiscrimination: http://guru.psu.edu/ policies/AD85.html U.Ed. COM 17-69

One happy couple, two competing news outlets

DEPARTMENTS ON THE COVER Alumna Jayne Jamison, the publisher of O, The Oprah Magazine, is one of several female College of Communications alumni who have reached the highest levels in an often male-dominated communications industry. Story on page 12.

2 Dean’s Message 4 Starting Shots 42 Alumni Notes

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Penn State College of Communications

Students celebrate a Penn State touchdown against Ohio State during the teams’ Oct. 22 game, which resulted in a 24-21 victory for the Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium.

(Photo by Antonella Crescimbeni.)

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Penn State College of Communications

The one-person keelboat class competes during the 2016 Paralympic Games under the Christ The Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. Communications students covered the Paralympics as part of a partnership with The Associated Press.

More info, page 18. (Photo by Cameron Hart)

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Penn State College of Communications

Adam Lewis, a machine metal worker at the Office of Physical Plant at Penn State, stick welds an axle component. He was photographed by College of Communications student Jordan Beeche for an introductory photojournalism class project about people who work behind the scenes at the University.

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#1 Three-time #1 Three-timenational national

champion and perennial champ and perennial Top HearstJournalism Journalism Top 10 in in Hearst Awards Program“the Pulitzers Awards Program, of college journalism.�

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550 for-credit internships 3,000 undergraduates $815,000 in scholarship

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News and Notes An outstanding educator Marcia DiStaso, an associate professor in the Department of Advertising/ Public Relations, earned the 2016 Outstanding Educator Award from the Public Relations Society of America.

Digital media design program A bachelor’s degree in digital media design has been launched as a collaboration between the College of Communications and Penn State World Campus.

Faculty film screened in India “A Wing and a Prayer,” the critically acclaimed documentary by Boaz Dvir, an assistant professor in the College of Communications, was screened at India’s inaugural Library International Film Festival.

Media literacy research support Michael Schmierbach, an associate professor in the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies, earned a $10,000 research award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication to evaluate media literacy programs.

“Ripped!” on Amazon Prime The feature-length comedy “Ripped!” produced by husbandand-wife faculty filmmakers Rob Bingaman and Maura Shea, both senior lecturers in the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies, is now available on Amazon Prime, the membership-based streaming service.

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Contributors

Anna

ORSO

@anna_orso

Lives in: Philadelphia

Erin

MCCARTHY @ErinMcPSU

Job: Reporter, BillyPenn.com

Lives in: State College/ Newtown Square, Pennsylvania

In this issue: Writes about women in leadership (page 12)

Job: Penn State football intern, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Now reading: “Hillbilly Elegy” by J.D. Vance

In this issue: Her awardwinning story about millennials and their relationship with the Catholic Church (page 24)

Best advice you ever received: As a reporter, you should see yourself not as yourself, but as an extension of the reader My go-to cure for writer’s block: Writing first thing in the morning when I’m most clear-headed and surrounded by copious amounts of coffee Three things always in my fridge: Milk, cheese and white wine It’s a good day when: I’m catching up on terrible TV with my dog in my lap and a bowl of pasta in front of me

TOP THREE ARTISTS ON YOUR PLAYLIST: Right now I’m in a Kanye, Drake, The Weeknd phase

Penn State College of Communications

Big break: My high school “senior project” at the Inquirer

Jonathan

MCVERRY @wawaislife

Lives in: Lemont, Pennsylvania Job: Communications strategist, College of Communications and Arthur W. Page Center In this issue: Writes about alums Rachid and Kylie Haoues (page 36) Big break: Slogan picked for Penn State football button this fall: “All Hawk. No Action.”

Now reading: “Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape”

Best advice you ever received: If you don’t have time to do it right, you must have time to do it again

Best advice you ever received: Be yourself; everyone else is already taken

My advice to Penn State students: Learn to play an instrument, join a band, rock your heart out

My advice to Penn State students: Take advantage of all the opportunities here early and often

Three things always in my fridge: IPA, cheese and pierogies

Top three artists on your playlist: Eric Church, Kenny Chesney, Brantley Gilbert

IT’S A GOOD DAY WHEN: I laugh a lot or have a good story to read

It’s a good day when: I hear my wife’s laughter

FAVORITE CAMPUS SPOT: The incredibly nondescript benches behind Wagner Building, next to the Field Hockey Complex The Communicator | Fall 2016

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Leading

Jayne Jamison (left), publi

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Penn State College of Communications

ng by Example

isher of O, The Oprah Magazine, and previously held leadership positions at Seventeen and Redbook.

Alumnae forge paths for new generation of media professionals

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By ANNA ORSO (’14)

n 1978, Jayne Jamison traveled to New York City armed with an idea, a presentation she would deliver on an overhead projector and an automobile radio antenna she had bought at Kmart to use as a pointer.

Jamison, a senior at Penn State at the time, was heading to the big city to unveil a hypothetical advertising campaign for Sprite, one she had titled “Spriten Up Your Life.” After Jamison described her vision to a panel of professionals at the American Advertising Federation’s annual student competition, her Penn State team made it to the semifinals.

For her, it was a life-changing trip. “I was exposed to New York in that process,” said Jamison, who graduated that year with a degree in communications. “I loved the idea of getting up in front of people and giving a compelling argument.”

Less than a year later, Jamison made it back to New York for what was supposed to be a temporary gig.

This time she never left. Now she is the publisher of O, The Oprah Magazine, after having led magazines like Seventeen and Redbook.

Female publishers like Jamison are still in the minority in magazines, even though magazine staffs are among the most gender-balanced in communications. More women are studying communications at Penn State and across the country than ever before, but that education hasn’t always translated into job opportunities at the top. Leadership in the communications industries, from journalism to advertising, remains male-dominated.

Some Penn State alumnae are bucking the trend.

There is Jamison, who now works with Oprah Winfrey, perhaps the most successful female media maven in the world. And Kathleen Pavelko, president and CEO of WITF public broadcasting in central Pennsylvania, who got her start conducting interviews at what is now WPSU. And Diane Salvatore,

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who became a notorious figure on Penn State’s campus after writing a controversial column about Greek life for The Daily Collegian; today, she leads Consumer Reports. And Kathy Heasley, who went to Phoenix as a rookie media buyer in 1988 and now runs her own advertising firm there. And Linda Yaccarino, who started at NBC as an intern in the 1980s and now is one of the most highly placed women at NBC and Comcast.

These women and Penn State graduates like them are trailblazers, pushing back against an industry tradition that seems to be saying that, even in 2016, women can’t be leaders. It is a notion that Jamison rejects. “I never really felt that my gender was a roadblock to my advancement,” she said.

the chance to go to the United Kingdom and freelance for The Times, a British daily newspaper based in London that ceased operations in a labor dispute at the end of that year. Pavelko vividly remembers covering the royal wedding of the year in October 1978 when the Duke of Westminster (the late head of the Grosvenor family, one of the wealthiest in Great Britain) was marrying Natalia Ayesha Phillips. Pavelko fearlessly positioned herself at the front door and asked the names of everyone who walked in.

But it was back home in central Pennsylvania that Pavelko figured out how she wanted to use her sense of curiosity. She returned to State College and got a job as a writer, not at a newspaper but at Penn **** State’s public television Journalism and station, WPSX, and the communications public radio station, schools across the WPSU. After Pavelko country have seen a had worked a year on dramatic increase in a legislative roundfemale students over up show, then-genthe last two decades, eral manager John and female students Grant (who went on to have nationally been become the executive the majority of commuproducer of the “Readnications students ing Rainbow” children’s since the early 1980s. show on PBS) asked Women have composed her if she’d like to host more than 60 percent her own live interview of the student body in show on WPSX. Penn State’s College of She accepted. “I was Communications over too green,” she said, “to the last five years. In be as scared as I should the 2015 fall semeshave been.” ter, 69 percent of the The show was called College’s students were “State of the Weather, women. Dean Marie Kathleen Pavelko, president and CEO of WITF-TV in Harrisburg, started her career in front Shape of the World,” Hardin said the influx of the camera but eventually found a passion for being in charge of the content. and Penn State public of women in communibroadcasting had been cations is a nationwide airing it in one way or “cultural trend.” another since the 1950s. The show had morphed into a half-hour Yet, in 2012, women held just 23 percent of leadership jobs program that went live every night, Monday through Friday. It in “journalism and related media,” according to the Colorado often started with Pavelko introducing meteorologist Joel Myers Women’s College 2013 study “Benchmarking Women in Leader- – who would found AccuWeather and serve as a Penn State ship in the United States.” trustee – and he would do the weather for six minutes. Then Television and radio have been the slowest to respond to the he would throw it back to Pavelko for 20 minutes or so of intergrowing presence of women in the news business. In the 1960s, views and video packages. women made up 4.7 percent of radio and television newsroom Pavelko loved it. She had hoped to eventually become an staffs, according to the 2007 edition of the book “Women in on-air talent, like Barbara Walters or Connie Chung, for a Mass Communications.” However, in the early 1970s, that started national news program. But she was attracted to the idea of to change. Between 1972 and 1976, when the women’s movement planning her own show. She moved through the ranks at WPSU, was strengthening, “the number of stations where newswomen becoming the chief operating officer in 1994 and taking charge were on the air had more than tripled,” according to the book. of a $2 million-plus budget.

And it was around that time when Kathleen Pavelko, who “I liked being in charge of the content,” she said. “On-air talent went on to graduate from Penn State with a master’s degree in is in charge of nothing usually. I didn’t want to sign up for a journalism in 1979, was getting some of her first – albeit uncon- career disappointment to be sidelined.” ventional – journalism experience.

She left Penn State Public Broadcasting in 1996 and accepted a Pavelko was nearing the end of writing her master’s thesis job in Fargo, N.D., running Prairie Public Broadcasting, a station when she had the opportunity to live in London for a year while looking for a business turnaround. While there, she creather husband, Eugene N. Borza, was on sabbatical from his job as ed North Dakota Public Radio, the first statewide public radio a history professor at Penn State. It was 1978, and she jumped at network in North Dakota. By 1999, she got the chance to come

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“What’s exciting about loving what you do is you literally do feel like ‘Wow, I just got started.’ And there’s so much left to be done.”

— Diane Salvatore at first. Central Pennsylvania was far different from home, which was Queens borough in New York City.

She distinctly remembers doing poorly on an assignment in a basic reporting class in which she was supposed to identify the most important news in a list of facts and write a story about it. The news was that a person was airlifted to a local hospital after being injured. Being from New York, Salvatore never realized that being airlifted to a hospital was an extraordinary event then in central Pennsylvania.

She also remembers the most significant thing she wrote while at Penn State – the Daily Collegian column in which she described the sorority rushing process in detail. She knew those details because she’d gone through rush. Undercov**** er.

Women have broken into In January 1981, Salvatore leadership in magazines more wrote about her experience than anywhere else in media. as an “ex-rushee” in which she According to the Status of described rush parties and Women in the U.S. Media 2014 an insular Greek culture. She report, 43 percent of leaders at wrote that the sorority sisters magazines were female. “are not political, and about Diane Salvatore, who gradpolitics they’re not concerned.” uated from Penn State in 1981 Salvatore criticized the Greek with a bachelor’s degree in system for perpetuating journalism, is among them. Now stereotypes of women and for the editor in chief of Consumer having “too long stood in politReports, Salvatore has run the ical silence.” gamut of leadership positions Predictably, the column Diane Salvatore, editor of Consumer Reports, says her career has been at magazines like Ladies’ Home “competitive” and strenuous” but she would not trade what she has stirred reactions from sororiJournal, Glamour, Redbook and done for any other career path. ties angered by the criticisms.

Good Housekeeping.

The Collegian received dozens While at Ladies’ Home Journal, she interviewed presidents, and she tells stories of what it’s of letters. “I became something of a notorious figure on campus like pulling up to the White House and being ushered into grand, for a bit,” Salvatore recalled. “But it certainly made me apprecihistoric rooms she had only read about before. Salvatore inter- ate kind of the power of observation and how one has to, in fact, viewed Bill Clinton (who she says gives deep, lyrical answers to be thoughtful when you’re doing point-of-view reporting.”

That lesson is one she took with her all the way to Ladies’ everything), George W. Bush (who is more interested in banter and getting to know people) and Barack Obama (whose books Home Journal, where, in the 1980s while she was an associate editor, she wrote a feature story about kids who had been kicked she studied relentlessly in preparation).

“When you sit down” with a president, she explained, “it does out of their homes and relegated to living in train stations in become ‘OK, this is a human being.’ You have to remind yourself New York. Salvatore spent nine months identifying and getting to know children and teenagers with troubled pasts. you’re representing these millions of readers.”

Embedding with sororities at Penn State and with troubled But before the glitz of the White House and the big-time interviews, Salvatore was a Penn State student who didn’t fit in kids in New York were different experiences, but each group

home to Pennsylvania and work at WITF, the PBS/NPR affiliate in Harrisburg, where she is the president and CEO today.

For many of the most important aspects of her life, Pavelko credits Penn State.

“It gave me my education and my profession,” she said.

“It was the venue at which I met and married my husband.

And it was a place I lived very happily for a large chunk of time.”

Even in public radio, women are underrepresented, according to “Women in Mass Communications.” Data from the American Society of News Editors show that in 2014, women made up just 23 percent of radio news directors nationwide.

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represented a micro-community of sorts. Salvatore said that in each story she cultivated relationships with her sources and spent time trying to understand the culture she was writing about. Also, in each story she worked toward the ultimate goals of achieving objectivity and, as Salvatore says, “seeing yourself as a large floodlight” to illuminate an issue her readers may never have experienced.

Today, she’s proud to run a magazine that many Americans consult before they buy cars, washers, televisions or practically any other consumer product. The magazine employs a staff of technicians who test and rate the products. In order to protect its independence, the magazine accepts no advertising and refuses to allow manufacturers to promote its ratings. She became editor-inchief in 2015 and was inducted this year into the hall of fame created by “min” (magazine industry news).

The authors of “Women in Mass Communications” wrote that women “still have not reached parity with men in the newsroom” and are leaving journalism at a faster rate than men. Salvatore says she doesn’t see herself doing that anytime soon.

“I do feel very fortunate to have known what I wanted to do and to have developed an aptitude to do it,” she said. “It was a very competitive career. It’s a very strenuous thing to do. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

that out on his own.)

“I had good leadership” at McCann Erickson, she said. “I was a quick learner, so I learned and I did it. That skill is what I’m doing today. I’m never going to let a plate fall on the floor and break. I don’t care how many I have in the air. I will never let one break.”

For the last 22 years, Heasley has owned and operated Heasley & Partners, a branding firm in Phoenix that pushes the idea of “Heart and Mind Branding.” That’s a concept Heasley came up with after learning how vicious the advertising and public relations field can be. She says the industry can feel like a “heartless environment,” one that’s often more competitive than collaborative.

So Heasley strove to create an environment that pushes core values of honesty, kindness and collaboration.

“I wanted to create a company where I could prove that you could be nice and successful at the same time,” she said.

****

Women who graduate from communications schools are leaning more toward advertising and PR than ever before. In 2012, women media graduates landed more advertising and PR jobs than men, according to the most recent Survey of Journalism and Mass Communications Graduates. In public relations, women make up 63 percent of PR specialists and 59 percent of PR managers, the Bureau of Labor **** Statistics data reports.

Kathy Heasley, who graduated The imbalance in leadership is in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in more acute in advertising. Women advertising, was 24 years old when have been largely absent when it she began working as a media comes to leading advertising firms. buyer in Phoenix. Her office was a A 2013 survey by Advertising Age and Kathy Heasley has gone from a ‘green media buyer’ to one-woman outpost of the famed the Interpublic Group showed that McCann Erickson agency. She was owner of a branding company that strives to implement and value collaboration, honesty and kindness. more than two-thirds of ad agenrunning an entire media market, cy heads are men, while half the specifically handling the Coca-Cola ad-agency workers are women. bottler account.

Those who led the survey wrote: “The IPG/Ad Age survey Soon after she started the job, she sat in a meeting room with found that three-quarters of female staffers in the U.S. marketa group of colleagues and a client who hadn’t yet met her. ing industry said gender diversity is a problem for the ad indus“I have reservations about this green media buyer coming into try – and of that group, two of every five respondents termed it the market,” the client announced, talking about Heasley but not not just a problem, but ‘a major problem.’ ” realizing she was present. He went on and on about how his Some women are breaking through this barrier. Linda Yaccacompany didn’t know if that media buyer was any good. When rino, who graduated from Penn State in 1985 with a degree in the meeting ended, Heasley found herself alone in the room telecommunications, landed an internship at NBC while she was with the man who had been skeptical about her. a student. She credits that first job to her identity as a Penn “With all of my 24 years of strength and courage, I walked up,” Stater, rather than as an Ivy League student or someone studyshe recalled. “And I said ‘Hi, Rick. We haven’t met yet. My name ing in New York City. is Kathy. And I’m your green media buyer.’ ” “I was a unique candidate compared to what they were usual“Rick” was understandably stunned. He apologized, and Heasly getting at that time,” she said. “They were like, ‘Who is this ley told him he had nothing to be worried about. (Actually, she young woman candidate who is from Penn State University? We walked out of the room thinking that he truthfully had everydon’t see people like that.’ ” thing to be worried about. But she was going to let him figure Today, she is the chairman of advertising sales and client

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Penn State College of Communications

Linda Yaccarino, chairman of advertising sales and client partnerships at NBCUniversal, regularly returns to campus for recruiting efforts and mentoring opportunities with College of Communications students. (Photo by Jackie Friedman) partnerships at NBCUniversal. When she visits her alma mater, she tells students one of the most important parts about her job is just staying grounded – even when she’s doing things like posing at a September Advertising Week event with superstar Kim Kardashian and Bravo TV host Andy Cohen.

“They talk about two things: the steak and sizzle of the business,” she said, referring to the difference between substance and image. “And you can very easily get caught up in the sizzle, which is a dangerous lure. And you have to really remind yourself what you’re here to do.”

****

Jayne Jamison wasn’t the first woman to run a major magazine. But she was one of the first women to do it while also raising children.

She was working in sales at Family Circle in 1988 when she had her first child, a daughter. After her daughter was born, Jamison became the first person at the magazine to come back to work after maternity leave.

Since then, there have been some significant additions to her resume: Publisher of Parent and Child. Publisher of Redbook.

Publisher of Seventeen. Now, publisher of O, The Oprah Magazine.

She also had a son in 1991. Jamison says now she tries to “bend over backwards” to accommodate working mothers at the magazine. “Maybe,” she said, “I was a little bit of a trailblazer.”

****

Significant challenges remain for women in communications.

The media industry itself faces its own existential crisis amid a revolution in the way information is disseminated.

“The times are very different and the challenges are very different,” Kathleen Pavelko said. “The media world is in significant turmoil in a way that it was not, at least early on in my career.”

Marie Hardin, who became dean of the College of Communications in 2014, said young women who aspire to lead in the communications field need to have role models. She said she was surprised at how many female students told her they were eager to be part of the College of Communications under a female dean. Beyond that, female students who aspire to certain careers can look to Penn Staters who have cleared a path for them.

“We’ve got these well-placed women at a time when we need them,” Hardin said.

Each of those role models has delivered advice to students over the years, whether it is during a visit to a classroom or as commencement speaker, a role filled in 2014 by Yaccarino and in 2015 by Jamison. It boils down to ignoring precedent, striving for progress, and holding onto a sense of fearlessness and a sense of self.

“What’s exciting about loving what you do,” Salvatore said, “is you literally do feel like ‘Wow, I just got started.’ And there’s so much left to be done.” l

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Education in Action

Embracing an opportunity For a group of College of Communications student journalists, covering the Rio Paralympics for The Associated Press in September provided an unrivaled opportunity.

Nine students from the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism and four members of the faculty, including Dean Marie Hardin, made the trip to cover the second-largest international multi-sport event in the world.

Their work was part of a partnership with the AP and student journalists from the University of Georgia. During a week on location, the students produced numerous articles that were published by outlets such as The Washington Post, The New York Times and ESPN. Fifty-two American reporters were credentialed to document the games — and 13 of those credentials were for the Penn State contingent. With its work in this latest partnership (others have been around the high-profile sporting events), the Curley Center continued its mission to provide hands-on experience for students.l

More info: comm.psu.edu/sports

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Penn State College of Communications Penn State College of Communications

Photos by (clockwise from top center): Antonella Crescimbeni, Antonella Crescimbeni, Will Yurman, Cameron Hart and Will Yurman.

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Faculty/Staff News

Interdisciplinary Impact

Institute for Information Policy thrives thanks to collegiality and diverse expertise

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fter years of experience on Capitol Hill, Sascha Meinrath knows the dance, the push and pull of information, the longing for influence by those on the outside and the sometimes stiff-armed approach to outsiders by to those in control.

It’s not a recipe for success for those without power and influence. And it’s rarely a place where those without an agenda even venture.

Still, Meinrath, previously named among the “Tech 40” as one of the most influential figures in technology by Time magazine and who joined Penn State as the Palmer Chair in Telecommunications in 2015, thinks he found something special at Penn State when he became a faculty member.

“Collaborating with the people involved with the Institute for Information Policy, and the commitment of the College of Communications itself, was a big part of my decision to come here,” Meinrath said. “The interdisciplinary approach and the varied perspectives of those associated with IIP are an example of the approach we need for many issues going forward.”

That approach plays pretty well on Capitol Hill, too. That’s why the Institute and those associated with it have been regular contributors to national conversations.

In September 2016, IIP partnered with Penn State Law and George Washington University on a three-day, invitation-only workshop about cybersecurity in Washington, D.C. Earlier in the year, the topic was a national research agenda for broadband and IIP was specifically identified by the National Science Foundation to organize a workshop on the topic.

Crafted as a collaboration of the College of Communications and the College of Information Sciences and Technology, the IIP draws its personality from co-directors who complement each other with different backgrounds and varied research interests. They rank as respected international experts in their fields, and they share a purposeful approach to their work.

“A lot of it is just getting people in the same room, sharing ideas, finding intersections for our work and examining ways to collaborate or, just as importantly, make a difference,” said Krishna Jayakar, co-director and an associate professor of telecommunications.

Much of his research examines accessibility while fellow co-director Carleen Maitland has worked with refugee populations and, more recently, Native Americans.

“When you see that exchange of ideas and the different perspectives we bring to the table, it’s exciting,” Maitland said. “In addition to reaching out to policy makers, we do have this shared ethos of social benefit. We’re all concerned with making sure everybody benefits from technological innovations.

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Penn State College of Communications

Co-directors Krishna Jayakar (above), Carleen Maitland (top right) and Amit Schejter provide a diversity of interests and internationally respected expertise that make the Institute for Information a respected source of collaborators and scholars for policy makers.

“We believe strongly that we don’t benefit as a society if the weakest and most marginalized groups don’t benefit as well. And, we’re invested. You can’t remain in your bubble.

You have to go to the refugee camp in Jordan or to places that are not so easy to get to in order to understand what’s happening. Then, the other big part of that is what we bring back to our teaching and in our position as role models for our students that can translate in the classroom.”

As IIP’s leaders expand their horizons, reach out and strive to understand how technology is impacting people, the Institute’s reputation also attracts others, in Washington, D.C., and across the world who want to be partners. For example, a workshop in London titled “Freedom of Information in Crisis Zones” was IIP’s first international session in 2016.

Additionally, the Institute’s reputation means other academics (at places like the University of California at Santa Barbara, Michigan State and Texas, in particular) and policy makers alike appreciate its work.

Jayakar believes collegiality and an open-minded approach, a commitment to getting people together and discussing things from a variety of angles, defines IIP and makes it just a little different from other similar research centers. He said it’s “extremely rare” for a non-partisan group to have the opportunities IIP has earned, and to have earned the reputation it has. That’s in part because of the obvious expertise

Cybersecurity represents just one area of expertise for members of the Institute for Information Policy. and talent of those affiliated with IIP and because of its willingness to address a variety of timely topics.

A book edited by IIP co-director Amit Schejter, “ ... And Communications for All” (2009), was an effort by 16 leading scholars to present a comprehensive telecommunications policy agenda for President Barack Obama during his second term. That expertise will be just as valuable when Donald Trump becomes president. Overall, Schejter’s research focuses on regulatory responses to the introduction of new technologies and their effect on the public interest, minority rights, the unequal distribution of communication resources and the silencing of the public’s voice, in particular that of members of marginalized communities.

There’s enough depth to his work, and all of those associated with IIP, to provide ample room for collaboration and, ultimately, a meaningful impact.

Rob Frieden, the Pioneers Chair and professor of telecommunications and law at Penn State, believes IIP succeeds because it’s “nimble.” “It’s not easy to bring together an outreach agenda and a research agenda,” Frieden said.

“They’re filling a niche and thriving because they’re bringing together a lot of different people from different constituencies, whether it’s for conferences, paper presentations or something else.”

Still, IIP’s biggest impact goes beyond papers and presenta-

tions. Its true impact comes because its researchers provide context for policy makers. And, because they do so without an agenda, it has a special value.

As a result, IIP’s work goes beyond traditional measures.

Because IIP’s leaders and contributors interact with colleagues nationally and internationally, as well as federal agencies, legislators and others in positions of power, they get a different type of confirmation of the Institute’s work.

“When you hear from that community, that policy making community, it’s different than measuring citations or having a journal article,” Maitland said. “There’s not a quantitative count. What we usually get is, ‘Thank you, that was helpful.’”

So, it’s a matter of quality first -- although the quantity and volume of the work by those associated with IIP seems to increase annually.

For Meinrath, who has seen exchange of information on Capitol Hill from both sides, first as someone based in the nation’s capital trying to affect change and more recently as a presenter sharing ideas and providing “translation” without an agenda, IIP’s impact is clear.

“It’s the kind of necessary voice that has to be part of discussions, “ he said. “There are some very important topics that need addressed and it’s valuable to have voices contributing to the discussion, and in the room for the discussion, the provide necessary context and perspective.” l

“The interdisciplinary approach and the varied perspectives ... are an example of what we need.”

— Sascha Meinrath

The Communicator | Fall 2016

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Faculty/Staff News

SELFIE ESTEEM Link found between selfie viewing and decreased self-esteem Frequent viewing of “selfies” through social network sites like Facebook is linked to a decrease in self-esteem and life satisfaction, according to College of Communications researchers.

“Most of the research done on social network sites looks at the motivation for posting and liking content, but we’re now starting to look at the effect of viewing behavior,” said Ruoxu Wang, a doctoral candidate in mass communications.

Viewing behavior is called “lurking” when a person does not participate in posting or liking social content, but is just an observer. This form of participation in social media may sound like it should have little effect on how humans view themselves, but the study, published online in the journal Telematics and Informatics, revealed the exact opposite.

Wang and Fan Yang, also a graduate student in mass communications, conducted an online survey to collect data on the psychological effects of posting and viewing selfies and “groupies.” They worked with Wang’s graduate adviser, Michel Haigh, an associate professor of advertising/public relations.

Posting behavior did not have significant psychological effects for participants. Viewing behavior did.

They discovered the more often people viewed their own and others’ selfies, the lower their level of self-esteem and life satisfaction.

“People usually post selfies when they’re happy or having fun,” said Wang. “This makes it easy for someone else to look at these pictures and think his or her life is not as great as theirs.”

Those participants categorized as having a strong desire to appear popular were even more sensitive to selfie and groupie viewing.

In this case, however, selfie and groupie viewing behavior increased the self-esteem and life satisfaction for these participants, likely because this activity satisfied the participants’ desires to appear popular, according to the researchers.

Wang and Yang hope their work can raise awareness about social media use and the effect it has on viewers of people’s social networks.

“We don’t often think about how what we post affects the people around us,” said Yang. “I think this study can help people understand the potential consequences of their posting behavior. This can help counselors work with students feeling lonely, unpopular, or unsatisfied with their lives.” l

“People usually post selfies when they’re happy or having fun. This makes it easy for someone else to look at these pictures and think his or her life is not as great as theirs.”

— Ruoxu Wang

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Penn State College of Communications

Faculty/Staff News

Cool features draw users to Pinterest Cool features with easy-to-follow instructions that provide control and community may keep Pinterest users pinning, liking and inviting, according to researchers, who add that these behaviors may reveal new ways people are using the web and social media.

In a study, Pinterest users indicated that the uniqueness of the site and the hand-holding support (scaffolding) were among the gratifications that predicted whether people added (or pinned) content to their Pinterest boards, according to Ruoxu Wang, a doctoral candidate in mass communications.

“Pinterest is a relatively new social media, so we thought this might be an interesting place to examine uses and gratifications,” said Wang. “What we found is that a range of new gratifications can predict different Pinterest behaviors, such as pinning.”

The researchers, who reported their findings in Social Media + Society, added that the desire for scaffolding, or simple-to-follow navigation, significantly predicts pinning behavior among users.

“The interface of Pinterest is very intuitive to use,” said Wang. “If you see some interesting pictures or videos to pin, you know you can easily pin them to your boards, following a simple step-by-step procedure.”

Pinterest’s layout and features, particularly the ability to continually scroll to find new content, may also influence users to pin, according to the researchers.

“People who said they used the medium because of its coolness thought that Pinterest is unique, distinctive and stylish,” said S. Shyam Sundar, Distinguished Professor of Communications and co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory housed in the College of Communications. “And those people also score high on how often they pin search and explore this site.”

Wang said that pinning may be considered a more unique and novel activity compared to the sharing and liking behaviors on other social media sites, such as Facebook.

“Pinning is more of an exhibition of one’s collection and interests,” said Wang. “You can pin to your own account, so people can see the pins that you collected, if you make your profile page public.”

Pinterest users tend to pin artistic displays, photographs, recipes and crafts, according to the researchers.

“If you see something on the internet and it pertains to your interests, you can pin it to your account,” said Wang. “For instance, I’m very interested in graphic and web design, so I use Pinterest as a collecting tool for good designs and layouts. I have created a board called ‘Design Inspiration’ on

my Pinterest account, and whenever I see good designs, I put them on that board.”

Sundar said the popularity of Pinterest reinforces the idea that visuals are driving more online behaviors.

“I think Pinterest is the epitome of the visual turn that the internet took about three or four years ago where things became much more about visual media, as highlighted by the stunning success of photo apps like Instagram and Snapchat,” said Sundar.

Visual content tends to add to the credibility of the medium because “seeing is believing,” he added.

In this study, participants scoring high on the realism gratification were more likely to engage in a variety of community-oriented behaviors, such as checking, commenting and inviting others to one’s board.

Pinterest attracted the researchers because, as a newer social media, it might help better explore how people use new types of media and what forms of gratifications they receive from the interaction. In the past, people used media as sources of information, entertainment, and escape, to name a few.

However, Sundar said that as the number of web technologies increased, researchers began to look for new explanations of new media uses and gratifications.

For the study, the researchers recruited 113 participants to take a survey to report on how and why they used Pinterest, including uses and gratifications measures such as coolness, scaffolding, bandwagon, interactivity and novelty. l The Communicator | Fall 2016

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Pope Francis reads the Lord’s Prayer as spectators watch a screen in Philadelphia. (Photo by Cameron Hart)

A Matter of Faith Despite presence of a popular pope, millennials struggle with the church

By ERIN McCARTHY (’17)

H

eels peeling off the concrete as they pushed up on their toes and strained to see, people of all ages, colors and dress pressed against the fence-like metal barriers lining Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Some had been there since 5 a.m., but on the warm, sunny afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 27, they were all waiting patiently for Pope Francis to arrive to celebrate Mass in front of the Philadelphia Museum

24

Penn State College of Communications

of Art. Parents were there with children perched on their shoulders. So were people wearing outfits custom-designed for the occasion, such as the woman in a dress made from stitched-together World Meeting of Families logos. And there were teens with eyes fixed on cell phones they used to scroll Twitter, text or play games.

As they waited, some of the faithful ate soft pretzels or slices of pizza. Others napped on blankets in the shade of trees.

Half an hour before the distinguished

Editor’s Note: Erin McCarthy, a senior majoring in journalism, earned second place nationally in the features category of the William Randolph Hearst

Foundation’s

Journalism

Awards Program with this story about millennials and their faith. McCarthy (box, page 25) was also named a Murray Scholar in 2016.

guest would finally drive by in his Popemobile, a cheer broke out – a kind usually heard at football games, not religious gatherings.

“I say Pope! You say Francis!” ordered a man who was among an energetic group of twentysomethings.

Award Winner “Pope!”

“Francis!”

“Pope!”

“Francis!”

The leader yelled again: “I say Catholic!

You say Church!”

“Catholic!

“Church!”

“Catholic!

“Church!”

Their voices echoed around the Parkway, which leads about a mile to the Museum of Art and the steps Rocky Balboa famously climbed.

Behind this rambunctious bunch sat Penn State graduate Jackie Youngers, 22, of Perkasie, and Mary Plunkett, 21, of Horsham. From their lawn chairs, they couldn’t see much. Hundreds of standing spectators blocked their view of the altar and the huge television screens that would stream the 4 p.m. Mass. The women said they didn’t mind that their view was obstructed.

“It’s part of history,” Youngers said. “We wanted to be part of it, be part of everything.”

In the millennial demographic, of which Youngers and Plunkett are part, the divide is most apparent. Research shows that members of this generation are increasingly likely to be nonparticipating church members or to consider themselves among the religiously unaffiliated.

The Pew Research Center defines a millennial as someone born after 1980, making the current Millennial between the ages of 18 and 35.

Youngers and Plunkett and thousands of others were gathered for glimpses of the pontiff, who was making his first U.S. visit. This was the second of his two days in Philadelphia and the last day of a week’s journey that also included stops in New York City and Washington, D.C. While in the United States, the pope spoke about forgiveness at a prison and engaged in conversations with victims of priests’ child sexual abuse.

Explaining her affection for Pope Francis, Plunkett said he was “kind and relatable.” Young people, she said, are attracted to those qualities.

Youngers and Plunkett grew up in Catholic households. They are still Cath-

olics, but they acknowledge that they aren’t practicing their religion as actively as they once did.

Like many other millennials, they are drawn to Pope Francis, with his warm smile and a point of view that seems more forgiving than his predecessors. “Based on what my friends post on Facebook, people like him,” Plunkett said.

But not even these qualities have brought Youngers and Plunkett back to the religious dedication of their youth.

The media portray him positively, Youngers said, but she thinks the news coverage often fails to address a pivotal question: Will Pope Francis bring young people to the Church or draw the disenchanted back to their religion?

Answering that question herself, Youngers said, “I don’t think so.” Her voice trailed off.

“But I think positive things about him.” l l l l l Anne Rose, a distinguished professor of history and religious studies at Penn State, said she thinks often about Millennial and their relationship with organized religion, particularly their relationship with the Catholic Church.

“It may be that millennials are unaffiliated more often than in the past, but there are reasons to be cautious about this conclusion,” Rose said.

More than a third of people ages 18 to 29 identify as religiously unaffiliated, according to the Pew Research Center’s 2014 Religious Landscape Survey. That’s an increase of 10 percentage points from 2007. Meanwhile, only 16 percent of millennials identify as Catholic, down from 22 percent in 2007.

Rose pointed out that religious affiliation for all other age groups has decreased in the last 10 years as well, according to the Pew survey and others.

Pew senior researcher Jessica Hamar Martinez said her organization’s findings during the past decade have shown millennials’ allegiances to organized religion differ not only from groups today such as Generation X (now ages 35 to 50) and Baby Boomers (now ages 51 to 69), but also from younger demographics in previous decades.

“The millennials right now are less

McCarthy’s work earns recognition Senior journalism major Erin McCarthy earned recognition in two separate national writing competitions in 2016.

She competed in the individual national championships of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program — often referred to as “the Pulitzers of college journalism” — and ultimately finished third in the national writing championship in San Francisco.

In addition, her essay about the Penn State All-Sports Museum and how it addressed the legacy of football coach Joe Paterno, earned her a $5,000 scholarship in a competition conducted by the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation.

McCarthy, one of five students honored nationally this year, became the sixth Penn State student since 2007 to be named a Murray Scholar through the competitive national program.

“It definitely means a ton to me,” said McCarthy. “I had known about Jim Murray before I had even been told about me being nominated for the scholarship. He’s such a legend in the industry. It’s such an honor to represent (Jim Murray), first of all, and also to be named among the Penn Staters who have won this.”

In her essay, McCarthy argued that a museum should provide as much context as possible on any matter and allow visitors to make decisions themselves.

Along with her work at The Daily Collegian, McCarthy has held five internships during her time as a student. l

The Communicator | Fall 2016

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affiliated than each current generation and less affiliated than each generation was when they were that age,” she said.

At San Diego State University, psychology professor Jean Twenge organized one of the largest surveys on religious organization and published the results in May. She and her colleagues analyzed 11.2 million responses of young people over the last six decades. They found that millennials are the least religious generation in at least the last 60 years.

Twenge’s research showed that millennials pray less and are more likely to be turned off by religion. When compared to the 1990s, about 20 percent fewer college students identified themselves as “above average” in spirituality.

Hamar Martinez said Pew’s research has not delved into specific issues that may draw people to or from the Catholic Church or organized religion in general, but she said a 2007 study did indicate that millennials were “gradually drifting away.”

Rose warned against pigeonholing a specific set of beliefs as “Catholic beliefs” that may attract or turn away young people.

The Church’s doctrines on contraception, same-sex marriage, divorce, abortion, women in the priesthood, and doctor-assisted suicide have drawn some public criticism. But if people disagree with a Church’s stance on certain issues, Rose said, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will leave a religion in which they are already invested.

“On doctrines that you might not find reasonable, you can either keep quiet about them or openly question,” Rose said. “And Catholics do both.”

Pope Francis became the 266th pope in 2013. By many, he is viewed as a refreshing contrast to what some see as the rigid dogma of the Catholic Church. He is 78 years old, but he has touched a nerve with younger generations. While Pope Benedict XVI, Francis’ predecessor, had a more modest Twitter presence, Pope Francis has 7.5 million followers. Francis has voiced opinions that contradict traditional teachings of the Catholic Church. For example, about homosexuality, he said, “Who am I to judge?” He washes people’s feet. He lives modestly, choosing not to reside in the luxurious papal residence.

Francis’ views could at some point lead to changes in doctrine, Rose said, but the process of changing Church doctrine is

long and arduous. She said some may not fully understand the power – or lack of power – that the pope has to effect meaningful change. l l l l l When a SEPTA train finally rolled into the Paoli station about 20 miles west of Philadelphia on the Sunday of Pope Francis’ visit, it was greeted by a cheer from the 200 or so people standing in line to get aboard. The time spent in line had bonded folks from different walks of life, some from the Philadelphia suburbs and

adelphia, Lambert talked about religion.

He reflected on his attraction to a life devoted to the Church. Growing up in the country’s evangelical Bible Belt, he attended a high school with about 4,000 students. Only three others were Catholics – one of whom was his sister, he said with a laugh.

“I had to defend my faith a lot,” Lambert said.

He said he made that faith “my own at a very young age.” He continued, “It was a love story. He called me and I listened.”

When he was 13, he went on a religious retreat to ski in New Hampshire and fell in love the idea of dedicating his life to the priesthood, he said.

After high school he joined the seminary and spent several years studying in Rome. During that time, he served a Christmas Eve mass for Pope John Paul II and spent time with Pope Benedict XVI. Lambert said Pope Francis can speak to young people, such as Michael Lorey, an 18-year-old who was traveling with Lambert.

Lorey said, “He knows how to connect with people in every age.

He knows how to talk to young people and old people.”

The group of Legionaries had seen Pope Francis during his first stop in Washington before driving to the Philadelphia area on Friday.

Despite declining participation and scandal, Lambert said he is confident in the Church’s future. What the Catholic faith offers, he said, is what everyone inherently searches for: “The faith comes with each person’s own experience with God. It’s a fullness of life we desire.” Material things such as a car or a big house, he said, don’t make people truly satisfied.

Lambert thinks young people are looking for what it means to be a good, moral person – “I think they’re drawn to beauty and to the goodness.”

“On doctrines that you might not find reasonable, you can either keep quiet about them or you can openly question.

And Catholics do both.”

— Anne Rose, distinguished professor

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others from different parts of the world.

As they dispersed into different silver cars, they said goodbye like old friends.

Dressed in black, his white clerical collar making him stand out, the Rev. Jeremy Lambert ducked into one of the cars. His eyes lit up and the corners of his mouth curved into a wide smile, and he was animated as he struck up conversations with those seated near him.

Lambert is 32 but wears an expression younger than his years. Lambert, an Atlanta native who now lives in Washington, is a member of a community of Legionaries of Christ. The Legionaries used to be a powerful religious order within the Catholic Church. But in the early 2000s, with rampant child sexual abuse by priests discovered in many dioceses across the country, the Legionaries were not spared. Their founder was discovered to have sexually abused young seminarians, to have conducted relationships with multiple women, and to have fathered children, several of whom he abused as well.

Traveling to the pope’s Mass in Philadelphia, five ordained and lay members of this community sat together in a middle train car.

As the train made its way toward Phil-

l l l l l Around Philadelphia’s massive and ornate 30th Street Station, just before the papal Mass, the city felt eerily empty.

There were no cars on the streets. At every corner, police officers stood guard.

Metal barricades directed visitors to the Parkway.

“Get your pope flags!” yelled a street vendor. “Best Pope Ever” read the buttons one man raised above his head on a piece

Award Winner of cardboard.

High school and college students walked together in large groups. In contrast to the widespread criticism of the city’s security precautions as excessive, many of these pilgrims talked among themselves about their respect and gratitude for the event organizers.

Some thanked fatigue-clad National Guard troops as they passed them on the sidewalk.

Inside the secure area, Deirdre O’Leary of Philadelphia and her four friends bounced across the pavement. These seniors from St. Mary’s College and Holy Cross College – two private Catholic schools located near the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana – had taken an overnight bus trip with about 500 college students. They had boarded their buses in Indiana at 5 p.m.

Saturday and had arrived in Philadelphia at 5 a.m. Sunday.

If they were sleep-deprived, they didn’t show it.

“We love Pope Francis,” O’Leary said.

“Seeing him in my city, which has had some rough times, is special.”

Those rough times included the child sexual-abuse scandal that also plagued the Philadelphia Archdiocese. Hundreds of priests were defrocked and the Church paid $1.45 million to victims.

Holy Cross senior Patrick Phelan of San Diego said he was drawn to the pope’s humility. Phelan mentioned the way Francis responds to letters written to him, the way he acknowledges the Church’s past faults, and the way he speaks as if he is not greater than his congregants.

“He’s very open,” said O’Leary’s friend Andree Louvierrei, particularly in his views on tolerating homosexuality and on women becoming more involved in leadership roles in the Church. “He speaks and writes very eloquently.” l l l l l Professor Rose said no single set of beliefs represents young people in the Church.

“It is really impossible to say what current doctrines of the Catholic Church young Catholics like or don’t like,” Rose said. “I teach many Catholic students,

Jerry Jimenez, 15, sits atop Eduardo Gallardo, 19. The two visited Philadelphia from Orange County, N.J., with hopes of seeing the pope. (Photo by Cait Kramer) and they really take every imaginable position on Church teachings. One would like to say young Catholics tend to be liberals on social issues, but I wouldn’t say that’s a hard-and-fast rule.”

Most of her students support gay rights, such as gay marriage, but Rose noted that her religious studies course tends to draw both the religiously involved and students who have religious doubts or disagreements.

“I think it is a mistake to see him as a thoroughgoing liberal,” Rose said of Pope Francis. “It is true that by his appointments to the hierarchy and his various papal statements he has created an atmosphere of charity and openness.

But this will not change Church doctrine by itself, and I believe he fully realizes it.” l l l l l Though she didn’t attend the pope’s visit, Penn State junior Nicole Feretich, 20, of Monroe Township, N.J., loves Pope Francis – the “favorite pope” of her lifetime. She said she agrees with his views on homosexuality and appreciates the way he seems to take himself less seriously than past popes.

Her childhood friend, Sam Cicatello, 20, also of Monroe Township, is drawn to the pope even though she has strayed from organized religion. “It comforts me that the most respected man in the

Church is so open-minded and purely loving,” said Cicatello, a student at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, N.J. “I get the impression the pope speaks the language of love, with no regard to hatred, and that really means a lot – especially to me, since I identify as bisexual.”

But even Pope Francis’ charisma won’t bring parishioners back to the pews, Feretich said. “I really like this one,” she said, “but he’s not going to make me go to church. It’s definitely not enough, unless he personally was going to be at my church every Sunday.”

Her viewpoint is widely shared. A Pew Research Center study done after the pope’s visit found that Francis’ favorability rose among non-Catholic adults but dropped slightly – from 86 to 81 percent – among Catholics.

Pew’s Hamar Martinez said her organization has yet to note significant change in Church participation among any demographic since Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina became Pope Francis on March 13, 2013.

“It’s kind of too early to tell with Francis. We know so far that we have not seen more people telling us that they are Catholic,” she said.

Feretich grew up with religion ingrained in her from a young age. Her father was almost a priest, she said, and he sent her and her siblings to Catholic The Communicator | Fall 2016

27

school. Feretich said she ended up leaving her Catholic high school because she disagreed with many of the Church’s teachings and also because she found the girls to be “cliquey.”

Looking back, Feretich said she was never fond of going to Mass. Her parents had to drag her out of bed each week. “I felt like it was so unnecessary to put so much effort into something you believe in,” she said. “I read this quote in a book one time: ‘Going to church makes you no more a Catholic than standing in a garage makes you a car.’ ” Cicatello said, “I tried the Sunday school thing and the whole idea of almost needing to fear God every day just made me believe it was wrong.”

Feretich said that after she got the sacrament of Confirmation – the sacrament technically makes you an adult in the Church – she decided she wanted to stop going. The child sexual-abuse scandal further turned her off from her faith, she said. “Whenever my priest was around me, I was creeped out. There’s creepy stuff happening behind these doors, and the Church just said, ‘Let’s not acknowledge that.’ ” Feretich said she still prays, but nothing formal, “every time an emergency vehicle passes. I don’t know if it’s out of guilt or I’m scared.” Feretich has decided she won’t force her own children to be Catholic. If they don’t want to be religious at all, she said, that will be OK with her.

Cicatello sees her relationship with religion remaining stagnant. It’s not a part of her daily life now and likely won’t be 10 years from now, she said; she just focuses on trying to be a good person.

l l l l l To reach the Parkway before Pope Francis’ mass, a group of students from Princeton University made a short trip – less than two hours by bus. These bus riders were not all Catholics. Some were attracted by Francis’ demeanor and some by what they said were his relatively liberal beliefs.

Emely DeJesus, 20, of Perth Amboy, N.J., said it was refreshing to see her friends become intrigued by Pope Francis, even those who aren’t Catholic. DeJesus, who was raised in the faith, is a member of the Catholic Ministry on Campus, and Pope Francis’ popularity has helped her start more conversations about religion with her friends of all religious denominations.

“I know a lot of my friends love him or are super intrigued by him,” she said.

Diana Hernandez, 21, of Ecuador, said she loves the way Pope Francis preaches love for everyone and does not judge people of different sexual orientations, or even the prisoners he met with during his Philadelphia trip. “I think this pope has the grace to touch people with his beliefs and his focus on serving others,” she said.

Chris Reuter, 25, of Louisiana, said he was attracted by the pope’s energy and steadfast dedication to all his beliefs and opinions. Even if the opinion is contrary to the Church’s doctrine, he said, Pope Francis speaks his mind.

“He definitely personally has reinvigorated my enthusiasm for the faith,” said Luisa Banchoff, of Arlington, Va. “I think especially talking to people who separated from the Catholic Church. They want

to talk about him. I think that’s really powerful. He has no boundaries.”

Pope Francis ended his Mass on the Parkway with a simple request: “I ask you to pray for me. Don’t forget.”

This was not the first time Pope Francis had offered that plea, which several millennials in the crowd said showed how he sees himself as one of the people, not holier-than-thou. l l l l l

As a professor, Rose said she ponders why people are becoming less affiliated.

Naturally, Rose said, when people join churches – or become gung-ho on anything, for that matter – the shine wears off after a while. Disagreement with church policy or disputes within the organization could alienate members; hence the ebb and flow of religious activity.

“If you lose your faith, this is – I hate to say it – often an important phase of religious experience,” Rose said. “The ‘dark night of the soul’ may well be periodic– just as much as enthusiastic faith. Indifference – spiritual coldness – is also part of religious experience. Numbers can’t tell you anything about these factors. All this is not to say that our religious experiences are solitary; our religious group influences how we feel privately. Still, there is a core of existential, personal experience that is very hard to uncover – and numbers don’t do it.”

Church participation and enthusiasm are certainly not declining globally, she said. In the underdeveloped world, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere, Christianity reigns.

About 82 percent of Christians resided in the Northern Hemisphere in the 1990s, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity.

The center estimates that by 2025 around 68 percent of Christians will live in the Southern Hemisphere.

“It’s often been true, historically speaking, that college-aged young people have been irreligious,” Rose said. “There are some exceptions: in the U.S. The “popemobile” crosses through Logan Square in Philadelphia on Sept. 27, 2015. (Photo by Haley Nelson) 28

Penn State College of Communications

Award Winner in the early 1800s, young people were religiously enthusiastic. But from the mid-19th century on in the U.S., young people tend to fall away, and often return once they have families of their own.” l l l l l Penn State senior Christine Kilbride is from Warminster, north of Philadelphia, but she chose not to make the three-hour trip from the Penn State campus to see the pope. A week after his visit, she sat at a table at a State College Starbucks and spoke about how she had fallen away from the Catholic faith that had been ingrained into her as a child.

She didn’t realize how detached she had become until the end of the summer, when, at home near Philadelphia, Kilbride said people were talking about the pope’s visit. It got her thinking – thinking about how she felt about Catholicism. She even penned an op-ed that was published in the Philadelphia Daily News before the Pope’s visit.

“I had all these thoughts one day: I don’t like this and I don’t like this and I don’t like this,” Kilbride said. “It’s been kind of a transition away from it. It’s not like one day I woke up and said ‘I’m not religious.’ ” She said she does feel drawn to Pope Francis. She said it makes her happy to hear that he doesn’t live in fancy chambers, that he washes people’s feet and seems humble. “That’s brought me back a little,” Kilbride said, spreading her hands wide in front of her to show separation.

“I mean, I’m so far away …” Then, moving her hands toward each other, she said: “It’s brought me a little bit closer. I do identify with him.”

Kilbride grew up in an Irish Catholic family. Her father was raised in the religion; her mother grew up Protestant, converting to Catholicism after the marriage. It was important to both her parents and especially her father that she and her siblings grow up in the faith.

She went through all the sacraments, attended religious education classes every Tuesday night, and volunteered as an altar server. Her family went to church each weekend, whether Mass was at 5:30

p.m. on Saturday or at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Kilbride goes to Mass sporadically now.

“I go when I’m home. I’ve gone here and there at college, like Ash Wednesday,” she said.

During her freshman year, Kilbride became friends with another Catholic.

Both were in Penn State’s Blue Band, and they went to mass together some Sundays and ate brunch together afterward. But by spring semester, Kilbride stopped going – a combination of laziness and apathy, she said. She feels guilty because Catholicism means so much to her father, who sometimes goes to church in Center

rocked the Church’s foundation. One of the priests who was defrocked after allegations of child sexual abuse had served at her parish, and Kilbride remembers her disgust upon learning that he was implicated. When the priest left the priesthood quietly, parishioners wanted answers. “A lot of people expressed, ‘Why? What happened? What did he do to get defrocked?’ And I remember at the end of mass they were like, ‘That’s not something God would want us to focus on.’ They basically said, ‘Too bad, we’re not going to tell you.’ It’s just like, after all that, you don’t think we deserve to know as members of this parish, members of the Catholic Church?”

Praying had never come easy to her, she said, even growing up in a devoutly Catholic environment. Now she prays during times of desperation, but even then it feels silly. “It’s almost like the Catholic Church is so structured that there’s no room for having this freeform relationship with God. They don’t want you to. They want you to repeat after me. … They want to basically tell you what to think about different issues, politically. I feel like the Catholic Church wants to dictate how to be Catholic.”

Even though Kilbride is drawn to Pope Francis and his beliefs, she speaks about the future of her faith with uncertainty. “If I end up marrying someone who’s Jewish, I may not be as linked to [Catholicism] anymore. I know my parents wouldn’t be thrilled with that. I’m sure that they want me to have babies and have them be Catholic. I don’t know if I’m strongwilled enough to say ‘I want to stick with my religion because I was raised in it,’ ” Kilbride said.

She calls herself a sentimental person, she said, and that would be the only reason she may end up wanting her children to be baptized – not because of this pope, not because of this newfound sense of optimism about the Church. “’I’m not going to say I’m expecting any big changes in the Catholic Church,” she said. “Because they just won’t.” l

Most of the world’s Christians will live in the Southern Hemisphere by 2025, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity.

City during his lunch breaks and has volunteered to give out Eucharist at the local hospital.

Three issues within the Church particularly drew Kilbride further from her faith: • The Church’s opposition to gay marriage. “I remember talking to my parents and they said, ‘Yeah, we went to church on Sunday and Father [the priest] basically expressed very clearly that even though it was legalized in all 50 states, the Church is still not OK with it and neither should you.’ It’s just not supposed to be like that. If God’s love is unconditional, then why would it matter whether you’re in love with a man or a woman and what your personal gender? I just don’t understand how you can make that plea for God. I know it was in the Bible but the Bible was written a really long time ago.”

• The Church’s prohibition of women in the priesthood. Kilbride never felt called to become a priest, but she said women are certainly capable of serving in that role. As long as they’re God-loving, she doesn’t see a problem.

• The child sexual-abuse scandal that

The Communicator | Fall 2016

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Alumni News

Endowing and ensuring the future Stanley Degler’s $1M gift bolsters Washington Program

A

Penn State alumnus who made his mark in Washington, D.C., building a career that spanned more than five decades, has provided support for Penn State students to complete internships and study in the nation’s capital.

A $1 million gift from alumnus Stanley Degler will support a semester-in-residence program conducted by the College of Communications in Washington, D.C. Now called Stanley Degler and wife Ann (center) with Degler’s daughter Gail Regina and son-in-law John Dao. the Stanley E. Degler Washington Program, the semester involves classroom instruction and an to make contributions to scholarships, Department of Defense, environmental to the Washington Program or to any of issues, transportation agencies, the space internship for students each fall.

Established by the College of Commu- the other wonderful opportunities in the program and a variety of other issues.

He eventually rose to executive editor, nications 21 years ago, it has served more College of Communications.”

Degler, who earned his journalism in charge of all BNA publications in the than 1,200 students.

Robert Richards, the John and Ann degree in 1951, enjoyed a whirlwind year 1980s and, later, senior vice president of Curley Professor of First Amendment after graduation from the University that the Bureau of National Affairs. When the Studies who created the program, said included getting married (July) and getting organization was purchased and became BloombergBNA, Degler served as member Degler’s gift and support are transforma- drafted into the Marines (December).

The following year he moved to Washof the organization’s board for 11 years. tional for a program that already had a ington, D.C., and started a one-man news Additionally, the move helped prove his large alumni base and strong reputation. bureau serving newspapers in three business acumen.

“Many of the students who have particiHe had collected stock in the employpated in the Washington Program through Pennsylvania towns (Allentown, York and the years have returned to D.C. after Sunbury). Unbowed by the presence of ee-owned corporation for years. “I bought graduation to start their careers. Now, journalists and news organizations from a lot of it, and held onto it even into my thanks to Stan’s generosity, generations of all over the world, Degler found his niche. retirement,” he said. “That’s what enabled students will have the same opportunity,” Editors appreciated the quality of his me to make a gift.” work and readers got their news coverIn many ways, Degler’s career path Richards said.

For Degler, who lives in Arlington, age from someone focused exclusively provides valuable examples for current Virginia, with his wife Ann, the support on their interests. He earned his master’s students. That includes an entreprejust made sense — a logical combination degree from George Washington Univer- neurial spirit, a dedication to hard work and a willingness to embrace challenges. of his appreciation for his alma mater and sity in 1957.

Degler later worked for the magazine of While those who benefit from his support an acknowledgment of his career.

“I’m grateful for the background I got the National Automobile Dealers Associa- of the Washington Program might do so at Penn State. With that, and a little bit of tion, and then moved into the position that in different manners and with different experience, I was able to be very success- would define his career. He spent 33 years communications tools than Degler did 60 ful,” Degler said. “I appreciate it and I’m with the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA). years ago, the need for a burning passion, hoping my gift will induce other alumni Functioning as part of a news bureau an opportunity and a grounding in a Penn who have benefited from their education for select audiences, Degler covered the State education remain valuable. l 30

Penn State College of Communications

A campaign to remember Three journalism alumni who covered the presidential election from the primaries to the campaign’s conclusion participated in a post-election panel on the University Park campus in mid-November. Participants were (from left): Anna Orso of BillyPenn. com, Kevin Cirilli of Bloomberg News and Casey McDermott of New Hampshire Public Radio. (Photo by Trey Miller)

Election coverage lets students hone skills As the presidential campaign culminated on Election Day, Penn State journalism students gained ample hands-on experience with opportunities in Washington, D.C., and served viewers in 29 Pennsylvania counties through a partnership with WPSUTV. Specifically, students from ComRadio (psucomradio.com), the internet-based radio station in the College of Communications, spent two days in the nation’s capital, broadcasting from Judiciary Square and visiting polling places to conduct on-site interviews. The three students who made the Nov. 7-8 trip also compiled footage to craft segments for use on “Centre County Report,” the student-produced TV newscast that airs twice a week during the academic year.

“It was just an incredible opportunity,” said Dara Cooper, a senior journalism major from River Vale, New Jersey, who serves as news director for ComRadio and was and one of the three students traveling to Washington, D.C. “What could be more of a real-life experience than covering a presidential election on location from Washington, D.C.? It’s exciting to have the chance to do this.”

As part of a separate partnership with WPSU, other “CCR”

students provided live cut-ins with election results on the PBS station on election night. That was a first for Penn State students.

“We were excited to add that additional partnership with WPSU-TV because it meant our students’ coverage was seen by viewers in much of central Pennsylvania. It’s the ultimate real-world experience for our broadcast students,” said Steve Kraycik, director of student television and online operations for the College of Communications. “That’s what sets our program apart from many other universities. Our student productions aren’t just airing on campus. TV viewers across the region see their work.”

Along with live TV updates on results from the race for the White House to statewide contests in Pennsylvania, “CCR” provided constant updates on Twitter, Facebook Live and Instagram.

“CCR” students were also featured in a WPSU promotional spot about the station’s election coverage. Penn State student newscasts or specials have been named as the nation’s best produced by college students in each of the past three years by different professional groups. l The Communicator | Fall 2016

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As he plays a forensic pathologist with a cinematic nickname (“Scorsese”) on TV, Johnathan Fernandez has a strong personal connection to the character.

LETHAL OPPORTUNITY

By TREY MILLER (’12)

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n 2006, Johnathan Fernandez left Penn State with a telecommunications degree in hand. Ten years later, he’s making a name for himself as a forensic pathologist. Well, sort of.

Fernandez is starring in Fox’s new series “Lethal Weapon,” an action/ drama/comedy based on the movies of the same name. In the show, Fernandez plays a forensic pathologist by the nickname of “Scorsese” after Martin Scorsese, a name his character received from his colleagues on the show because he attended film school and wrote a script.

Coincidentally, a lot of Fernandez’s real-life interests go into this character.

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Alumni Feature “The coincidence is really insane. Me playing a character like this, a forensics guy who is also a cinephile and also a goofball, is just perfection.”

When Fernandez started at Penn State, he had hopes of someday being a forensic illustrator, or somehow ending up in forensics. As a child, he said he and his mother (the only two who could stomach it in the family) would watch surgeries on The Learning Channel (now TLC).

Fernandez changed his mind countless times after that and earned his telecommunications degree. In addition, he took multiple film classes and even made some of his own films.

“For this to be the character I’m playing is really crazy,” said Fernandez. “The coincidence is really insane. Me playing a character like this, a forensics guy who is also a cinephile and also a goof ball is just perfection.”

The road to being an actor in Los Angeles wasn’t an easy one for Fernandez. Born in Brooklyn before moving to the Poconos, Fernandez is the first generation of his family to be born in the United States; his mother came from Colombia and his father is from Honduras. With his mother working for an engineering firm and his father an electrician, being an actor wasn’t exactly a natural path.

Fernandez initially got into the TV business the summer before his senior year at Penn State.

Through the Office of Internships and Career Services in the College of Communications, led by Assistant Dean Bob Martin, Fernandez landed an internship with MTV’s “Total Request Live.” Following graduation, Martin put Fernandez in touch with alumnus Dave Zigerelli, who was then working with the show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” in New York City.

Zigerelli helped get Fernandez an interview and he was hired as an audience page for the show.

After about three months, the show went on hiatus. Without a job, Fernandez received a stroke of luck. One of his mother’s coworkers had a husband who worked in production at ABC. “It was a really serendipitous moment because I just met the right guy at the right time when they were hiring. I had an informal interview and I got hired to be a production scheduler for every daytime show of ABC.” Fernandez later started taking classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) Improvisational and Sketch Comedy Training Center in New York City.

Fernandez spent 10 years in New York City, making a name for himself in shows, films and commercials with his comedy. His credits include HBO’s “GIRLS,” “The Daily Show,” “The Colbert Report” and many more. He has also worked on his own sketch shows and written scripts.

“As much as I was hoofing it in New York at the UCB and doing as many shows and auditions as possible, the first person that really legitimized me as a talent, was my manager Edna Cowan,” said Fernandez. “Once we started working together, I was able to get into doors that I didn’t even know existed, as well as land major auditions. It’s been almost six years now that her and I

have been working together and she’s been an invaluable adviser in my career, as well as a treasured friend.”

One of the doors Cowan helped open for Fernandez was ABC’s 2015 NY Talent Showcase, which puts up-and-coming actors in front of industry professionals like agents, managers, producers and more. One of only 14 people chosen to participate, Fernandez was named a standout performer.

After that, an agency signed him before pilot season hit, which generally runs from January to April when new shows are being cast.

“It just kind of changed the landscape entirely,” said Fernandez. “All of a sudden, instead of going out for one or two pilots a year, I went out for like 39 or some crazy number like that.”

In the end, he got the spot on “Lethal Weapon,” packed his bags and moved to LA. The Communicator | Fall 2016

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“I can’t help but think about what this means for the future ... The days of the one-line characters are over.”

The show earned a full-season order (18 episodes), a better fate than many first-year programs and a hopeful sign for Fernandez whose workdays vary depending on how many scenes he needs to shoot. Some days could last three hours, while others run as many as 12 hours. The team takes about nine days to shoot an episode, and Fernandez usually shoots from one to three days per episode.

This job, though, is different than others Fernandez has held.

“People hear about a show like ‘Lethal Weapon’ and automatically before the sentence is over, they’re rolling their eyes because they’re like, ‘Come on, another reboot. How are you going to tackle iconic characters like that?’” said Fernandez. “Because of that, the entire crew from top to bottom has been people who really wanted to do something special. This is a job that you leave other jobs for.

“When you show up for work, it feels like you’re not doing anything. It feels like you’re just hanging out because everybody wants to be there. I show up with the cadavers, I make the jokes and I leave and then they go continue to blow something up.”

And another thing that’s blowing up is Fernandez’s career. Now, playing a major role on a Fox show, Fernandez has solidified himself as a proven commodity. For him, having a regular role on a show like “Lethal Weapon” has been his goal and dream. Now that he has proven himself, he has already auditioned for other major roles in shows and movies — things that wouldn’t have come along prior to “Lethal Weapon.”

Not only has he had more opportunities for larger roles, but since he now has some clout, people are also more interested in his ideas and his scripts.

While Fernandez believes he is already living the dream, he also has goals for the future such as being in a Star Wars movie or starring in a Marvel movie. All of a sudden, those jobs don’t seem so far away.

“I can’t help but think about what this means for the future,” said Fernandez. “Now, people know me as a series regular on a major network.

That means certain jobs are going to come by.

The days of the one-line characters are over.” l 34

Penn State College of Communications

Alumni Bookshelf

by Dana O’Neil (‘90 Journ) In 2015-16, the Villanova basketball team unexpectedly won an NCAA championship. O’Neil, a senior writer for ESPN, uses behind-the-scenes access to provide a look at Jay Wright, who has coached the Wildcats for more than 15 years, and what it takes to build a championship program.

by Kevin Horne (‘14 Journ) and Chris Buchignani (‘02 Journ) Horne and Buchignani highlight Penn State’s improbable 2005 11-1 season, which helped put the program back on the national scene. The read includes extensive research and interviews to recap the year.

by Scott Brown (‘94 Journ) Brown provides an in-depth look at the things every Steelers fan should do before they die, including tailgating, studying the Immaculate Reception and finding the best places to watch a game. There is something for all Steelers fans, including those who aren’t in Pittsburgh.

by Deborah Barr (‘75 Journ), Edward G. Shaw and Gary Chapman Barr, an experienced wellness writer and speaker, teamed with Shaw and Chapman to write this book that focuses on the five love languages and how they can help people cope with Alzheimer’s disease.

Alumni News

Inaugural members of the Young Alumni Council are (clockwise from top left): Marielena Balouris, Patrick Bunting, Amy Camacho, Jianghanhan Li and Jessica Quinlan.

Young Alumni Council seeks engagement Armed with the knowledge that more than half of its alumni have graduated in the last dozen years, the College of Communications has created a Young Alumni Council to enhance its connection with those recent graduates and allow them to engage with students to share early career advice.

“We wanted to establish a group in support of the College’s larger Alumni Society Board focused on engaging our more recent graduates,” said Kevin Flintosh (’06 Journ), who serves as the council’s managing director. “This group of outstanding young alumni will serve as a link between the college, the Alumni Society Board and our more recent alumni to stress that your relationship with Penn State can be lifelong.”

The council is made up of five alumni age 28 and younger representing each of the college’s five majors: advertising/ public relations, film-video, journalism, media studies and telecommunications. The group is tasked with representing the voice of the ever-growing young alumni constituency of the College, targeting and engaging alumni who have graduated over the past decade by planning events and programs, while also communicating with peers and raising awareness.

The College of Communications joins the College of Engineering as the first academic units at Penn State to create councils for young alumni.

Communications council members will serve three-year terms. They are expected to attend one Alumni Society Board meeting and oversee a major initiative each year.

Inaugural members of the Young Alumni Council are: z Marielena Balouris (’15 Journ, Lib) is a multimedia journalist and reporter for WAVY-TV in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Previously, she worked at WTAJ-TV in Altoona.

z Patrick Bunting (’13 Telecomm) is a manager of corporate communications for NBCUniversal, acting as a strategic communications adviser to leadership in the advertising sales and client partnerships division on all initiatives, press requests and public appearances. He previously worked as a junior publicist with NBC News and was part of NBCUniversal’s post-graduate Page Program. z Amy Camacho (’13 Film) works as a freelance television producer. She spent a year-and-a-half working on a variety of shows for Lion Television in New York City. Her credits include: “Deadly Devotion” for Investigation Discovery, “Mean Girls” for MTV, “World’s Deadliest” for Nat Geo Wild, “Junk Food Flip” for The Cooking Channel, “How Dogs Got Their Shapes” for Nat Geo Wild’s Bark Fest, and “Six Degrees of Murder” for Investigation Discovery. z Jianghanhan Li (’14 Media) is currently pursuing master’s degrees in journalism and quantitative methods in the social sciences at Columbia University. After graduation, Li worked for a year at the China American Innovation Network, a non-profit organization in San Francisco that aims to bridge China and the United States in technology entrepreneurship. z Jessica Quinlan (’10 Ad/PR) resides in Jersey City, New Jersey, and serves as the director of marketing for Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment. In her position, she drives the venue marketing initiatives for both current and future venues, which include: Barclays Center, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island Boardwalk, and more. Since graduating, Quinlan has worked at a variety of companies in the events and marketing industries, including the Madison Square Garden Company. l The Communicator | Fall 2016

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A Media Marri Kylie and Rachid Haoues found each other, and their passion for journalism, at Penn State — and now they work for competing outlets in New York City

By JONATHAN McVERRY (’05)

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n a Sunday morning in June, Rachid and Kylie Haoues were enjoying some rare downtime together in their apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey. While lounging on the couch, they started to receive emails about a shooting in Orlando, and the death toll was skyrocketing. After some calls and planning, the two hopped into separate Ubers and went to work.

Jobs at competing national news outlets in New York City have given the young married couple their share of long, unpredictable hours. Rachid, a 2009 Penn State journalism graduate, is a producer for CBSN, a 24/7 digital network run by CBS News. Kylie, who earned her degree in journalism from Penn State in 2010, is a production manager for NBC’s “Today” show.

Things in common? They share a love for a fast-paced lifestyle and a passion for journalism.

Kylie and Rachid have been involved in some of the biggest news stories over the past year. Kylie was on-site for the Republican and Democratic conventions in July.

In the spring, Rachid traveled to Belgium to cover the terror attack in Brussels for CBSN, which included a 10-minute documentary he produced on the events.

“We both know what it takes to succeed in this profession,” Kylie said. “It would be difficult if the other person didn’t get or understand what the other does.”

Appropriately, they officially met while 36

Penn State College of Communications

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Alumni Feature

The Communicator | Fall 2016

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covering a news story on an unseasonably warm winter’s day at Tussey Mountain, a ski resort eight miles outside of State College. The warm weather had delayed the resort’s opening and Kylie and Rachid, both students, were on the scene for their “Centre County Report” broadcasting course.

“I remember thinking, ‘Hey, that girl is really pretty,’” Rachid said. They chatted for a bit and became friends.

Rachid graduated ahead of Kylie. He initially stuck around State College producing content for the Big Ten Network. It wasn’t until WINK-TV, a local news station in Fort Myers, Florida, called that he decided to make a big move. But he wasn’t leaving without asking Kylie out.

“We basically started in a long-distance relationship,” Rachid said. “I had a two-year contract (in Florida). I was going to do that, Kylie would graduate, and then hopefully we could pick a place together.”

Kylie graduated a year later and, after a stint as a spokesperson for Oscar Mayer, landed a job in New York City with NBCUniversal. Rachid was still in Florida.

“That first job was so much fun and a very special place. I had great mentors and I got to do a little bit of everything,” Rachid said, adding with a laugh, “But Kylie was in New York. I had to get there.”

Rachid completed his contract in Fort Myers and returned north to begin — quite literally, he said — going door to door to find a job. After some diligent work, he was hired in April 2012 by WPIX, a local TV news station in New York.

The following autumn, Kylie and Rachid were as settled as probably ever before. They both had jobs. They were both enjoying city life. They were ready to take another big step.

“Everything was great. I had a job in New York. We were living in the Upper East Side of the city. I proposed … and we got engaged,” Rachid said.

Before Happy Valley

Years before that momentous day at the foot of Tussey Mountain, Kylie and Rachid both had an intense interest in broadcast journalism.

While attending high school in Wexford, Pennsylvania, Kylie volun-

Alumnus Rachid Haoues works as a producer for CBSN, a 24/7 digital network run by CBS News.

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teered to do the morning announcements every day. “Basketball is canceled today,” she said in her on-air voice.

“We eventually upgraded to doing the announcements on TV. We got to tell some stories and talk to people. That’s when a teacher suggested I should look into journalism.”

When Rachid was 8 years old, his family moved to the United States from Algeria. He bounced around different hometowns before attending high school in Southbury, Connecticut. There, he participated in the school’s broadcasting club, which performed play-by-play for basketball and baseball games.

“I was also a bit of a history buff,” he said. “It was my history teacher who said I may want to look into journalism.”

When graduation approached, each found the College of Communications at Penn State. When the two arrived on campus — like when they got the emails about the Orlando shooting — they got right to work.

Penn State and beyond

“At Penn State, you have so many

“It’s a testament to Bob Martin (assistant dean of internships and career placement), who really hammered home that experience can matter a lot. I learned to get internships, no matter how small.

Just intern and find opportunities as frequently as possible.”

— Kylie Haoues resources, classes, clubs, really nice equipment,” Rachid said. “It’s all right there when you arrive on campus, which isn’t the case for every school.”

Mentor, friend and former professor Thor Wasbotten had Kylie and Rachid in two courses, including “Centre County Report.” He said the couple’s competitive, driven nature was there from day one.

“They always wanted to tell the better story,” he said. “In CCR, they were truly great leaders and were always pushing each other to do better. Who was going to dominate? Who was going to win the next award?”

Wasbotten, who was an assistant dean in the College from 2004 to 2012, could not say enough about Kylie and Rachid, with whom he maintains regular contact.

He said he was not surprised the young couple achieved professional success so quickly.

Rachid and Kylie said if it wasn’t for professors like Wasbotten and the resources at Penn State, they would unlikely be as prepared for the “real world” and would still be playing catch up in their careers.

Kylie, who was also a cheerleader at Penn State, attributes her early success to the experience she received in courses like “Centre County Report” and several internships. She said she was committed to picking up as many skills as possible from the first day she arrived on campus.

Kylie Haoues, a production manager for the “Today” show, was on-site for the conventions in July.

“It’s a testament to Bob Martin (assistant dean of internships and career placement), who really hammered home that experience can matter a lot,” she said. “I learned to get internships, no matter how small. Just intern and find opportunities as frequently as possible.”

Now working as a professional, Kylie added that the Penn State network was key to the couple’s postgraduate accomplishments. “I have found that Penn State alumni really want to help you,” she said.

“It can be awkward sending that first note, but you can’t get help unless you ask.”

The next big step

Working at competing news stations can be a challenge, but Kylie and Rachid keep it professional. In the mornings, they record “Today” and watch it later in the day. In the evenings, it’s all CBS News. Sometimes that competitive spirit emerges when sitting at the dinner table watching each other’s programs.

“We will say to each other, ‘Well, that camera shot was bad,’” Kylie said of the evening critiques. “You’re leading with that story? That doesn’t make sense.”

Wasbotten is confident the Haoueses will be major players in the future of journalism. No matter what the next step is for the couple, their competitiveness and diligence will enhance the industry as it evolves into the future.

“You have here one of the strongest relationships of any couple I know,” Wasbotten said. “There really is no telling how they will improve and transform the industry over their careers.”

Kylie and Rachid said they have goals and ideas for next steps, but they are enjoying their time in one of the biggest media markets in the world and are always focused on getting better.

“It’s all about positioning yourself,” Rachid said. “It can be hard, but as long as you can still see your goals and use the skills you have, you have a chance to succeed.” l The Communicator | Fall 2016

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Alumni News

Alumni board selects annual winners

T

hree Penn State alumni, an honorary University alumna, and a faculty member have been selected as recipients of top annual awards from the College of Communications Alumni Society Board.

The award recipients were recognized during a luncheon on the University Park campus.

Those selected for the honors were: z Tyler Walk, a 2006 film-video graduate, who earned the Emerging Professional Award; z Nina Jack, a 1992 film-video graduate, who earned the Outstanding Alumni Award; z Lou Prato, a 1958 journalism graduate, who earned the Alumni Achievement Award; z Barbara Palmer, president of the Palmer Foundation, who was named the Anderson Communications Contributor; and z Kevin Hagopian, a senior lecturer in the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies, who earned the Excellence in Teaching Award.

Emerging Professional, Tyler Walk

Walk is a Cinema Eye Award-winning and Emmy-nominated editor. His films have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, and have received numerous awards and accolades. The documentaries Walk edits often tell the stories surrounding marginalized populations and progressive social issues.

He has worked on projects that include Michael Moore’s “Where to Invade Next,” David France’s Oscar-nominated documentary “How to Survive a Plague,” Sara Taksler’s “Tickling Giants,” and Eric Weinrib’s “Roseanne for President!”

The Emerging Professional Award is presented annually to recent alumni (10 years or less since graduation) for professional achievement and/or distinguished community service.

Outstanding Alumni, Nina Jack

Jack is a television producer who has also won awards for her work as a director. She has earned two Emmy nominations for AMC’s “Better Call Saul,” and is currently co-executive producer for the show’s third season.

She also serves as a supervising producer for Season 4 of

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Award winners (from left): Kevin Hagopian, Barbara Palmer and Tyler Walk.

“Black Sails,” which shoots in Cape Town, South Africa, and was co-producer of Season 5 of “Mad Men.” Prior to producing, she was an assistant director, and her credits include: “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men,” “Togetherness,” “Jericho,” “The Office,” “The Break-up” and “The X-Files.”

Jack was a six-time Director’s Guild of America (DGA) award nominee as first assistant director on directorial teams for both “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men.” She got her start in the DGA trainee program in New York from 1995-97, and says “I wholly credit my Penn State film professors for recognizing my skills and guiding me to that program.”

A native of Pittsburgh, she lives in Culver City, California, with her husband.

The Outstanding Alumni Award is presented to a graduate of the College who has demonstrated excellence in the field of communications, contributed significantly to the profession, and gained an exemplary reputation among colleagues and students within his or her community.

Alumni Achievement, Lou Prato

Prato is the foremost authority on Penn State football and the history of Penn State athletics. The first director of the Penn State All-Sports Museum, he has written seven books and hundreds of articles about Penn State athletics and football.

His career began at The Daily Collegian, where he was sports editor in 1958. Since then, Prato followed a journalistic road that included 40 years as a news director in the broadcast industry; the director of Northwestern’s journalism program in Washington, D.C.; and as a instructor and guest lecturer in several courses in Penn State’s College of Communications.

As the first director of the All-Sports Museum, Prato was the primary person in charge of construction, development and

Alumni News initial collections, literally overseeing the project from the ground up. He has dedicated thousands of hours as a volunteer to his alma mater, serving as an original member of the College of Communications Alumni Society Board, working on the All-Sports Museum Board, speaking to alumni groups from coast to coast, and mentoring numerous Penn Staters through the decades.

The Achievement Award is presented to a College of Communications graduate or friend of the college whose significant contributions to the college and/or University, in terms of time and talent, have brought distinction to themselves, the college and the University.

Anderson Communications Contributor, Barbara Palmer

Palmer is a 1946 graduate of Iowa State and an honorary alumna of Penn State. After moving to State College in 1953, she served on the board of directors of C-COR Electronics, where her husband, Jim, was CEO for 25 years.

Palmer was active in the State College community as the first woman president of the Centre County United Way, vice president of the Hemlock Girl Scout Council, a volunteer at the Park Forest Day Nursery, and numerous other service agencies. She has also supported Centre Volunteers in Medicine, as well as national organizations devoted to health and well-being as she funds a genetic research project for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

She and her husband established the Palmer Chair in Telecommunications in the College of Communications. She also served on the steering committee for Penn State’s Grand Destiny campaign and is on the advisory board of the Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State. The Palmers provided the lead gift to renovate and expand the Palmer Museum of Art, as

well as creating funds for faculty and students at both Penn State and Iowa State.

The Douglas A. Anderson Communications Contributor Award is presented to an individual in the field of communications as they relate to the College of Communications, Penn State and/or the Commonwealth, to acknowledge their contributions and achievements.

Excellence in Teaching, Kevin Hagopian

Hagopian has been teaching cinema studies and media studies at Penn State for 15 years. He earned doctorate and master’s degrees from the University of Wisconsin, and he received his bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University.

Before joining the Penn State faculty, Hagopian served as a senior analyst for Kenny and Associates Inc., a national corporate communications consulting firm, and as editor of the Film Literature Index for the State University of New York Research Foundation. He taught for several years at the University of Memphis, where he won the first-ever Thomas W. Briggs Foundation Award for distinguished teaching.

Hagopian’s writing on film has appeared in academic journals, daily newspapers, and online. He also teaches film history and theory, and has been quoted as an expert on the movie industry for publications such as the Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News, Christian Science Monitor, CNBC, and The Washington Post, and by the French television network Canal Plus.

Communications faculty who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, contributed significantly to the growth of students’ learning, and gained an exemplary reputation among colleagues, students and alumni are eligible for the award.l

Two named Alumni Fellows Two College of Communications alumni were aming 24 selected as Alumni Fellows, the highest award given by the Penn State Alumni Association.

Mary Meder (’84) is the president of Harmelin Media, one of the nation’s top 10 independent media firms. Under her leadership since 2002, billings have more than doubled to $500 million annually.

Harmelin Media’s growth and ongoing success can be attributed to remaining true to its founding principles of strategy, creativity, and innovation, while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. She honed her agency skills at Gray & Rogers, and Kalish & Rice Advertising. Meder is the past chair of Special Olympics Pennsylvania and currently serves on its board. In 2011, she received the Special Olympics Pennsylvania Hall of Fame Al Senavitis Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tom Ortenberg (’82) is chief executive officer of Open Road Films and a driving force behind the film, “Spotlight,” the winner of 2016 Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Ortenberg has built his career producing stories about important societal issues. Ortenberg founded Open Road in 2011 after a successful studio career as a top executive with LionsGate Entertainment and The Weinstein Company.

In addition to “Spotlight,” he has driven the financing, production, and/or distribution of such acclaimed films as “Crash,” “3:10 To Yuma,” “Monster’s Ball,” “Chef,” “Nightcrawler,” “Gods and Monsters,” the Tyler Perry and “Saw” film franchises, and Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,” among others. l

The Communicator | Fall 2016

(Photo courtesy Robert Beck / Sports Illustrated)

41

Alumni Notes 1970s

Rich Grant (’71 Ad/PR) co-wrote his first book, “100 Things to Do in Denver Before You Die,” with Irene Rawlings (Reedy Press, June 2016). Grant retired last year after 35 years as communications director of VISIT DENVER, the Convention & Visitors Bureau, to focus on full-time travel writing. He recently won two silver and a gold travel writing awards from the Society of American Travel Writers, Western Chapter.

Jeff Lytle (’73 Journ) retired after a 41-year career in newspapers and television in Pennsylvania and Florida. He served as editorial page editor of the Naples (Fla.) Daily News and hosted weekly news/talk programs for 25 years. He won Florida and Scripps awards for commentary writing, page design and headline writing. He resides in Bonita Springs, Florida, with his wife, Susan.

1980s

Diane Salvatore (’81 Ad/PR) was named editor in chief of Consumer Reports in June 2015. In November 2016, she was inducted into Media Industry Newsletter’s Editors Hall of Fame.

Kathy Fox (’89 Ad/PR) is the vice president of customer and technician experience at Comcast and recently completed the Betsy Magness Leadership Institute program as part of the BMLI Class 32 along with fellow Penn State alumna Lauren Monks of NBCUniversal.

1990s

Stacy Keller Williams (’90 Journ) is the vice president of member experience and training at Navy Federal Credit Union. Stacy and the Navy Federal Social Care Team were recently recognized as the ICMI Global Award Winner for Best Social Customer Care.

Sean De Simone (’94 Brcab) resides in New York City where he owns and operates Sean De Simone Casting, a full service television, film and commercial casting company.

Laurie A. (Roth) Gavin (’99 Brcab) recently passed her licensing exam and is a registered municipal clerk in New Jersey. She was recently promoted to the position of municpal clerk/ registrar/ public information officer in Allentown, New Jersey.

2000s

Andy Adelewitz (’00 Ad/PR) is the director of music communications for Paradigm Talent Agency, where he’s worked for 16 years (counting several at boutique agency Little Big Man Booking, which was acquired by Paradigm in 2006). He lives in Ithaca, New York.

Joel Molinsky (’03 Telecomm) is entering his second year as the lead director of ESPN’s “College GameDay” for basketball. He and his wife welcomed -their second daughter into the world in December.

Jeff Rice (’03 Journ) is a public relations assistant at the Schreyer Honors College.

Jamie Bittner (’05 Journ) is dayside executive producer at WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh.

Lauren Sweeney (’05 Journ), an investigative reporter at WINK News in Fort Myers, Florida, was invited to attend a peer-to-peer educational conference between American and Russian journalists in Moscow in September. The event was being organized by the Sunlight Foundation and Transparency International in Russia, a division of the United States Embassy in Russia.

Jessica Fera (’06 Journ) is manager of promotion and Studio 11 at WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh.

Kim Lucey (’06 Journ) is a reporter/anchor for Channel 3 Eyewitness News (WFSB-TV) in Hartford, Connecticut.

Jay Whitney Friese (’90 Ad/PR) won an Emmy for Outstanding Promotional Announcement for The Seventies campaign for CNN. “Whit” works at CNN and lives in Atlanta with his wife, Jennifer (Testa) Friese (’91 Lib) and their two children.

42

Penn State College of Communications

To submit an alumni note, visit

comm.psu.edu/alumni report by NorthJersey.com about the heroin epidemic in northern New Jersey. The project won The Deadline Club (NYC Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists) award for local news reporting, The Society of the Silurians medallion for online investigative / public service reporting, and two first-place honors from the NJ chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Joanne Tapia (’07 Ad/PR) is a senior digital product manager at Havas Worldwide in San Francisco.

Beau Berman (‘08 Journ) is a reporter and fill-in anchor at WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh and an adjunct professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University.

Michelle Lerner (’08 Ad/PR) is director of social platform partnerships at Sprinklr in New York City.

Laura Mammarella (’08 Journ) is a producer at 6abc (WPVI) in Philadelphia.

Kristin Mazur (’08 Journ) is a TV news reporter at CBS 21 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Nick Paradise (’08 Journ) is director of public relations at Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, outside of Pittsburgh.

Loren Raye (’08 Journ) is co-host of “The TJ Show” on 103.3 AMP Radio in Boston, Massachusetts.

Konstantin Toropin (’08 Journ) is a cross platform AP for CNN. He received his master’s degree in June from the University of Minnesota’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Bjorn Trowery (’08 Ad/PR) was promoted to director of communications and brand public relations at Heineken USA. Trowery co-led all global communications and strategy in conjunction with Heineken, the Dutch National Team and the Holland Heineken House onsite in Rio de Janeiro during the 2016 Olympic Games.

Robby Corrado (’09 Ad/PR) is senior producer at The New York Times, leading a team of six in the ideation and production of interactive content for NYT advertisers. Corrado specializes in virtual reality and interactive web experiences.

Jennifer Owsiany (‘06 Journ) is a fifth-grade teacher in Collier County, Florida, and the co-vice president of the Penn State Alumni Association’s Naples Chapter.

Bill Gardner (’09 Telecomm) is a broadcast engineer for Mobile TV Group, providing mobile production facilities for NCAA, NHL, NBA and MLB broadcasts.

Michael V. Pettigano (’06 Journ) was lead digital project editor on “In Heroin’s Grip,” an investigative

Alexa Keeley (’09 Journ) is a content editor at ESPN where she edits highlights for “SportsCenter” and other shows.

Alumni Notes Kelly Choate (’11 Journ) is an investigative reporter and multimedia journalist for WBRE-TV/WYOUTV in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Kelly Gallagher (’09 Film), an animator, filmmaker and an assistant professor of

Ali Ingersoll (’14 Journ) is a multimedia journalist at WIVB-TV in Buffalo.

Rachel Darville (’11 Ad/PR) is a senior strategist at Arc Worldwide in Chicago, Illinois.

Haiyan Jia (’14 PhD) is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Communication at Lehigh University.

Matt Fortuna (’11 Journ) is a college football reporter for ESPN.com.

Miranda McCormick (’14 Journ) is a producer at CBS Sports in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Caroline Hayden (’11 Journ) is a news producer at 6abc (WPVI) in Philadelphia.

Rachel Steinberg (’14 Ad/PR) is a coordinator, global marketing solutions for Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment. She creates marketing and partnership platforms across Barclays Center, Brooklyn Nets, New York Islanders, Nassau Coliseum and Coney Island properties.

Chris Hush (’11 Journ) is a reporter at NBC Chica-

media arts at Antioch

go.

College,

Katie Knisely (’11 Ad/PR) is a director at Daversa Partners, a retained search firm in New York City.

Marielana Balouris (’15 Journ) is a reporter at WAVY-TV in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Alexandra Svab (’11 Media) is the assistant to the director and curator of permanent collections at the Pauly Friedman and MacDonald Art Galleries at Misericordia University in Dallas, Pennsylvania.

Rachel Casciano (’15 Ad/PR) is a global brand digital digital specialist with Nike Running.

won

the

Ivan Kaljevic Award (for

unconventional

approach) from the Alternative Film/Video Festival Belgrade for her film “More Dangerous Than a Thousand Rioters” about the life of Lucy Parsons.

The short, animated documentary premiered on The Nation in mid-November.

Erica Brecher (’12 Journ) is a reporter and fill-in anchor for WGRZ in Buffalo, New York.

Baylor Long (’09 Journ) is an executive producer at WXII-TV in Winston Salem, North Carolina.

Abigail Goldberg (’12 Media) is director of faith and community relations at Habitat for Humanity International.

2010s

Curtis Harrison (’12 Ad/PR) is a software implementation analyst at Blue Mountain Quality Resources.

Amy Aubert (’10 Journ) is a reporter and multimedia journalist at ABC7 in D.C.

Christy Lamberjack (’12 Film) is an associate producer at Cabin Creek Films.

Ryan Martin (’10 Ad/PR) is an account director at Saatchi & Saatchi in New York City.

Shadé Olasimbo (’12 Journ) is manager of production services with the University of Miami’s athletic department.

Kelly Rippin (’10 Journ) is a reporter/anchor for WZTV Fox 17 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Laura Shay (’10 Journ) is communications director at Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association in Fort Myers, Florida.

Sam Smink (’10 Journ) is an investigative reporter at WINK-TV (CBS) in Fort Myers, Florida.

Lenny Smith (’10 Journ) was promoted to senior executive producer at WINK News in Fort Myers, Florida.

Daniel Sullivan (’10 Journ) is a video director for Reingold in Alexandria, Virginia.

Emily Kless (’15 Ad/PR) is community manager, digital at The Topps Company.

Janelle Kluber (’15 Ad/PR) is a media planner at Zenith Media.

Greg Pickel (’15 Journ) is a sportswriter with the Patriot-News in Harrisburg.

Natalia Kudryk (’12 Ad/PR) is an advertising sales assistant at Bon Appetit.

Rossilynne Skena Culgan (’10 Journ) is assistant director of marketing at Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh.

Kate Redding (’10 Journ) is a segment producer at MSNBC in New York City.

Sydne Greenbaum (’15 Ad/PR) is a communications strategy planner at Generator Media + Analytics.

Tracey Edouard (’13 Ad/PR) is a social media producer at Mashable in New York City.

Evan Ostrow (’13 Journ) is a scout for the Denver Broncos.

Robert Roselli (’13 Ad/PR) is director of fan experience for the Rutgers Athletic Department in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Alyssa Sweeney (’13 Journ) is an attorney with Pollock Begg Komar Glasser & Vertz LLC. Emily Agosti (’14 Ad/PR) is a recruiter with General Healthcare Resources.

Rebecca Himmelstein (’14 Journ) is a general assignment reporter at WXMI-TV (Fox17) in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Ashley Vargas (’14 Ad/PR) completed the New York City Marathon on a team that included fellow Penn State alumna Stephanie Littell on behalf of Answer the Call, the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund. The women each raised more than $3,000 and their team surpassed $43,000.

The Communicator | Fall 2016

43

Alumni Notes Giovanna Roselli (’15 Ad/PR) accepted a position with Philadelphia Magazine (“Philly Mag”) as an account coordinator.

Bo Zhang (’15 PhD) is a researcher at Facebook.

Caroline Arriojas (’16 Ad/PR) is a project manager at RevHealth in Morristown, New Jersey.

Erik Austin (’16 Telecomm) is working as a digital video producer for AccuWeather. He lives in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.

Steve Bien-Aimé (’16 PhD) is an assistant professor in the Manship School of Communication at Louisiana State University.

Kimberly Connors (’16 Ad/PR) is an account coordinator at Ketchum.

Carolyn Drozynski (’16 Ad/PR) joined Gatesman+Dave, a Pittsburgh-based independent marketing communications agency, as a media coordinator. She will focus on media buying and planning support for clients such as UPMC. Akash Ghai (’16 Journ) is an international photo editor for China Daily in their Beijing office.

Patrick Jones (’16 Film) is the video coordinator, editing and producing video content for Lucky Vitamins in Conshocken, Pennsylvania.

Eun Hwa Jung (’16 PhD) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communications and New Media at the National University of Singapore.

Holly Ott (’16 PhD) is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of South Carolina.

Carl Pietrusinski (’16 Journ) is a copy editor and page designer at the New Britain Herald and Bristol Press in New Britain, Connecticut.

Shannon Sweeney (’16 Journ) is a higher education reporter at the Albany Business Review.

Frank Waddell (’16 PhD) is assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida.

Sarah Worley (’16 PhD) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Juniata College.

Mu Wu (’16 PhD) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communications Studies at California State University, Los Angeles.

44

Penn State College of Communications

Cubs employee enjoys season and run to World Series championship

I

t wasn’t long ago that one Penn State student was sitting in a John Curley Center for Sports Journalism course at University Park, and her professor asked her where she saw herself after graduation.

“I said I wanted to work in PR for a Major League Baseball team,” said Alyson Cohen (’11 Journ). “It’s pretty cool that I now help coordinate and manage PR opportunities for the (Chicago) Cubs, especially during this time.”

Cohen is a public relations coordinator for the Cubs, who won the World Series in dramatic fashion against the Cleveland Indians.

Cohen handles requests and facilitates media opportunities for executives, Wrigley Field employees, season ticket holders, fans and also coordinates community events, including charity events and events for the players’ foundations. In addition, Cohen works with the social media team for communityrelated posts and works on the team’s integrated marketing communications team, helping to brand the team’s “Fly the W” campaign.

A perk of her gig? Once the game starts, she can enjoy it as a fan. She had tickets to every postseason home game, and watched them with friends, family or coworkers.

When the team was on the road, she and her coworkers usually got together to cheer on the Cubs.

“It’s great to be able to work and lend a helping hand when I can, especially leading up to game time, but then once I can relax and be a fan like everyone else, it really makes the opportunity that much more special,” she said.

Cohen said the best part about her job is being able to meet so many different people. She

particularly enjoys being a part of changing someone’s life.

“Some of the best stories that I’ve done are just learning about our fans who have had challenges and have overcome them, maybe because they are Cubs fans or because they look up to one of our players that, like Anthony Rizzo and Jon Lester both had cancer, and so they found inspiration in them. That’s really rewarding to be able to be a part of someone’s life in a way that changed it or made them feel special.”

The position, which she calls a “dream job,” brought Cohen and the rest of the Cubs organization a World Series championship.

“It’s just something that was with our team from the beginning, and they were able to capitalize on having a really good core group of guys that were playing really well.

We kind of went into this season thinking this is going to be a great one and it just so happened that that’s what it was,” said Cohen. l

In Memoriam

Remembering Ronald Bettig

A

ssociate professor Ronald Bettig, a faculty member in the Penn State College of Communications since 1988, died Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016.

Bettig taught undergraduate and graduate courses on the political economy of communications.

Bettig earned the Excellence in Teaching Award from the College of Communications Alumni Society in 1996 and was named a faculty marshal — escorting one of the college’s undergraduate student marshals during commencement exercises — a half-dozen times.

At the graduate level, he chaired and served on nearly five dozen scholar, master’s and doctoral thesis committees.

A graduate teaching award in the college is named for one of his students.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss.

He was a part of the fabric of this College for many years. All except our very newest faculty and staff members very likely knew Ron, who was one of our longest-tenured faculty members,” said Dean Marie Hardin. “Ron was the kind of teacher who connected powerfully with students, who found his classes in political economy — at both the undergraduate and graduate levels — transformative.”

Bettig, 56, was the inaugural representative for the College in the University Faculty Senate. He served on behalf of the College in the senate from 1996 to 2000, and then from 2003 to 2005.

He also served as a member of the University Judicial Hearing Board and was also active in the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies.

He was the author of two books, including “Copyrighting Culture: The Political Economy of Intellectual Property” (1996, Westview Press), and co-author, with Jeanne Lynn Hall, of “Big Media, Big Money: Cultural Texts and Political

Economics” (2002, Roman & Littlefield).

He published a number of book chapters and journal articles and presented many conference papers on political economy, intellectual property and media industries.

He was a longtime member of the Union for Democratic Communications and had served as a member of the organization’s steering committee since 1993.

Anthony Olorunnisola, head of the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies, said Bettig’s contributions and impact went far beyond a list of publications or service opportunities.

He said Bettig was intensely private and kept in touch with a handful of close friends that he had had since high school.

He said Bettig fought for the underdog and, as an example, would not hesitate to lend a helping hand to previously unknown persons who were struggling with lost employment. Bettig also played his harmonica, guitar or piano to small gatherings around town in the evenings or on holiday weekends.

“Across the domains of teaching, research and service, the common factor that characterized him was his nonconformist ways,” Olorunnisola said. “Over 22 years of working together in varied capacities, I came to know him as a man with tons of healthy skepticism and courage of conviction who readily questioned the status quo and led others, especially his students, to interrogate received knowledge.”

Bettig earned his doctoral degree at the University of Illinois Institute of Communications Research. He earned his bachelor’s degree, completing a double major in communications and political science with a minor in sociology, at the University of California at San Diego. l

Edward M. Block, co-founder of the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication and the Arthur W. Page Society, died on Tuesday, Aug. 16.

A stalwart leader in public relations for decades, Block was a lifelong proponent of ethics and integrity across the industry. In 2004, along with fellow public relations leaders Larry Foster and Jack Koten, Block helped launch the Page Center, a research center in the College of Communications that studies and advances ethics and responsibility in corporate communication and other forms of communication.

“Ed was an inspiring man to everyone who had the privilege to work with him. In our time working together, I always found him kind-hearted, helpful and incredibly wise,” said Denise Bortree, director of the Page Center and an associate professor in the College of Communications. “His research and writings on Arthur W. Page have encouraged a generation of professionals and scholars to reach high levels of integrity.”

Block served as senior vice president for public relations, advertising and employee information at AT&T from 1974 to 1986. It was during his time at the telephone company that he was introduced to the works of Arthur W. Page, who was the first to hold Block’s position at AT&T between 1927 and 1946.

Page’s commitment to honesty and integrity inspired Block.

Anita C. Singer (’46 Journ) died Sept.

9, 2016. She was 91. A native of Reading, Pa., she moved to New York City after graduating from Penn State and found a job with Young and Rubicam Advertising Agency on Madison Avenue. She first worked in radio station relations and later in television production and public relations. After being married to Ray Singer in 1951, she was a stay-at-home mom for 12 years before returning to journalism with a position as a staff reporter for The Long Islander newspaper.

She held that position, covering numerous beats and interviewing a range of personalities, from the inventor of the station wagon to Nobel Prize-winning scientists, until her retirement in 1987. In November 2011, she self published a memoir, titled “Making Up One Side of the Bed-A Soliloquy of Prose, Poetry and Photographs.”

John Wagner (’13 Telecomm) died Aug. 27, 2016. Wagner, 25, was a full-time producer and director for WPSU-TV, working on “Unrivaled: The Penn State Football Story” and “Penn State Basketball: In the Paint,” for which he was nominated for a Mid-Atlantic Emmy. He also worked on the Penn State women’s basketball show. Wagner, who was born in State College and lived in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, enjoyed hunting, fishing, scuba diving, playing his guitar, cheering on the Green Bay Packers, and spending time with family and friends. l

The Communicator | Fall 2016

45

The INTERVIEW

Mary Beth Oliver A faculty member since 1998, Distinguished Professor Mary Beth Oliver is co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory and a member of the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies. Her specialty is in media psychology, with an emphasis on viewers’ emotional and cognitive responses to media messages. She is co-editor of a recent book, “The Handbook of Media and Well-Being: International Perspectives on Positive Media Psychology”; she is co-primary investigator on a $1.95 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to study inspiring media messages; and she is a research fellow of the International Communication Association. Her research interests include media entertainment, stereotyping and positive media messaging, which she discussed in a Q&A interview for The Communicator.

Your research and work with the Media Effects Lab covers a lot of areas. What do you find yourself focusing on most these days?

MBO: I have been looking at ways to harness media for pro-social ends. A lot of media effects research looks at how media messages are harmful to viewers— increasing aggressions, obesity, cyberbullying and so forth. It’s very important work, but I am looking for ways media can inspire. Where can we find media that shows our common humanity, that heightens altruism and that depicts the good side of human beings? Right now, we’re collecting data on the people who choose those types of media, and viewing results in beneficial outcomes.

Negativity in the media is well documented. Why do you think negativity is so prevalent in today’s media world?

MBO: I think there’s a common assumption that negativity “sells.” But we also wonder about the role that social media play. We worry about how much people are glued to their cell phones, not noticing the world and the people that surround them. It’s isolating, a “mobile bubble.” So right now in some exploratory but very exciting research, instead of saying “Put your phones down,” we are trying to find ways to encourage them to use their devices as a way to look outward.

How does one go about using their phones to look outward?

MBO: In our study, we gave Penn State students a photo challenge. We asked them to go outside and snap photos of beauty or kindness they see in their lives in any shape or form. You wouldn’t

46

believe all the wonderful images they brought back … a couple holding hands or an advertisement for a blood drive.

I have never had participants enjoy a study more. It was incredibly inspiring.

Given the tenuous political climate and the accompanying media frenzy, is this work as relevant as ever?

MBO: I think the media are often accused of doing pretty bad things in our society—and sometimes for good reason. There is a lot of ugly content, but at the same time I see that there’s much more than that. We owe it to ourselves to really look at not just stopping the bad, but exposing the good. Personally, when I witness media’s portrayals of beauty, I am elevated. It’s possible to heighten people’s feelings of connectedness and their desire to do good in the world.

Is this the opposite of the “mean world syndrome” theory, which says violenceheavy content in mass media makes consumers believe that the world is more dangerous than it actually is?

MBO: Yes. When I see our data, I see a “kind world syndrome.” I am floored by the opportunity we have to do good with media. One person that’s been good at harnessing this positivity is Steve Hartman at CBS. He does a great job pulling together stories that show the good in humanity. His stories range from the altruism shown by middle school football players, to the love expressed by WWII vets in their letters to sweethearts, to the courage shown by first responders.

These stories that show the good in humanity often go viral, and everyone is reaching for a tissue and feeling warmed by the beauty that is out there.

Penn State College of Communications

“I have never had participants enjoy a study more. It was incredibly inspiring.”

Is the trick sharing real-life stories?

MBO: There is a large body of work on the power of the narrative. This research shows that narrative is particularly engaging for people. In our research, we impose stories through a narrative, versus a news story about policy, and the narrative usually wins the day. I worked with colleagues on a study where we looked at creating compassion for groups who are often stigmatized, in this case someone who was incarcerated.

We were comparing what would happen when we take the same policy issues and write them into a general news story and a story narrative. The story wins pretty much every time.

You have these messages, but hundreds of ever-evolving outlets. How do you stay up to date on the newest media technologies?

MBO: I teach a large general education class of undergraduate students. You can imagine how they keep me young. They tell me about media technologies that I had no idea they used so frequently.

That’s important to me. When it comes to their technology, it amazes me how much they open up and share and talk about their experiences. Attending conferences and editing journals is also helpful. I think if you’re active in your teaching and research, you can see it as it’s happening.

COLLEGE CALENDAR

Offering insights Alumni Fellow Tom Ortenberg (’82) responds to an audience member’s question during a panel discussion moderated by fellow alum and College of Communications lecturer Katie O’Toole at The State Theatre. The panel followed a screening of the Academy Award-winning film “Spotlight.” Ortenberg serves as CEO of Open Road Films, which distributed the film that earned 2016 awards for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. (Photo by Jackie Friedman)

Most promising students Two Penn State students were among 50 seniors nationally selected to participate in the 2017 American Advertising Federation (AAF) Most Promising Multicultural Program, which includes a trip to New York City to learn from, and network with, advertising industry leaders.

Rachel Nagpal (left) and Sabriana Pimentel represent Penn State’s two selections — the most a school is allowed by the AAF each year since 2015. Penn State earned the maximum allowable participants for the third-straight year. The two were selected after an application process that included essays, letters of recommendation, resumes and academic requirements.

JAN 9

Spring Semester Classes Begin

JAN 16

Martin Luther King Jr. Day (No Classes)

FEB 17-19

Penn State Dance Marathon

FEB 22

Arthur W. Page Center Awards Dinner

MAR 6-10

Spring Break (No Classes)

MAR 19-20

Alumni Society Board Meeting

MAR 24

JobExpo.Comm (Alumni Hall, HUB-Robeson Center)

MAR 24-25

Ad/PR Alumni Board Meeting

APR 7

Success in the City (New York City)

APR 7

Films and Friends (New York City)

APR 28

Spring Semester Classes End

MAY 6

Spring Commencement (Noon, Bryce Jordan Center)

FAMILIES: If your student is graduating in Spring 2017, please ask them to share information about our postcommencement reception with you.

RSVPs will be required.

The Communicator | Fall 2016

47

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