Professional Portfolio
Rebecca
Burns www.rebeccaeburns.com rebeccaburns89@gmail.com
Rebecca
Burns
Layout Design Middle Georgia Magazine The Headliners The Colonnade
Ads Thunder Cup Colonnade House Ads Valentine’s Day 2010 & 2011 Sally’s Bakery Crooked Pines
Articles In Memory of Miller Nuesse Motivation Behind Moving to Mars Smart Phones Aid College Students
Web Georgia Residence Hall Organization 2011 Website
Index www.rebeccaeburns.com rebeccaburns89@gmail.com
Rebecca
Burns
Middle Georgia Magazine Cover, Knox Theater, The BBQ & Steak House Trail, House Ad Middle Georgia Magazine is a quarterly magazine focused on the history of Middle Georgia. I have worked with Editorin-Chief Robert von Reiter on the past two issues of the publication and am currently working on the third. As assistant editor and graphic designer, I am entirely responsible for the 64-page layout. I standardized different elements of the magazine such as font size and introducing a better use of color in the primarily black-and-white magazine. The Knox Theater feature spread chronicles the history and renovation of the 74 year old building. The BBQ & Steak House Trail reviews established restaurants and local favorites.
The Headliners Cover, Department News, Student Updates Last summer at Georgia College, I put together the Mass Communication Department newsletter “The Headliners” with a fellow classmate. I designed and laid out the 14-page newsletter while adhering to the template used in the past two issues. I helped write news briefs in the Milledgeville News section. I also interviewed a student interning at SoHo Publishing in New York and wrote the piece “Interning In the Big Apple” for the Student Updates Page. This summer edition of the newsletter was sent out electronically to alumni of the Mass Communication Department.
The Colonnade Community News, Week of Welcome, Changing to the core, Inflat-a-fools I have worked at The Colonnade, Georgia College’s student newspaper, over the past year as designer, community news editor, assistant news editor and senior reporter and was a part of the recent redesign of the paper. I created the bottom box that appears weekly on the front page, picked out the main color scheme and redesigned the flag as well as revamping the Community News section. For the Week of Welcome 2010 issue, the first issue of the academic year, I helped brainstorm and execute a giant paw print (our school’s logo) filled with past photos published in The Colonnade; the graphic captured the incoming freshmen’s attention and sent the message that college is what you make it to be. When our school decided to adopt a new core curriculum, I designed a graphic that showed how drastic the changes were. I have also had the chance to create photo layouts. In April 2010 I covered an event titled Inflat-A-Fools; I reported on the event, took the photos, wrote cutlines and laid out the entire page.
LAYOUT
Design www.rebeccaeburns.com rebeccaburns89@gmail.com
Rebecca
Burns Thunder Cup
Resident Student Association Thunder Cup is a competition between the halls that encourages residents to participate in all parts of campus life. Residents earn points for attending and participating in ten areas: intramural, academics, service, fine arts, athletics, wellness, leadership, on-campus program involvement, community involvement and eco-awareness. As public relations chair, I spearheaded raising awareness of the Resident Student Association program by creating 11-by-17 inch posters, which hung throughout campus and were present at all Thunder Cup events. Advertisements mimicking this poster design were aired on Bobcat Vision, on-campus television advertising.
Colonnade House Ads The Colonnade Frequently as Designer for The Colonnade, I assist the advertising manager by creating house ads promoting the newspaper’s online media including our website, twitter, and blog. The “Our Newsroom at Night” ad incorporates QR codes, so readers with smart phones can scan the matrix barcode and be automatically routed to the blog. I also designed ads such as the Georgia College Press Association ad to inform readers of the awards won by their student newspaper.
Valentine’s Day 2010 & 2011 The Colonnade For Valentine’s Day The Colonnade sold over 50 classified ads in 2010 and 40 in 2011 to students as a way to send personal Valentine’s Day message to loved ones. For the past two years, I have assisted creating the double truck ad incorporating all of the messages plus photos submitted by students.
Sally’s Bakery Advertising Copywriting Sally’s Bakery approached my Advertising Copywriting class with the challenge of creating advertisements for its new gluten-free bakery in Atlanta, Ga. The “Eat Well” campaign I created for the bakery was designed to run in publications for health and medical professionals. These ads raise awareness of the gluten-free source of food among professionals that have gluten-free patients and sends the message that Sally’s Bakery will help their patients health.
Crooked Pines ads The Colonnade Crooked Pines approached me with the challenge of creating ads for the multi-faceted family business. Previous advertisements had no consistency and extremely text heavy. I created a consistent style for their print ads to build brand awareness and recognition of Crooked Pines. The first eighth page ad focused on the Christmas tree farm and ran in early December. The second sheds light on the online store for homemade goods. Both ran in The Colonnade, Georgia College’s student newspaper.
Ads www.rebeccaeburns.com rebeccaburns89@gmail.com
Our
Newsroom, at Night Your behind the scenes look into crazy, coffee-powered world of The Colonnade newspaper staff.
You know it’s your right to know and it’s our duty to inform. But have you ever wondered exactly how we get all the reporting, designing, editing, and advertising done from week to week? Well, now you can take a look into our office, into our week and above all else into our happy Wednesday publishing nights.
http://ournewsroomatnight.blogspot.com
Smartphone Interactive
Scan code to be directly linked to our blog.
Get your news online We know you are addicted to the internet, so are we. That’s why The Colonnade provides you with news, features, and sports online plus breaking news, podcasts, and slideshows. www.GCSUnade.com
G
eorgia College Press Association Presents These Awards to The
Colonnade The official student newspaper of GCSU
1st in 4-yr college division B
General Excellence Best Campus Community Service-News Best Campus Community Service-Editorial Best Campus Community Service-Sports General Advertising Layout and Design Improvement
2nd in 4-yr college division B General Photography Best Campus Community Service-Features
3rd in 4-yr and 2-yr colleges Best Web site
Individual Awards
The Colonnade wins the GCPA award for General Excellence for the fifth year in a row! Staff members celebrate the victory at the Classic Center in Athens: Austin Cabot, Drake Simons, Stephen Hundley, Rebecca Burns, Danielle Paluga, Joanna Sullivan, Claire Kersey, Michael Forsyth, Bobby Gentry, Matt Chambers, Melissa Speer, Preston Sellers, Matt Rogers, Katelyn Hebert, Chelsea Thomas, Stephanie Sorensen, Sam Hunt, Mandy Boddy, Claire Dykes, Elise Colcord, Matthew Kuhl, Courtney Murrah, Marianna Miller, Andrea Lowery and Lyric Burnett.
1st in Best Photo Essay- Claire Kersey 2nd in Best Photograph- Sports -Michael Forsyth 2nd in Best Photograph- Features -Austin Cabot 2nd in Best Sports Story- Courtney Murrah 2nd in Best Feature Story- Chelsea Thomas 3rd in Best News Article- Objective Reporting - Claire Kersey
Your right to know. Our duty to inform
WITH EXCELLENCE.
Rebecca
Burns
In Memory of Miller Nuesse The Colonnade - September 24, 2010 During the spring semester of my senior year, a fellow Georgia College student suddenly passed away after an unexpected brain hemorrhage. I was specifically asked by Editor-in-Chief Matt Chambers to co-write this article highlighting Miller Nuesse’s life at and contributions to Georgia College. I was presented the emotionally taxing task of interviewing close friends and professors of Nuesse only a day after his death and the responsibility of generating an accurate and relevant portrayl honoring him.
Motivation Behind Moving to Mars: ‘The Fantastical Colonization of the Planet Mars’ Art Exhibit Questions If the Grass Is Really Greener on the Other Side The Colonnade - September 17, 2010 This feature’s article explores a Georgia College art professor’s exhibit “The Fantastical Colonization of the Planet Mars.” The artwork pondered life on the red planet and the possibility for greater happiness than Earth provides.
Smart Phones Aid College Students The Colonnade - February 4, 2011 Smartphone are not just for entertainment. As the market for smartphones grows, their apps have evolved to fit students every need from grocery lists to drug guides that are utilized by nursing majors. This article shows the benefit of apps for students in and out of the classroom.
Articles www.rebeccaeburns.com rebeccaburns89@gmail.com
THE COLONNADE The Official Student Newspaper of Georgia College & State University
September 24, 2010
www.GCSUnade.com
Volume 87, No. 5
In memory of Miller Nuesse MATT CHAMBERS & REBECCA BURNS SENIOR REPORTERS Miller Nuesse, a GCSU junior biology major, passed away Monday afternoon after surgery for a brain hemorrhage. Miller was the 21-yearold son of John and Stephanie Nuesse and the brother of Dickson Nuesse, a GCSU sophomore. Miller graduated from Riverwood High School in Atlanta, Ga. and attended GCSU with plans of being a doctor. Known as a friendly and open person, Miller was someone who was always there when you needed him to be. “I needed his help with something, it was almost midnight and he was there in a flash,” said junior history major Matt Cobb. “He was a fierce, fierce friend…one of the most fierce and loyal friends you could ever have.” Cobb met Miller through a mutual friend during his freshman year. Faith played a big part in Miller’s life. He made numerous connections during his time with Campus Outreach. “He showed his faith. He didn’t go around to people preaching or anything like that,” Cobb said. “He didn’t have to say it. It’s just the way he carried himself.” Miller’s friends spoke of his hard work and dedication to school and everyone he met. Miller’s persona even had an effect on his English
1101 professor, Elaine Whitaker. “He had intellectual and moral strength; there was something very strong about him,” Whitaker said. “Not weightlifter strong, although he may have been one, but friendship strong.” In Whitaker’s class, Miller bonded with junior Jay Parker. Parker and Miller were part of a group that made a tradition of eating breakfast after English class. “That’s where we would just talk about school, life, friends, and we really got to know each other personally. And he was always a part of that,” Park said. “He always came; he was always happy and in a good mood.” Recently, Parker, an SGA Senator worked on a resolution to honor Miller and his life. The resolution, that passed unanimously on Wednesday, will be presented to Miller’s family at the funeral on behalf of SGA, the administration and the student body. “Our resolution is simply acknowledging and celebrating his life in addition to including formal and official condolences to his family,” Parker said. “We want to make known that this is something we plan to do from here on forward that— God forbid—this should happen to (someone else).” According to Vice President for Student Affairs Bruce Harshbarger, a memorial service for Miller will be held at 1 p.m. today at Church of the Apostles located at 3585 Northside Parkway in Atlanta, Ga.
SUBMITTED BY JILLIAN MATTHEWS Miller Nuesse was someone easy to connect to according to Jay Parker. “It was just like he was always there and always a part of your life regardless of how often you may have or may not have been able to see him,” he said.
Miller’s personality and connections will live on in the lives of many GCSU and non-GCSU individuals’ hearts and minds. “He will always be here in my mind. I can remember the last time I saw him,” Whitaker said. “He and (another student) were outside Blimpie…and he jumped up with a big smile on his face.”
THE COLONNADE The Official Student Newspaper of Georgia College & State University
September 17, 2010
www.GCSUnade.com
Volume 87, No. 4
Motivation behind moving to Mars ‘The Fantastical Colonization of the Planet Mars’ art exhibit questions if the grass is really greener on the other side REBECCA BURNS STAFF REPORTER An arresting, unearthly frontier of super-bright rust sands visited Blackbridge Hall this past month in Cynthia Brinich-Langlois’ exhibit, The Fantastical Colonization of the Planet Mars. Curious viewers were introduced to the pioneering couple of planet Mars who served as spokespeople for their happy planet from handmade screen prints. They encouraged onlookers to pick up and move to their lovely planet leaving all troubles behind on Earth. Professor Brinich-Langlois says this concept of the grass is always greener on the other side shaped her artwork profoundly. “I was amazed at how people can really be sold this idea of a better life somewhere else,” Brinich-Langlois said. “We think that maybe if we get property somewhere, at some point we will be able to move there and our life will be better. So I took it to the extreme by saying ‘Here’s some Martian land. It will be great.’…Of course it’s fake but it capitalizes on something very real.” Brinich-Langlois first encountered this concept during her graduate school when she traveled in the desert for a semester. In Deming, New Mexico, a remote city at the border of Mexico, she learned of a housing scheme that capitalized on the idea. “They had this planned subdivision outside of town and they marketed all this land to people far away,” said Brinich-Langlois. “(The buyers) were promised good health and sunshine and that’s about all that was delivered. There was no infrastructure, no electricity or plumbing or even houses built. It was just empty lots of land with dirt roads.” Sophomore political science and Spanish major Sarah
Crile visited the exhibit during her Understanding Visual Culture class and found the juxtaposition of suburban life and planetary exploration interesting. “When we go exploring, we try to hold on to our life,” said Crile. “The theme of illogical is repeated. (The woman) is walking on Mars in high heels and (the man) is lassoing a house, clearly impossible.” Initially Brinich-Langlois only knew that she wanted to make artwork of deserts. In January 2009 when she began searching for images online, MICHAEL ERICSON / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER pictures of Mars kept popping Professor Cynthia Brinich-Langlois gives an artist talk to a group of up along with Earth’s deserts. students and faculty to introduce her new exhibit. “They look just like our deserts,” said Brinich-Langlois. “You can see a picture of a Martian desert and you wouldn’t really know it’s not from our planet. Sand dunes look like sand dunes. I thought that was an interesting visual correlation.” In addition to the screen prints, the exhibit also included Transmissions from Mars, a set of three stop motion videos on which Brinich-Langlois collaborated with Joseph Mougel, professor at Ringling University of Art and Design in Sarasota, Fl. These videos show the REBECCA BURNS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER everyday man and woman of Mars, modeled off the artists Brinich-Langlois’s work is parially inspired by deserts on Earth and themselves, planting their flag how they look similar to the landscape of the planet Mars. and stake to Mars, finding the perfect place for their home, plores visitors to submit their company. They need to know and growing an unusual gar- “thoughtful and relevant mus- that someone is still thinking ings on this question of plan- of them,” posts Tony Randen. Crile sees the opportunity etary relocation” in exchange som. for one of four hand printed Other reasons include startto expand the body work. “I thought installation art postcards Brinich-Langlois ing a traveling one and a half that you walk around and in- created. The postcards feature man variety show. With woodcut astronauts teract with would have been homes on Mars with inspirational statements riddled with hiding behind her desk and a interesting,” Crile said. While the exhibit has end- past space missions such as space themed cook book slid ed, the colonization of Mars “Fly, like the phoenix from inconspicuously among text the ashes of your old life.” books, Brinich-Langlois has has not. These submissions are au- certainly found a theme that Brinich-Langlois continues her “off-world settlement” tomatically posted to a Word- she connects with deeply and on a new website tapping press blog for anyone to en- can keep branching out from. “I’m not getting bored into that interactive possibil- joy. “I want to live on Mars anytime soon,” said Brinichity. Her website dedicated so that I can gather all the Langlois. “I think there’s a lot to Sanguine Estates (located conveniently on Mars) im- lost rovers and keep them to say about Mars still.”
THE COLONNADE The Official Student Newspaper of Georgia College & State University
January 28, 2011
www.GCSUnade.com
Volume 87, No.13
Smartphones aid college students REBECCA BURNS SENIOR REPORTER Jenny Starkie takes her cell phone everywhere. When the senior nursing major wakes up at 5 a.m. to prepare for another long day of clinicals at the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, 33 miles away from her apartment, she turns to quiet her iPhone on the nightstand beside her. The smartphone is her alarm clock, her calendar, her radio and her grocery list. It is integral to her daily routine and even an important diagnostic tool she will rely on throughout the day. Though most students rely on smartphones heavily for social and communication purposes, this educational use isn’t uncommon. Already a plethora of applications exist to increase in-class and outof-class potential, applications like Nursing Central used by Starkie and several other nursing majors at Georgia College. “(Nursing Central) has a drug
Phones
Continued from page 4... app and we were able to find out actually what it was and what we needed to be keeping an eye out on.” Generation X is quickly adjusting the mass amount of information that can be accessed on smartphones and schools are catching on as well. The University of Louisville School of Medicine licenses the medical app software for students to use on their own phones in the classroom, in the field and on their own time. The software gives access to medical dictionary, drug interaction, drug prices, dosing, and information on diseases and is taking the place of multiple reference books and prescription pads. According to Frank Lowney, Projects Coordinator for Digital Innovation Group at GCSU, mobile learning is on the rise. Lowney, whose research
guide, lab book, and medical dictionary on it. They come in handy by letting me look up what a drug is about and the side effects when I don’t know what a drug is...I also use it all the time too look up diseases on the dictionary which tells me a brief rundown on the illness,” Starkie said. The app includes a database of 5,000 drugs and more than 60,000 dictionary terms. It can be used to look up the range values of labs such as white blood cell count or to look up the side effects of unfamiliar drugs. While Starkie subtly uses her iPhone at the hospital and never takes it out in patients’ rooms, there are some instances where whipping out her phone is necessary. “At clinical last week a student and parent came into the school nurse’s office and was talking about this disease that me nor the school nurse had ever heard of,” Starkie said. “I was able to pull it up on my
and work is centered on mobile learning, is backed by the 2010 Horizon Report that identifies mobile computing time-to-adoption as one year or less. He suggests students take advantage of iTunes U, which is stocked with free content that can be accessed through the iTunes app and works with other applications like iBooks. “If you are an independent learner, have iTunes U and a mobile device, you can download (lectures, ebooks, and pdfs) to your mobile device and learn anywhere and anytime,” Lowney said. “And not only anywhere and anytime but also independently of any network because it downloads to the device. So if I download an ebook, if I download a lecture, it’s all here on my mobile device and I can consult it when I have few minutes of downtime.” Like television, radio and many media before it, smartphones are evolving quickly to encompass a variety of needs. “The mobile device
Phones page 7 isn’t just for communication; it’s for edification,” Lowney said. “If you have a mobile device and you are a student you can manage pretty much anything-- email, web surfing, calendar, all of your learning needs, all of your social needs. It’s really hard to imagine something that can’t be handled.” With the extensive amount of applications available and the diffusion of smartphones, it is hard to imagine what aspect of life the smart phone doesn’t have covered. Worldwide touchscreen smart phones experienced a 108.9 percent market share growth from 2008 to 2009 according to Canalys research, and as of May 2010 half of adults with cell phones have applications and 29 percent use them. According to Pew Research Center. And when it comes to counting applications, currently over 250,000 applications are available for the iPhone and 30,000 on the android market leaving plenty of app potential for
every class fathomable. Convert - The Unit Calculator converts area, currency, energy, speed, and many more mathematical variables. CliffNotes summarizes plots, analyzes characters, and maps out characters’ family trees. Google Sky Map searches the sky and reveals stars, planets, and constellations above you. And MyGrades organizes assignment grades and calculates the average grade for each class you’re taking. Junior computer science and mathematics major Scott Wofford frequently uses Quick Graph, a graphing calculator app, and Wolfram Alpha, a mega-calculator app, as aids to his own schoolwork as well as tutoring others at Georgia Military College. “When I took Calc 3-- the thing about Calc 3 is that it is really, really hard because it is that it is in three dimensions, so it is hard to visualize because you can’t draw it... (Quick Graph) would do
3D design so I (could) see the design of it,” Wofford said. But as often as smartphones can prove beneficial they can also be distraction. “Just like any other tool, tools are amoral,” Lowney said. “They can be used for good or evil.” Many students admit to relying on their smartphones as a source of entertainment during class, and with the variety of games available on the app market they don’t have to search long to find one or more that suit their gaming tastes. “I have a few (gaming applications). One of my big ones was Angry Birds. It’s the bomb but as soon as I beat it, I just kind of fizzled away. Another was Cut the Rope. It was a very quick game. The last one I played was Planes vs. Zombies,” Wofford said, These game applications fill our idle time as well. Moving trains into their color coded stations, flicking angry birds at
“The implementation of the smart phone technology is just starting. Yes, we are playing games on it now and taking video calls on it now but in three years what is it going to be used for?” Scott Wofford, Junior computer science major
two-dimensional structures, and tossing crumpled paper into waste bins starve off our boredom. When it comes to that down time between classes, shuttle stops, etc., students more often turn to the entertainment portion of smartphones over the educational possibilities.
Smartphones, however, are only in their infancy. “The implementation of the smart phone technology is just starting,” Wofford said. “Yes, we are playing games on it now and taking video calls on it now but in three years what is it going to be used for?”
Rebecca
Burns
Georgia Residence Hall Organization 2011 Website Resident Student Association The Resident Student Association is hosting the Georgia Residence Hall Organization conference in January 2011. As an integral member of the GRHO Conference Bid Team, I assisted the registration of all schools and delegates attending, coordinated programming and designed the website through which all delegates registered. Through a combination of Photoshop and Dreamweaver software, I designed and published the GRHO 2011 website at http://www2.gcsu.edu/grho. The GRHO Conference encourages the exchange of ideas between student leaders that will improve their campus, specifically on-campus, resident life.
Web www.rebeccaeburns.com rebeccaburns89@gmail.com