P H O E N I XBy Cliff FraserGraduate Assistant

Inside this issue

Page 5Many journalism alumnihave found success inthe book industry.

Pages 8-9An update of where pre-vious student newspapereditors are now. Find outwho this former editor is.

Page 10The photo labs in the newAJ Building enhance pho-tojournalism education.

The Ball State University Department of Journalism Alumni NewsletterSpring 2002 Vol. 23, No. 2

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Page 7Photojournalist DavidHandschuh spoke to stu-dents about his experi-ences at the WorldTrade Center on Sept. 11.

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Alumnus finds Olympic successImagine being rink-side at

the Olympics as the selloutcrowd cheers Americanspeedskaters Apolo AntonOhno, Derek Parra and ChrisWitty to their gold medal vic-tories. Now, imagine lookingup in the crowd and seeingthousands of cheering fansembrace a sport that youhelped place in the Olympicspotlight. Ball State alumnusNick Paulenich (M.A. 1998)experienced these feelingsfirsthand.

“The sights and sounds ofan Olympic city will beingrained in my head for therest of my life,” saidPaulenich. “You really don’trealize how huge theOlympics are until you areright there in the middle andall of a sudden people youhave been working with foryears become householdnames.”

Paulenich serves as thepublic relations director forUnited States Speedskating, aposition he has held for thepast three years. During the2002 Winter Olympics, theextraordinary amount ofmedia coverage the

American speedskatersreceived is a result of prepa-rations that began well over ayear earlier. Paulenich devel-oped relationships with theproducers of various mediaoutlets such as “The TodayShow,” “NBC Olympics” andmany other local and nation-al television shows, as well asnewspapers nationwide.

It wasn’t long beforeAmerican speedskatersbegan bringing home anunprecedented number ofmedals and Paulenich’s

phone was ringing off thehook. The situation got sofrantic he needed to get a sec-ond cellular phone to handlethe large volume of calls.

All of the planning paidoff. In the end, Americanspeedskaters received anenormous amount of mediacoverage, appeared onnumerous television showsand became instant celebri-ties.

“I think [the Olympic cov-erage] was great for thesport,” said Paulenich. “Our See “Olympics” on page 2

Nick Paulenich (M.A. 1998) stands by the ice rink at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Paulenich alone is responsible for thepublic relations of the U.S. Speedskating Team.

Page 14Find out which alumniand alumnae were pre-sented with awards fromthe department.

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Pitts chosen as Ball State’s provostBy Stacey ShannonPhoenix Editor

The face of Dr. BeverleyPitts (M.A. 1971, Ed.D. 1981)has been familiar to BallState’s Department ofJournalism since she arrivedas an associate professor in1985. Since that time, Pittshas made her way up theuniversity ladder and intothe position of associateprovost. Per Ball StatePresident Blaine Brownell’srecommendation, Pitts willassume the position of uni-versity provost in July.

Currently, Pitts worksclosely with provost WarrenVander Hill, who will leavehis post on June 30. She isresponsible for overseeingprograms relating to academ-ic affairs such as the graduateschool, Honors College,office of continuing educa-tion and international pro-grams.

Pitts is also involved withgrant programs and has

helped the university receivefunding. She is the universi-ty liaison to the LillyEndowment and was anauthor of the recent iCom-munication grant.

In a press release, PresidentBrownell cited many of thesereasons for his recommenda-tion.

“Beverley has demonstrat-ed a range of great strengthsduring her years at Ball Statethat makes her extremelyqualified to guide our aca-demic mission,” he said.

“She’s an energetic teacherand scholar and a dynamicleader who has been instru-mental in securing morethan $26 million in grants tofund innovative programson campus. I look forwardto working with Beverley aswe place Ball State at theforefront of learner-basededucation in the 21st centu-ry.”

Throughout her variousadministrative positions atBall State, Pitts has continuedto teach at least one class injournalism every year. In thefall of 2001, she taught thegraduate level course ofintroduction to researchmethods. She plans to con-tinue teaching when possibleand wherever needed.

“I don’t want to lose con-tact with the students,” Pittssaid.

As provost, Pitts willassume the second-highestposition at the university andwill fill in for the president inhis absence. Her main

Beverley PittsPhoto by Ball State Photo Services

organization has been inun-dated with requests of howto get involved in the sport,broadcast information andsponsorship inquiries forboth athletes and the organi-zation.”

Paulenich works out of theU.S. Speedskating officelocated in Salt Lake City,Utah. As the lone publicrelations practitioner for U.S.Speedskating, his workloadis immense. His job entails

responsibilities will continueto be in academic affairs.

Aside from her administra-tive and teaching responsibil-ities, Pitts has also beeninvolved with research. Herrecent research includes areview of the writing process.She is currently workingwith journalism professorsMark Massé and Dr. MarkPopovich to study writingcoaches.

Pitts has already set goalsfor her new role. She plansto become better acquaintedwith the university’s threenew deans and the new asso-ciate provost. Pitts also plansto visit each department inthe university to talk withfaculty and departmentchairs about their concernsand interests. She wants tohelp Ball State become betterknown nationally as well.

“I think Ball State is posi-tioned right now to gainsome national attention,” shesaid. “It’s a really great timeto be a part of Ball State.”

2 PHOENIX

Faculty NotesJennifer George-Palilonis,Instructor

◆ Publication: “Attack Gives aReal-Life Lesson,” Design maga-zine, Society for News Design.

◆ Publication: “Trend Talk,”JCommuniqué.

◆ Society for News DesignAnnual International DesignCompetition Judge.

◆ Texas APME DesignCompetition Judge.

John Ginter, Instructor◆ Editor and publisher of

Cardinals Illustrated, a monthlymagazine in its sixth year.

Robert Gustafson,Associate Professor

◆ Paper Presentation:“Seniors’ Perceptions of SeniorsStereotypes in MagazineAdvertisements,” AmericanAcademy of Advertising (AAA),with Dr. Mark Popovich and Dr.Tom Robinson, Jacksonville, Fla.,March 2002.

◆ Article: “Seniors’Perceptions of SeniorsStereotypes in MagazineAdvertisements,” in the AAAConference Proceedings,Summer 2002.

◆ Articles with Dr. Thomsenaccepted for publication in theJournal of Media Psychology andSouthwest Mass CommunicationsJournal, TBD 2002-03.

◆ Member of Ball State’sJournalism and TCOM RobPearson Internship ScholarshipCommittee.

◆ Member of the AdFed ofEast Central Indiana DiversityCommittee.

◆ Appointed to the EditorialReview Board for the Journal ofAdvertising Education (three yearterm).

◆ Paper reviewer for theJournal of Advertising Education,American Academy ofAdvertising, Association forEducation in Journalism andMass Communication.

◆ Appointed chair of theIndustry Relations Committee,American Academy ofAdvertising.

Mark Herron,Instructor/Director of SecondaryEducation

◆ Publication: ScholasticSource, Association forEducation in Journalism andMass Communication (AEJMC)Scholastic Division.

◆ Keynote speaker for theAlabama Scholastic PressAssociation, Feb. 2002.

◆ Featured speaker for theDelaware County LeadershipConference, March 2002.

◆ Featured speaker for theOklahoma Scholastic PressAssociation, April 2002.

◆ Featured speaker for theInterscholastic League PressConference, April 2002.

◆ Recipient of ColumbiaScholastic Press Association“Gold Key.”

PHOENIX

Phoenix is published periodi-cally for the alumni andfriends of the Ball StateUniversity Department ofJournalism. This issue wasproduced by Stacey Shannon.Any comments or materialshould be directed to:

The Department ofJournalism

Ball State UniversityMuncie, Ind. 47306-0485

(765)285-8200bsujourn@bsu.edu

Olympics - continued from page 1handling all media relationsfor the organization, pressoperations at events hostedby the U.S., publications ofU.S. Speedskating and theU.S. Speedskating Web site.

“Needless to say, my plateis full every day,” he said.

Olympic years are veryintense with the extra mediacoverage. Although, non-Olympic years can be just ashectic because the UnitedStates hosts numerous WorldCups, NationalChampionships and WorldChampionships. Accordingto Paulenich, “these specialevents require a greatamount of planning and[add] work to my alreadybusy schedule.”

Paulenich’s hard work anddedication have not goneunnoticed.

As the executive directorfor U.S. Speedskating, KatieMarquard notes, “U.S.Speedskating is lucky to haveNick as our PR director. Asevident by the publicity oursport received around the2002 Olympics, Nick’s count-less hours and hard workhave paid off.”

Prior to joining U.S.

Speedskating, Paulenichbegan his education at HiramCollege where in 1996 heearned a bachelor’s degree incommunications. The fol-lowing fall, he accepted agraduate assistantship at BallState University where heworked for the journalismdepartment his first year,then moved to the Ball StateAlumni Association his sec-ond year. In 1998, Paulenichearned a master’s degree inpublic relations and accepteda full-time job with theAlumni Association.

He remained at the AlumniAssociation for a year beforeaccepting his present positionat U.S. Speedskating. Therest, as they say, is history.

Paulenich looks fondly onhis time spent at Ball State.

“I enjoyed the great BallState atmosphere,” he said.“I came from a small, privateundergraduate school, so Idid not know what to expectwhen I reached a much big-ger campus. I was pleasantlysurprised at the sense ofcommunity. However, mybest memory of Ball State isthat I met my wife there.”

So what does the future

hold for NickPaulenich andU.S.Speedskating?

“It was greatto see athletes Ihave knownsince I startedbe rewarded fortheir hardwork,”Paulenich said.“WatchingChris Wittyshake off theeffects of monoto skate a worldrecord wasincredible.Derek Parra isone of thenicest humanbeings I haveever met, andto see himrewarded with two medalswas awesome. The Olympicswere truly an unbelievableexperience that I will treasurepersonally and professionallyfor the rest of my life.”

U.S. Speedskating hopes tocapitalize off the momentumgenerated by the Olympics.Shortly after the OlympicGames, the World Short

Other Ball State journalism alumni were involved withthe Olympics as well. Michelle Linn-Gust (B.S. 1994,pictured), carried the Olympic Torch through Phoenixand Betsy Ross (B.S. 1972) carried the torch throughthe Cincinnati area.

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Track Team Championshipsin Milwaukee were sold out.Also, there has been a recentgrowth in the number of chil-dren joining programs andlearning how to skate. Theorganization hopes to keepthe media interest high andcontinue to make U.S.Speedskating a recognizablename.

Pulliam Award and Lecture presentedBy TafadzwaMudambanukiGraduate Assistant

A trip by bus from AmherstCollege to MassachusettsUniversity to meet NormanMailer, who was substitutingfor 1980 presidential candi-date Ted Kennedy, pluckedChristine Evans from obscu-rity and plunged her into thefield of journalism. TheNorman Mailer “incident”equipped her with the cre-dentials she now possesses asa professional journalist.

Evans, a reporter for thePalm Beach Post in Florida,addressed faculty and stu-dents at Ball State on April 4and challenged students torise above humble beginningsin the field of journalism.

“Learn from those humblejobs,” said Evans.

This was her second trip toBall State within two years toreceive the coveted PulliamNational Journalism WritingAward, this time for her story“My Cambodia,” – anextended narrative of herfamily’s quest to adopt theirorphan daughter. She is thefirst repeat winner in the 40-year history of the nationalJournalism Writing Award.

“I was so surprised toreceive the news from MarkMassé,” Evans said. “I was

happy to come back to BallState. I did not expect it.”

Looking at Evans’ past andpresent jobs ranging fromwaitress, caterer, housepainter, tomato picker, horsefarm laborer to bank invento-ry clerk, mother, wife, writerand journalist, she has clearlyrun the gamut in life.

Pitching herself as a provencommodity, Evans urged stu-dents to take cues from herprofessional life. She wentthrough a litany of challeng-ing situations in the days shestarted writing as a careerjournalist. This incident liftedthe fog of uncertainty fromher life.

“I was impassioned. I had ahuge desire to write stories,”said Evans. “I found outwhat I wanted for my profes-sion from Norman Mailer.”

Reflecting and piecingtogether the precise sequenceof her life events, Evans reit-erated the theme of persist-ence. She worked long hoursand, in some cases, in drearyconditions, but her passionfor writing feature storiesfueled her to continue.

Most young journalistshave a tendency to like bigcities and eschew obscureplaces. Her advice was to goto those hidden and facelessplaces and make an impactand design each day to seize

control of the situation.“Have fun doing it,” Evans

said.Evans reminisced that she

so badly needed a job inIreland but had misspelledpart of the name of the news-paper, Observer. With equa-nimity, she resubmitted herrésumé for the advertisedpost. She did not get the jobbut hopped on to otheropportunities that presentedthemselves and finally got ajob at the Miami Herald inFlorida.

“Get at the door and pitchit yourself,” Evans said.

Because she had done anapprenticeship at the MiamiHerald, few hurdles were inher way to get the job. Shestarted with tasks sheloathed but eventually gotwhat she wanted as timewent on.

Armchair traveling is neverEvans' predilection. Thedesire to quench her profes-sional thirst landed her a jobat the Dublin IrishIndependent/EveningHerald in Ireland in 1982.

Evans has covered most ofthe beats in news writing, butfeature writing is her softspot. And this love for fea-ture stories ensnared her intowriting a powerful story,“My Cambodia,” where shewas a character.

“’My Cambodia’ is a fasci-nating story of a memorablejourney,” said Professor MarkMassé, coordinator of thePulliam National JournalismWriting Award. “Quite sim-ply, Christine Evans is one ofthe nation’s premiere story-tellers, and we are fortunateto have her at Ball State.”

Evans admitted that shewrestled with her dual roleas both writer and partici-pant but the participant inher yielded to the premierewriter. Evans told the storywith such compassion thatshe left her audience withindelible images of her lifeand that of her adopteddaughter Rath Chanthy fromCambodia.

Evans, a graduate ofNorthwestern University, ismarried to Pete, a photojour-nalist at the Palm Beach Post.They have their biologicaldaughter, Chloe, andChanthy, their adopted one.

She has won outstandingawards such as a sharedPulitzer Prize for spot newsreporting and the NationalSigma Delta Chi Award fromthe Society of ProfessionalJournalists for feature writ-ing. She won a top award forher general feature writingfrom the American Society ofNewspaper Editors for herstory, “Why Gabbi is Gabbi.”

3SPRING 2002

New G.A.s arrive mid-school yearBy Stacey ShannonPhoenix Editor

The beginning of BallState’s spring semester in2002 was the beginning ofgraduate assistant life forsome students in the journal-ism department.

The following G.A.s begantheir jobs in January. Threetook over for G.A.s who leftand three stepped into newG.A. positions.

The department boasted 17G.A.s during the springsemester.

Noelle BowmanHometown: Akron, Ohio;now Noblesville, Ind.Undergrad School: FloridaAtlantic UniversityDegree Earned: B.B.A.Major: FinanceGraduation Year: 1992Expected Master’sGraduation Date: Summer2003

Favorite thing about being aG.A.: “I feel more connectedto the department and likeI’m part of a community.”Plans for after graduation:“No definite plans – find ajob?!”

Kelly EverlingHometown: Elwood, Ind.Undergrad School:Valparaiso UniversityDegree Earned: B.A.Major: CommunicationsGraduation Year: 2000Expected Master’sGraduation Date: May 2003Favorite thing about being aG.A.: “Working with manyinteresting people.”Plans for after graduation:“I plan to attend aMidwestern university toearn a doctorate in commu-nications.”

Betsy HatchHometown: Castine, MaineUndergrad School:

University of MaineDegree Earned: B.A.Major: JournalismGraduation Year: Dec. 2001Expected Master’sGraduation Date: 2003Favorite thing about being aG.A.: “The people I workwith.”Plans for after graduation:“To find a job in media rela-tions for a university.”

Casey MaddoxHometown: Muncie, Ind.Undergrad School: Ball StateUniversityDegree Earned: B.S.Major: Theatrical StudiesGraduation Year: 2001Expected Master’sGraduation Date: 2002Favorite thing about being aG.A.: “It’s a challengingenvironment with excellentbenefits.”Plans for after graduation:“Tentatively moving toChicago.”

Faculty Notes - Cont.Tendayi Kumbula, AssistantProfessor

◆ Elected to the CCIMInternational Affairs Committee.

◆ Published articles in theMuncie Times and The(Zimbabwe) Sunday Mail.

◆ Member of the ZimbabweMedia Advisory Committee.

◆ Member of the IndianaCivil Rights Commission’s Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr. IndianaHoliday Advisory Committee.

◆ Member of Muncie’s Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.’s DreamTeam.

◆ Reviewed the Editorial Eyemanuscript, April 2002.

◆ Signed contract with Gale’sWorld Media Encyclopedia towrite six chapters on the mediain six African countries, April2002.

◆ Named to Who’s Who inthe World.

◆ Speaker at ZimbabweBusiness Expo lunch,Indianapolis, April 20, 2002.

◆ Selected to attend PoynterInstitute Diversity Across theCurriculum Seminar, June 2002.

Larry Lough, Instructor◆ Panelist: “The Media and

First Time Newsmakers,”Franklin College Symposium onMedia and the Public, Oct. 2001.

◆ Recipient of a DistinguishedService Award from the HoosierState Press Association, Jan.2002.

◆ Received first place in edito-rial writing from the AssociatedPress Managing Editors, IndianaNewspapers 20,000 - 50,000 cir-culation, May 2002.

Mark Massé, AssociateProfessor

◆ Elected to the AcademicAssessment AdvisoryCommittee.

◆ Co-coordinator for theDepartment of Journalism andDepartment ofTelecommunicationsConvergence Workshop, Jan.2002.

◆ Publication: “Find YourFocus, Organize Your Story,”Writer’s Yearbook, Jan. 2002.

◆ Co-writer (investigator),Convergence Workshop TrainingGrant (iComm Fellowship #18),$34,800 approved, March 2002.

◆ Publication: “LiteraryJournalism: Learning the Basics,”Writer’s Digest, March 2002.

◆ Presentation: “RevisitingStudent Writer Apprehension: AQ Interpretation of the Riffe andStacks Writing ApprehensionMeasure,” SoutheastColloquium, Association forEducation in Journalism andMass Communication (AEJMC),March 2002.

◆ Awarded book contractfrom Indiana University Pressfor “Faith Works: Stories ofReligious Social Activism,”March 2002.

◆ Principle investigator:“Faculty Training forConvergence in Media WritingCourse,” $15,000, Ball Fund forAcademic Excellence, March2002.

Pat Mills, Instructor◆ Publicity committee mem-

ber for the Masterworks Chorale.◆ Pulliam National Writing

Award Contest judge.◆ Reviewed textbook for

Bedford/Saint Martin’s (a pub-lishing company).

◆ Edited book for AlanGaringer to be published in lateMarch or early April.

◆ Edited novel manuscript forTCOM student Ryan Schenkel.

◆ Accepted to PoynterInstitute Workshop on DiversityAcross the Curriculum, June 2-7,2002.

Ball State’s Journalism Hall ofFame goes digital in new buildingBy Noelle BowmanGraduate Assistant

Visitors to the new Art andJournalism Building willsoon be able to take a visualtrip through time by usingthe new Hall of Fame kiosk.The kiosk is an interactiveexperience that will intro-duce visitors, students andfaculty to some of the mostaccomplished graduates fromBall State’s Department ofJournalism.

The idea for the Hall ofFame kiosk came fromdepartment chairwomanMarilyn Weaver during theearly planning stages of thenew building.

“I wanted to preserve thehistory of our Hall of Fameinductees,” Weaver said. “Somany have passed on and wemissed the opportunity toreport on them. It’s impor-tant to preserve our historyand now we have the technol-ogy to do it.”

The department plans toupdate the kiosk as Hall ofFame members are inductedeach year. Before the kioskwas developed, little wasknown about some of thegraduates who have gone onto do extraordinary work innational and internationaljournalism, photojournalismand public relations.

Pam Leidig-Farmen becameinvolved in the design of theproject in 2000. Leidig-

Farmen is a journalism graph-ics instructor who specializesin digital video and interac-tive multimedia Web design.

She said that she looked athundreds of Web sites andsimilar programs beforedesigning the Hall of Famekiosk.

“I wanted it to be open andinviting,” she said. The kiosk

was designed to incorporatethe space around it, sheexplained. “It is timeless inappearance, classic in style,basic and clean.”

The software that runs thekiosk was designed to beuser-friendly. Users will beable to use a mouse to pointand click to access informa-tion by name or date. Leidig-Farmen explained that thenavigation map has severalpoints of entry and users willeasily find information.

In August 2000, graduateassistant Kim Jana becameinvolved in the project. Janaand Leidig-Farmen began bycollecting faculty files,archives and anything theycould get their hands on tolearn about the history of thejournalism department and

its Hall of Fame members. The goal of the creative team

was to make the kiosk aninteractive and in-depth expe-rience for users –– they didn’twant mere blurbs of informa-tion about each member. Janaand Leidig-Farmen spenthours collecting and readingbackground information oneach Hall of Fame member aswell as on the history of thejournalism department.

In September of 2000, Janabegan a series of interviewsof the Hall of Fame inducteesthat would take place overthe next year and a half. Withthe help of Jeff Feltz, an assis-tant producer at WIPB, shevideotaped interviews of 18inductees, making severaltrips around Indiana and oneto Washington, D.C.

Those interviews can beseen in the kiosk. Viewerscan watch the entire interviewor click on Jana’s questions toview that part of the video.

“I was grateful to have theopportunity to work on aproject like this,” Jana said.“I had conversations withexceptional people in thefield of journalism, photogra-phy and public relations.”

Jana said the inductees sheinterviewed all say theywould not be where they aretoday without their experi-ences at Ball State. Theyhave fond memories of theirtime spent at the university.

Jana also wrote all of the text

Josh SaylorHometown: South Bend, Ind.Undergrad School: NotreDameDegree Earned: B.A.Major: CommunicationsGraduation Year: 1997Expected Master’sGraduation Date: May 2002Plans for after graduation:“Pursuing internships/full-time opportunities in sportsreporting.”

Courtney SmithHometown: Shelbyville, Ind.Undergrad School: Ball StateUniversityDegree Earned: B.A.Major: TelecommunicationsGraduation Year: 2001Expected Master’sGraduation Date: May 2003Favorite thing about being aG.A.: “Working in the uni-versity atmosphere.”Plans for after graduation:“To be a beach bum for acouple of months!”

used in the kiosk to describeeach member’s biographicalinformation, including whatthey’ve accomplished, whatthey’ve done since graduatingfrom Ball State and whatthey’re doing now.

Jana and Leidig-Farmenworked with Cheryl Kingwho was a multimedia spe-cialist at the Teleplex whenthe project got off the ground.After King left the Teleplex,Bill Oldham and Jung-UnMoon were recruited to helpwith the kiosk. These multi-media specialists are helpingput together the final prod-uct, using Leidig-Farmen’sdesigns with Jana’s text andvideotaped interviews.

“It’s a great way to learnabout the department andsee how successful graduateshave been,” said Leidig-Farmen.

They hope that the achieve-ments of the Hall of Famemembers will inspire currentand future students.

“Students will see whatthey might do. It givesanother reason to be proud ofBall State,” she said.

Jana agrees. “It really is agreat way to showcase ourjewels,” she said.

The Hall of Fame kiosk is inits final stages of productionand will be located on thethird floor of the Art andJournalism Building outsidethe journalism departmentadministrative offices.

“It’s important to pre-serve our history andnow we have thetechnology to do it.”

- Marilyn Weaver

4 PHOENIX

Faculty Notes - Cont.Mark Popovich, Professor

◆ Elected as the CCIMUniversity Senate representa-tive.

◆ Refereed Paper: “Seniors’Perceptions of Seniors inMagazine Advertisements,”with Tom Robinson, Robert L.Gustafson and Cliff Fraser.Presented at annual conferenceof the American Academy ofAdvertising, Jacksonville, Fla.,March 2002.

◆ Refereed Paper: “RevisitingStudent Writer Apprehension:A Q Interpretation of the Riffeand Stacks’ WritingApprehension Measure,”Association for Education inJournalism and MassCommunication (AEJMC)Southeast Colloquium, Gulport,Miss., March 2002.

◆ Chairperson, UniversitySenate Taskforce II onGovernance, Sept. 2001 to April2002.

◆ Search CommitteeMember, Assistant Provost forInternational Education search,Jan. to April 2002.

◆ Panelist: “CoveringGovernment,” Bowen Instituteon Political Participation,Indianapolis, April 6, 2002.

◆ Publication: “The Press,Privacy and Politicians,” inContemporary Media Issues, 2nded. by Sloan, Wm. David andEmily Eickson Hoff, eds. (VisionPress; Northport, Ala., 1998), inpress.

Robert Pritchard, AssistantProfessor

◆ Presentation: “In TheseTimes: What Will Happen to thePublic’s ‘Right to Know’ withRegard to Military Operations?”at the TYCA Mid-WestConference, Oct. 2001.

◆ Presentation: “Covering aCrisis: Handling the Big StoryWithout Losing Control,” 6thAnnual Ball StateUniversity/AssociatedPress/Radio and TelevisionNews Directors Association FallBroadcast News Conference,panel member, Oct. 2001.

◆ Created, planned and con-ducted crisis managementtraining for the Ball StateUniversity Crisis ManagementTeam, Dec. 2001.

◆ Presentation: “In TheseTimes: What Will Happen to thePublic’s ‘Right to Know’ withRegard to MilitaryOperations?” at the MuncieRotary Club, Jan. 2002.

◆ Text Reviewer, PrenticeHall Publishing Company, Jan.2002.

◆ Publication: “AnExamination into theSimilarities and MajorDifferences Between Militaryand Public AffairsResponsibilities and CorporatePublic RelationsResponsibilities,” with GregChandler. Presented at theFourth International,Interdisciplinary PublicRelations Research Conference,Miami, Fla., March 2002.

◆ Publication: “MilitaryOperations, the Media and thePublic’s Right to Know,” USAToday magazine, March 2002.

◆ Grant Received: “DigitallyConscious: EffectivelyIntegrating Technology into thePublic Relations Classroom,”iCommunication conferencegrant for $17,500. (see article onpage 6)

◆ Chair, Public RelationsSociety of America (PRSA),Educators Academy, “Alliancesfor Learning” Committee, 2002.

◆ CCIM UniverCity 2002representative.

◆ Faculty adviser for PRSSA.

Connecting with Ball State’s Department of Journalism

Jennifer George-PalilonisGraphics SequenceCoordinatorPH: 765-285-8216jageorge2@bsu.edu

Robert GustafsonAdvertisingSequenceCoordinatorPH: 765-285-8737bgustafs@bsu.edu

Mark HerronSecondary EducationSequenceCoordinatorPH: 765-285-3502mherron@bsu.edu

JournalismDepartmentOffice PH: 765-285-8200Fax: 765-285-7997bsujourn@bsu.edu

JournalismWorkshops Mark Herron, DirectorPH: 765-285-8900mherron@bsu.edu

Mark MasséNews-EditorialSequenceCoordinatorPH: 765-285-8222mhmasse@bsu.edu

Tom PricePhotojournalismSequenceCoordinatorPH: 765-285-8205tprice@bsu.edu

Dr. Mel SharpePublic RelationsSequenceCoordinatorPH: 765-285-8215msharpe@bsu.edu

Dr. David SumnerMagazine SequenceCoordinatorPH: 765-285-8210dsumner@bsu.edu

Dan WaechterFaculty AdviserPH: 765-285-8221dwaechter@bsu.edu

Marilyn WeaverDepartment ChairPH: 765-285-8200mweaver@bsu.edu

Stephen Crawford joins the journalism facultyBy Jenny LesselbaumGraduate Assistant

Dr. Stephen Crawfordjoined the journalism facultybeginning in the spring 2002semester. He is teachingundergraduate students inmedia, mass communicationresearch and advertisingcampaign development.

Prior to joining the facultyat Ball State, Crawfordworked for 26 years at LeoBurnett Advertising Agencyin Chicago, the seventhlargest advertising agency inthe world, and the largest adagency in Chicago.

In 1976 he began in the

research depart-ment of LeoBurnett and waspromoted alongthe way until heretired in 2001.

Crawford’sspecialty atBurnett wasaccount man-agement. Asthe accountdirector,Crawford developed busi-ness strategies and directionfor companies such as DeltaAirlines, United Airlines andAmeritech. Crawford’s workfocused on the goals of thecompanies he represented, as

well as build-ing relation-ships with hisclients. As ameans to helpbuild strategiesfor the brandhe was repre-senting,Crawfordworked withvarious teamsin the agency to

help develop and promotethe image of the client’s com-pany.

Working for Leo Burnettsent Crawford to Venezuelafrom 1981 until 1984, wherehe was the director of client

services. From 1985 through1987, he resided in Milan,Italy, where he promotedcampaigns for Kellogg’s andProctor and Gamble.

Crawford received a B.A.from Princeton University inhistory. He obtained an M.A.in Latin American Studiesfrom the University of Texas,Austin, and a Ph.D. fromUniversity of Chicago in his-tory in 1980.

Crawford said that healways had in mind the pos-sibility of teaching after hisfirst career in advertising.He is impressed with thededication of Ball State stu-dents.

Stephen Crawford

By Erin YazelGraduate Assistant

Television is a very power-ful communication mediumfor public relations practi-tioners.

“We all know the tragedyof Sept. 11 and the impor-tance of getting a messageacross,” said Department ofDefense communication con-sultant Dr. Joseph V. Trahan,III (M.A. 1984), to a group ofpublic relations students atthe March 19 Professional-in-Residence. “I travel theworld teaching people howto talk to the media.”

However, before an organi-zation talks to the media, itmust consider several factorsfor effective media relations.

“One of the first things tothink about in media rela-tions is the three ‘Cs,’” saidTrahan.

First, a spokesman musthave control and never getupset while on camera.Second, the person must pos-sess competency. Trahanstressed the need for publicrelations practitioners to dis-cuss only what they knowand avoid talking aboutissues that are unfamiliar orbeyond their background of

knowledge. Third, aspokesman must show con-cern on his face and in hiswords.

According to Trahan, thekeys to effective media rela-tions are preparation andgood delivery.

“Some things to think ofthroughout media relationsare: Who is receiving themessage? Who is watchingyou? Who is listening toyou? And who is readingyou?,” said Trahan.

One task a public relationspractitioner can do in antici-pation of a media interviewis to prepare a list of talkingpoints about the organiza-tion.

“Think of five good, badand ugly questions themedia could ask about yourorganization,” said Trahan.“Then write out yourresponses to those ques-tions.”

Trahan also suggested hav-ing a “command message”ready, which succinctly out-lines key issues and positiveaspects about the organiza-tion.

Once preparation is com-plete, the public relationspractitioner should work onthe delivery of the message

Trahan gives pointers to PRstudentsand the presentation of thespokesman. An organiza-tion’s spokesman must dressprofessionally before appear-ing on television.

“People remember 85 per-cent of what you look like ontelevision and only 15 per-cent of what you say,” saidTrahan.

He suggested that spokes-men wear solid colors suchas brown, blue or red, whichis the color of power. He alsocautioned against outrageousjewelry, hairstyles or cloth-ing.

“Anything that distractsfrom your appearance is aproblem,” said Trahan.

Delivery is equally asimportant as preparationwhen dealing with themedia. Public relations prac-titioners must incorporateboth for effective media rela-tions.

When appearing on cam-era, a spokesman must alsocommunicate sincerity in anatural manner.

“When communicating amessage regarding death ortragedy, don’t read the state-ment,” said Trahan. “Youbelieve a person throughtheir eyes, words, actions andgestures.”

He urged the students to begenuine and talk from theheart when communicatingan emotional message.

There are many considera-tions when talking to themedia. Since television is apowerful mass communica-tion tool, public relationspractitioners must prepareorganizational representa-tives to be ready and capableto handle any situation posedby the media.

Trahan is a native of NewOrleans with 20 years of pro-fessional experience in gov-ernment, association, educa-tion and nonprofit publicrelations. He earned his bach-elor’s degree in Americanmilitary history from TulaneUniversity, his master’sdegree in public relationsfrom Ball State Universityand his doctorate in masscommunications with anemphasis in public relationsand advertising from theUniversity of SouthernMississippi. He currentlyserves as a public affairsinstructor at the DefenseInformation School in FortMead, Md., and travels inter-nationally as a media rela-tions trainer and public rela-tions strategist.

Julie-Allyson Ieron“Names of Women” (1998)“Staying True in a World of Lies”

(2002)

Walter Brasch“The Press and the State (1987)“Brer Rabbit, Uncle Remus,

and the ‘Cornfield Journalist’”(2000)

“Black English and the MassMedia” (2000)

“Cartoon Monikers: An Insightinto the Animation Industry”(2000)

Peter Nye“Hearts of Lions: The Story of

American Bicycle Riding”(1988)

“Cyclists Source Book” (1991)“Training for Cycling” (1992)“Pushing the Limits” (1994)

5SPRING 2002

Journalists find market in book industryBy Stacey ShannonPhoenix Editor

As graduates of Ball State’sDepartment of Journalismcontinue to influence the jour-nalism industry, some arealso entering and impactingthe book publishing industry.Many have found a new plat-form for their work and areenjoying the experience.

Julie-Allyson Ieron is onesuch alumna. Since graduat-ing from the master’s pro-gram in 1988, Ieron has beeninvolved with Christian pub-lishing. For nearly five yearsshe worked for the MoodyBible Institute before leavingto start her own speaking,publishing, writing and pub-lic relations business.

“I really took what I consid-ered to be a huge leap of faith– or something – to start myown business,” she said.

Ieron got her idea for herlatest book, “Praying LikeJesus,” while reading anentertainment magazine. Amovie star mentioned thatwhen she was under pressureshe tried to pray. Ieron, whovalues prayer, was struck thatthe entertainer could beunsure of how to pray andwhether it was working.

“I thought, ‘I wonder howmany people feel that wayabout praying?’” Ieron said.

The idea was further devel-oped during a prayer confer-ence Ieron attended. She hadthe book’s outline by the end

of the con-ference.Thusbegan herwritingjourneywith itsstruggles.

“I didn’twant tosoundpreachyand Iwanted tomake it beas practi-cal as Icould,”

she said. “I wanted to makeit something that we canapply to our everyday livesand enhance them and growthem and build a relationshipwith God.”

As Ieron continues in herwriting career, she is gratefulfor her background in jour-nalism at Ball State and theguidance she received fromprofessors.

“The beauty of the Ball Stateeducation is the personalinteraction with the faculty –the way they pursue theirlives and live out what theyare teaching,” Ieron said.

Another journalism alum-nus, Walter Brasch, has beenin book publishing since hisdays as a graduate student inthe department. At that timehe was interested in BlackEnglish and began research-ing and writing about it. Hisfinal product was too big foran article, so it turned into abook.

Brasch’s latest book on theClinton administration, titled“The Joy of Sax,” wasreleased in June 2001. Thisbook is a compilation ofcolumns from his biweeklysyndicated newspaper col-umn that runs in 32 newspa-pers. From the beginning heknew he wanted to gathercolumns from throughout theClinton administration andturn them into a book.

Brasch mentioned that itcan be hard for non-celebritywriters to find a good pub-lisher. Though he has had 14books published, Brasch saidthat journalists have troublegetting into publishing.

Nevertheless, he felt hisjournalism background hasbeen helpful in writingbooks. “Journalism gave methe strength and the ability tobe able to write quickly andaccurately,” he said.

Aside from writing booksand his biweekly political col-umn, Brasch teaches in theDepartment of MassCommunications atBloomsburg University inPennsylvania.

John Fuller, a 1975 graduateof the department, has gotteninvolved with book publish-ing in a different way. Fullerhas enjoyed railroad photog-raphy since 1966 and has hadsome of his photographspublished in magazines andin books. Recently, one of hisphotographs was publishedon the cover of a book titled“When the Railroad LeavesTown: AmericanCommunities in the Age ofRail Line Abandonment,”written by DePaul Universityprofessor Joe Schwieterman.

Fuller has been or isinvolved with five bookssince his free-lance career inrailroad photography begantwo years ago. For eightyears he worked as editor ofthe weekly newspaper inRockville, Ind. In 1985, Fullerbecame the pastoral associateand business manager atSaint Patrick Catholic Churchin Terre Haute, Ind. He stillholds the position today.

Fuller makes many of hiscontacts by setting up abooth at railroad showsthroughout the Midwest todisplay and sell photographs.

“Even for a limited market

like what I’m dealing with,we’re dealing with five booksin a matter of two years,”Fuller said. “I’m just bump-ing into these people.”

He also credits his time asan undergraduate student inBall State’s Department ofJournalism for helping himwith his career as a freelancephotographer.

“Ball State journalism alsohelped give me confidencethat, yes, you can go out andmarket your own work,” hesaid. “I’ve always remem-bered these things.”

Dana Nussio, an alumnawho writes as Dana Corbit,has found her way into thebook publishing industrywith her fiction book, “ABlessed Life.” The book, thefirst one Nussio has sold, willbe released in October 2002from Steeple Hill Books, adivision of HarlequinEnterprises. It is categorizedas an inspirational romance.

For Nussio, writing fictionwas a switch. Until 1990, shewas a newspaper reporterand then features editor forThe Republic in Columbus,Ind. When she left the news-paper to become a full-timemom, she continued her jour-nalism career by free-lancewriting until 1995, when herfamily moved to Michigan. Itwas then she decided to trybook writing.

“A Blessed Life” hit homefor Nussio. The character inher book learns to deal withhaving a child who has juve-nile arthritis. Nussio wentthrough the same thing.

“The story I wrote, I kind ofwrote just to heal myself,”she said. “It was real forme.”

Writing fiction caused prob-lems for Nussio, though.

“I had to get over the fear oflying – that it felt like lying in

the beginning,” she said.Nussio has adjusted to fic-

tion writing, but said that herbackground in journalismhelps her write tightly.

“I could cut 10 inches froma story,” she said. “So, I cancut 50 pages from a book.”

Another alumnus involvedwith the book industry isPeter Nye. In 2000, Nyereleased a book he helpedbicyclist Lance Armstrongand his coach, ChrisCarmichael, write. Heworked as a “with-writer.”

“It’s their book,” he said.“And my role was to helpthem bring it out.”

Carmichael called in Marchof 1999 and asked Nye towork on a book aboutArmstrong. Armstrong andCarmichael already had abook contract with RodalePress, but they needed awith-writer to help them putit together.

“I had followed Lance as ajournalist when he was upand coming,” Nye said. “Heobviously had somethingvery special going.”

Nye’s admiration ofArmstrong only increasedwhen Armstrong decided tomake a comeback after sur-viving cancer. By May of1999, Nye had buckled downcollecting and putting togeth-er information for the biogra-phical book while Armstronggot back into training andwon part of the Tour deFrance in 1999. This escalatedArmstrong’s career, whichchanged Nye’s book. RodalePress signed a contract withsomeone else for a biographi-cal book, leaving Nye torewrite his material focusingonly on Armstrong’s trainingplan.

Everything came togetherand “The Lance ArmstrongPerformance Program” was

John Fuller’s photograph of a caboose going past the depot in Carmel, Ind., taken in 1971, appears on the cover of“When the Railroad Leaves Town: American Communities in the Age of Rail Line Abandonment.” The book was writtenby Joe Schwieterman, a DePaul University professor and published by Truman State University Press.

Photo by John Fuller

Julie-Allyson Ieronhas written severalbooks and has a newone to be released in2002. She has herown business to han-dle public relationsand other media forChristian businesses.

Other books by these alumni

released in 2000. Nye also credited his educa-

tion at Ball State for helpinghim to succeed.

“Every day I think of what Ilearned at Ball State,” he said.

He has found another keyfor writing success as well.

“I think that reading is likea secret weapon,” Nye said.“I think that reading is just asimportant for a writer aspracticing is for a musicianand training is for an athlete.”

Nye is currently working asa senior writer for the award-winning Rural Electric maga-zine and writing a biographyabout Albert Champion,founder of the first ChampionSpark Plug Company.Champion later joined upwith General Motors and isthe “AC” in AC Delco.

Ieron, Brasch, Fuller, Nussioand Nye are just a few of BallState’s journalism alumni andalumnae who are impactingthe world of book publish-ing. The five of them, andothers like them, are usingtheir journalism backgroundsto find success outside ofnewspapers and magazines.

6 PHOENIX

Faculty Notes - Cont.

Robert Pritchard - Cont.◆ Conference programmer,

“Digitally Conscious:Effectively IntegratingTechnology into the PublicRelations Classroom,” Oct. 3-5,2002.

Larry Riley, Instructor◆ Writes a weekly social-

political commentary columnfor The Star Press in Muncie,Ind.

Melvin Sharpe, Professor◆ Elected as the United

States representative to thegoverning Council of theInternational Public RelationsAssociation, Nov. 2002.

◆ Presentation, PanelMember: “New ProfessionalCode of Ethics: How to Applythe New Standards,” HoosierChapter, Public RelationsSociety of America (PRSA),Feb. 13, 2002.

◆ Presentation, OpeningWelcome as Founding Chair,PRSA Educators Academy 5thAnnual International,Interdisciplinary PublicRelations Research Conference,Miami, Fla., March 8, 2002.

◆ Presiding chair, ResearchDiscussion Session V, PRSAEducators Academy 5thAnnual International,Interdisciplinary PublicRelations Research Conference,Miami, Fla., March 8, 2002.

◆ Presentation: “TheDevelopment of a Plan toProvide Students in CampaignsClasses in Two Countries withExperience in InternationalCampaign Planning andConsulting,” PRSA EducatorsAcademy 5th AnnualInternational, InterdisciplinaryPublic relations ResearchConference, Miami, Fla., March8, 2002.

David Sumner, Professor◆ Elected to the Judicial

Committee.◆ Publication: “Who Pays

for Advertising – Advertisersor Consumers?,” Journal ofAdvertising Research, vol. 41, no.6, Nov.-Oct. 2001.

◆ Publication: “IdentityTheft,” Kiwanis Magazine, Feb.2002.

◆ Presentation: “ServiceLearning Projects EnlivenEditing Course,” Associationfor Education in Journalismand Mass Communication(AEJMC) Southeast RegionalColloquium, March 2002.

◆ Indiana Collegiate PressAssociation (ICPA) boardmember and arrangementscoordinator, 2002 Annual ICPAConvention, Ball StateUniversity, April 6, 2002.

◆ Web master of the AEJMCMagazine Division web site(http://aejmcmagazine.bsu.edu).

◆ Consultant to the MuncieStar Press for Jar magazinerepositioning.

◆ Recipient of $4,500 i-Communication grant for sum-mer research on “From WeeklyNews to Instant News – Howthe Newsmagazines use theInternet.”

◆ Publication: “AmericanNewsmagazines” forEncyclopedia of InternationalMedia and Communications,San Diego: Academic Press,2003.

iCommunication grants benefit departmentBy Gerry AppelPhoenix Copy Editor

Apparently $20 million isn’tthat hard to spend after all.

iCommunication, the $20 mil-lion grant from the LillyEndowment for digital technol-ogy, is indeed a hit with BallState faculty and students.

Representatives within allseven Ball State colleges haveapplied for the first round ofgrants from iComm, includingfaculty from the Departmentof Journalism. Fellowshipshave already been awarded toDepartment ChairwomanMarilyn Weaver, SecondaryEducation Coordinator MarkHerron, News-EditorialSequence Coordinator MarkMassé, Graphics SequenceCoordinator Jennifer George-Palilonis, Magazine SequenceCoordinator Dr. DavidSumner and Public RelationsProfessor Robert Pritchard.

According to College ofCommunication, Information,and Media Associate DeanJackie Buckrop, most of thesefellowships deal in some waywith studying convergence, orproviding training for newtechnology.

Herron and Weaver areembarking on a project that

analyzes convergence from theacademic and professional per-spectives. Herron is research-ing how convergence is beingimplemented into universitycurriculums nationwide, whileWeaver is analyzing the profes-sional side of convergence.Herron said they would thencombine their findings to learnhow to coordinate the academ-ic side of convergence withprofessional needs.

Massé is working withTelecommunications ProfessorBob Papper. Their grant willbe used to train journalism andtelecommunications facultythis summer in preparation fora converged journalism andtelecommunications news cur-riculum in fall 2002. Expertswill be brought in from KansasUniversity, WTHR-TV and theIndianapolis Star for the work-shops. In addition, money willbe available for a limitedamount of faculty to travel, andexperts will come to Ball Statethis fall to assess the convergedprogram.

George-Palilonis will also belearning about convergence inpreparation for the new cur-riculum. She will be spendinga week in Tampa, Fla. and willmeet with representatives ofTampa Bay Online, the Tampa

Tribune, WFLA-TV and theFort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel,all leaders of convergence.

An iComm grant establishedfor Sumner will allow him totravel to New York City andvisit three news magazines inan attempt to learn how themagazines “use their digitalcontent to enhance their tradi-tional ‘niche’ audiences andideological traditions.” Sumnerwill visit the offices of Time,Newsweek and U.S News andWorld Report.

Pritchard is planning a con-ference that will focus on tech-nology and public relations inclassroom environments.Titled “Digitally Conscious:Effectively IntegratingTechnology into Today’s PRClassroom,” Pritchard generat-ed the idea during a 10 hourdrive to the national PublicRelations Society of Americaconference in Atlanta with fel-low public relations professorDr. Mel Sharpe.

“We got to talking about adiscussion we had with our PRadvisory counsel on what ourgraduates needed to knowabout using technology in theworkplace today,” Pritchardsaid. “That led to…how shouldwe be using technology in ourclassroom?”

Pritchard said the conferenceis targeted toward educatorsand practitioners with an inter-est in education; however, theconference will be open toeverybody.

The conference will be held inconjunction with the annualVernon C. SchranzDistinguished Lectureship anddinner. Pritchard also said sev-eral speakers are already linedup.

This conference is unique tothe field, according toPritchard.

“There were two other con-ferences that were similar innature, but not exactly. Wethink that this is a ground-breaker specifically targetingteaching of technology.”

While so far mostly facultyand students are taking advan-tage of iCommuncation,Buckrop says there are oppor-tunities for alumni to getinvolved as well.

“If there was an alum whowanted to partner with a facul-ty member on something, thatfaculty member is certainlywelcome to apply for an inter-nal grant, go through the samereview process as any otherfaculty member, and in thatway the alum can becomeinvolved,” Buckrop said.

Editor talks with students on CivilRightsBy Kimberly JanaGraduate Assistant

how many members of thecommunity wrote in, statingeither that they wereunaware such events evertook place in the town or thatthey were disappointed theirhistory was being exposed.

At the time the story waspublished, though, the paperreceived no criticism orresistance for uncoveringpast events. The series wonthe Associated PressManaging Editors’ nation-wide award in 2001 forPublic Service Journalismand the Payne Award fromthe University of Oregon inrecognition for outstandingeffort in journalism ethics.

“[My] staff only hesitatedin reporting on this issuebecause of the scope of theproject. However, we brokethe newsroom down intoteams – [thereby] breaking

Richard Schneider, execu-tive editor of The Jackson(Tenn.) Sun, realizes thatjournalists have an obligationto report the truth. His lec-ture to Ball State students onJan. 29 discussed his experi-ences with reporting thetruth in his newspaper,which has a circulation of40,000.

In his speech, “The Truth atLast,” Schneider told of howthe Sun recently published aseries on the Civil RightsMovement in Jackson. Hesaid that during the 1960s,journalists in the city ignoredwhat was happening in theAfrican American communi-ty.

“What would it be like tosit at a lunch counter and berefused service? To have atulip bulb thrown atyou…and you could not fightback?” Schneider began. “Tohave hot coffee poured downyour back and be spit upon?And then to be arrested fordisturbing the peace…andnothing was ever printedabout it?”

The problem that Schneiderand his staff faced wasreporting on a story so longafter it took place.

“There was a systematiceffort to destroy history. Ourproblem was, how do youcover a story 40 years toolate?” Schneider said.

In 1960, during the heightof the Civil RightsMovement, local studentsfrom Lane College in Jacksonbegan their own protests sim-ilar to those in Birmingham,Ala.

For months, students fromLane staged bus strikes, boy-cotted businesses and sub-jected themselves to physical,verbal and emotional abusefrom other members of thecommunity while sitting atWoolworth’s lunch counter.The members of the Sun’sstaff at the time believed theywere doing the right thing byconsciously refusing to coverthe nonviolent protests, butSchneider emphasized theerror of that thought process.Not only was this a misuse ofthe paper’s freedom of pressrights, but also a twistedform of community journal-ism that did nothing to helpthe individuals living inJackson.

After the publication oftheir eight part series,“October 1960: The UntoldStory of Jackson’s CivilRights Movement,”Schneider was amazed at

Richard Schneider

the story down into littlepieces,” said Schneider.“What I like to see is thepaper grow into what itshould be. Let people take aproject and stretch it. I takepride in their accomplish-ments.”

During his time at BallState, Schneider also sat in onmany classes to discuss jour-nalism ethics and law.

“I have been reallyimpressed with how sharpthey are,” he said about thestudents. “The sophisticatednature of their questions isvery impressive and surpris-ing. The instructors havetons of energy.”

Schneider received a B.A. injournalism from FloridaSouthern College in 1977.Additionally, Schneider hasheld editing and reportingroles in Lakeland, Fla., FortMyers, Fla., and Danville, Ill.Along with Ball State gradu-ate Gene Policinski,Schneider was also part ofthe start-up team for USAToday in 1981, but returnedto his previous job after amonth.

Both Schneider andPolicinski currently havesons attending Ball State.Schneider’s son, Troy, is asenior at the universitymajoring in journalism.

7SPRING 2002

Handschuh tells of his World TradeCenter experienceBy Betsy HatchGraduate Assistant

On Sept. 10 DavidHandschuh viewed his cuphalf-full. On Sept. 12 he real-ized his cup was overflow-ing. Handschuh, a photogra-pher for the New York DailyNews, described his experi-ence at Ground Zero onSept. 11 during aDepartment of Journalism’sProfessional-in-Residencelecture on Feb. 7.

Like all Americans,Handschuh went about hisroutine that clear Tuesdaymorning not knowing whatwas to come.

“It was a beautiful end-of-summer morning thatturned into a field trip tohell,” he said.

Handschuh was on hisway to work, stuck in rushhour traffic, when the firstplane hit the World TradeCenter. He looked around tosee smoke and the FireDepartment Rescue One rac-ing southbound in the north-bound lane. He swervedacross the traffic and hookedon to the back of the firetruck. The rear door wasopen and he could see fire-fighters as they strapped onair packs preparing for whatwas ahead. They waved tohim. Several firefighters rec-ognized Handschuh from 20years of covering theirvaliant heroics.

Less than two hours later,all 11 firefighters on RescueOne would be dead.

When Handschuh firstarrived at Ground Zero hethought he was covering aterrible accident. He waswrong.

“I had no idea that I wouldbe covering one of thebiggest stories in the historyof the modern world,” hesaid.

As the south tower beganto crumble, Handschuh ran.

“I've been shooting formore than 20 years and havenever run from anything,”he said. “I heard a voice thatsaid, ‘run, run, run.’”

As he was running awayfrom the falling tower, hewas picked up by a tornadoof hot gravel, glass, cementand metal. After beingthrown almost a full cityblock, he landed underneatha vehicle and was trappedby debris.

“I thought, ‘This is whereI'm going to die, scared andalone, face down in a gut-ter,’” said Handschuh. “Iwas trapped in a snowstormof fine feathered dust.”

Two firefighters whoHandschuh had pho-tographed saving lives inNew York City for twodecades were there to savehis life this time. Those twofirefighters lost their liveslater that day.

Handschuh was carried to

safety, but once the secondtower collapsed, he wastrapped again. He doesn'tknow how much timepassed until he was rescueda second time and taken to aNew York PoliceDepartment harbor boat.

As the boat carried himacross the Hudson Rivertoward Ellis Island, with thesky still bright blue and thesun shining, he closed hiseyes and envisioned a pinacolada in his hands as hecruised the Caribbean.Shocks of pain after hitting awave brought him back toreality.

Handschuh says he oweshis life many times over torescue workers. Some heknew before that day andothers he met on Sept. 11have become his guardianangels. He keeps in touchwith the rescue workers hehas met through e-mail.

Besides verbally telling hisstory, Handschuh also pre-sented a slide show of pic-tures he and his colleaguestook on Sept. 11.

Many journalists sufferedphysical injuries and mentalscars that day.

Handshuh himself suffereda shattered leg when he wastrapped in the rubble.

“It's easy to identify thephysical injuries, but it'smuch more difficult toassess the scars left on themind and soul,” he said.

During his lecture, Handschuh told students what it was like to be at theWorld Trade Center on Sept. 11.

Photo by Jenny Lesselbaum

Handschuh found it wasnot unusual for visual jour-nalists to suffer negativeeffects from the cumulativeexposure of repeatedly doc-umenting the news. In 1999,the National PressPhotographers Associationconducted a survey of visualjournalists. Ninety-five per-cent had covered a fatal orserious car wreck within aweek of filling out the sur-vey. From the survey, NPPAinitiated a peer counselingtraining program for jour-nalists. The group is work-ing to set up a New Yorkoffice and nationwide sup-port network to deal with

Former Daily Newseditor works in Peace CorpsBy Gerry AppelPhoenix Copy Editor

Darnell Morris-Compton,(B.S. 1998) former DailyNews editor in chief, recentlytraded in his pencil and padto depart on a Peace Corpsassignment.

After working at the FortWayne (Ind.) News Sentinelfor two years, Morris-Compton joined his wife,Sarah Morris-Compton, whois a 2000 social work gradu-ate from Ball State, on aPeace Corps assignment inTurkmenistan, a nation thatshares a border withAfghanistan.

When the couple firstarrived in Turkmenistan,they spent time at a resortwith good food and otherluxuries. Morris-Comptonsaid they could not get asense of the country fromthis environment, but theysoon took in more sights ofTurkmenistan. Morris-Compton said he did not ini-tially experience cultureshock.

“I don’t think I had any cul-ture shock at that time,” hesaid. “I was just absorbingthings and taking in every-thing. I was taking in thesights and noticing the subtledifferences. The mountainsthat I’d seen in America hadtrees, sometimes grass, some-times snow—these moun-tains were all sand androck.”

Soon, the couple experi-enced more culture. Theywent to markets, experiencedthe enchantment of dancersand entertainers and attend-ed Turkmen parties to betterunderstand the culture.During this period, Morris-Compton and his wife wereboth interviewed to deter-mine their placement.

These interviews led thepair to work in the healthfield while on assignment.Sarah worked at an outpa-tient clinic for women, whileMorris-Compton focused onteaching basic health skills,such as hand washing, killinggerms and how to treat cutsand scrapes to children at

elementary schools—knowl-edge that Americans take forgranted, Morris-Comptonsaid. He also talked to menabout heart attack warningsigns, and made information-al posters. The people ofTurkmenistan lack healthknowledge because of theirculture, he explained.

Turkmen respect their eld-ers and do not question theirauthority under any circum-stance, Morris-Compton said.Religion and tradition playkey roles in Turkmen beliefsand this culture affects theirunderstanding of concepts,such as health.

“Many have a basic funda-mental understanding ofgerms, but it’s been said foryears and passed downthrough generations thatanything cold will hurt you,”Morris-Compton said. “Ifyou drink cold water, youwill get ill. If you sit onsomething cold, you willinjure your body…part of itis founded on facts, becauseif I were to drink an averagecup of cold water from the

well, I will get sick. I will getill because there are bacteriaand germs in the waterbecause they have no purifi-cation system.”

While cultural knowledgesuch as this helped him learnabout a completely differentenvironment from his own, itwas Sarah who had alwayswanted to join the PeaceCorps. Once Morris-Compton learned more aboutthe Peace Corps, he thenbecame interested as well.

“She [Sarah] knew this wassomething she wanted to doafter college and nothing wasgoing to stop her,” he said.“I come from a family thathas at least two generationsof military men, so I believedin service, but I was also pas-sive and was not interestedin the violent aspect of themilitary, but I wanted toserve my country.”

Morris-Compton said hehad heard of the Peace Corpsbefore but never consideredapplying because he wasunder the impression that thePeace Corps was for more

skilled trades in the socialservice sector, such as doc-tors and social workers.

“When I found out theyhad teaching English as asecond language or a foreignlanguage, I became interestedbecause of my journalismbackground,” he said.“When I found out that theneeded skills or necessaryskills to be a health teacher inTurkmenistan involved hav-ing a bachelor’s degree inany field, I became moreinterested in finding outwhat they were looking for.”

Unfortunately, the events ofSept. 11 changed the couple’splans. After being put onstage one alert, the StateDepartment then evacuatedthe group. Morris-Comptonsaid everyone had concernsand different opinions on thesituation.

However, this couple’sPeace Corps days are not fin-ished. Morris-Compton saidhe and his wife are consider-ing a trip to another countryto continue lending theirassistance.

the problems resulting fromSept. 11.

Handschuh is co-author of“The National Media GuideFor Emergency and DisasterIncidents,” a primer toestablish better relationshipsbetween the media and pub-lic safety providers. It is inits second printing. He hasalso been nominated severaltimes for a Pulitzer Prizeand has received numerousawards for photographyfrom the New York PressPhotographer's Association,the New York Press Club,Society of Silurians, theDeadline Club and Police,Fire and EMS Organizations.

8 PHOENIX

Student newspapereditors find successBy Stacey Shannon, Phoenix Editor and Gerry Appel, Phoenix Copy Editor

Remember thoselate nights tryingto beat deadlinewhile working onone of Ball State’s

student publications? Remember the people you

thought you would neverlose contact with as youwrote, edited, designed andphotographed? Whateverhappened to the editor?

Some editors are still work-ing in journalism, othershave changed professionsand a few have retired. Ofall the Ball State newspapereditors, both before and afterit became a daily, here are afew of their tales.

Jason Truitt, B.S. 1999, editor 1998-99When Truitt left Ball State

just a few years ago, heimmediately headed to hishometown of Richmond,Ind., and was hired on at thePalladium-Item. Currently,Truitt is the news editor forthe newspaper and is incharge of the copy desk. Hesaid that his time working asDaily News editor definitelyhelped him get to where he istoday.

“I think having that manag-ing experience at college cer-tainly helped me get the job Ihave now as soon as I got it,”he said.

Many of the friendships he

made while editor of thenewspaper have remainedeven after graduation.According to Truitt, the staffof the newspaper workedtogether, but also spent timetogether relaxing.

“The thing with workingfor the Daily News was thateverybody was so close,” hesaid. “It was like one bigfamily.”

Truitt plans to stay at thePalladium-Item, at least fornow. He would like to con-tinue to work his way upperhaps to managing editorin 10 years. He is not sureright now of where the futurewill lead.

“I’m kind of at a cross-roads,” he said.

Jerry Ringle, B.S. 1965, editor 1964-65Ringle has been busy since

his days as editor. For hisfirst two years out of college,he worked as a juvenile pro-bation officer, then spent 15years working in a residenttreatment facility for troubledadolescents before movinginto handicap transportationfor five years. After that hedid some consulting workbefore retiring and managingrental property.

In the early 1960s, Ringlespent time in the Army. Hisfellow comrades convincedhim then that he needed to

go to school. So, thePlymouth, Ind., native endedup at Ball State and struggleda bit in the beginning.

“I would have to say, forthe first year, I was probablya lost soul,” Ringle said.

College life started tochange for him when some-one suggested he getinvolved with the studentnewspaper. He decided togive it a try and found thathe enjoyed it. According toRingle, working on the news-paper made everything makesense for him.

“It made me a lot less intro-verted,” he said. “It mademe aware that there werethings going on outside ofPlymouth.”

The most memorable dayfor Ringle on the newspaperwas the day of PresidentJohn F. Kennedy’s assassina-tion. He was standing besidethe AP ticker when the newscame through and immedi-ately rushed to the office ofnewspaper adviser, Dr. LouisIngelhart.

“I tore off the tape, took itin to Dr. Ingelhart and toldhim he might want to comeout here [to the newsroom]because something big washappening in Dallas,” Ringlesaid.

For the present, though,Ringle plans to spend sometime enjoying his retirement.

“I would like to play moregolf,” he said.

Gene Policinski, B.S. 1972,editor 1971-72For Policinski, his days as

student newspaper editorwere the beginning of a longcareer in journalism. He iscurrently the deputy directorof the First AmendmentCenter, executive producer ofthe public television show,“Speaking Freely” andadjunct professor atWinthrop and VanderbiltUniversities.

Policinski’s work with theFirst Amendment Centerincludes overseeing pro-grams and administration forthe center, which has a 30-

person office in Nashville,Tenn., and an office inArlington, Va. Policinskisplits his time between thetwo locations.

His television show airsweekly and is a discussionprogram led by Kent Paulsonon free expression of the artsincluding music, stage,movies, fine arts and variousforms of writing.

“It’s an attempt to remindAmericans that free speechcovers more than what weusually associate with justpolitical speech,” Policinskisaid. “It covers a lot ofthings that add diversity andtexture to our lives, from art-work to television, movies,whatever.”

He enjoys teaching as well.He likes the interaction withstudents.

Policinski also said that histime as student newspapereditor has helped himthroughout his career.

“Many of the ethical deci-sions and issues you have tomake, and the challenges thatcome to you in that very firsteditor’s role at the DailyNews are exactly the samethings that come up later inprofessional life,” he said.

Policinski is most proud ofthe reform led by the news-paper during his time there.Students were not alwaysallowed to vote in DelawareCounty. Instead, they wereforced to vote in the countywhere their parents lived.The Daily News wrote a

series of stories on the topicthat resulted in the establish-ment of a new principleallowing students the right tochoose their home county.

“We were able to take free-dom of the press, along withother rights, and make some-thing positive come out of it,”Policinski said. “It’s a heck ofa thing if you think about it.A bunch of college studentsestablished a principle that isstill covered today.”

Policinski is not sure whatthe future holds for him. Hetakes life one step at a timeand has found that every-thing leads to something else.

“If you just take a momentto think about it – and unfor-tunately some people don’t –you suddenly realize a wholelot of things you’ve done inlife are just preparing you todo a whole bunch of otherthings if you choose to openthat door and step throughit,” he said.

Jim Bannon, B.S. 1962,editor 1960-61 and 1961-62Bannon’s life has been busy

since his days at Ball Stateand he continues to staybusy. After graduation,Bannon spent time in the AirForce, was an aid-de-camp toa general, taught at LehighUniversity in Japan, servedas president of GreensheetPublishing Company inHouston, Texas, and was onthe executive committee ofthe multi-million dollar FirstStar Bank. In 1980, Bannonfounded his own company,the Bannon Corporation ofAmerica. He serves as thepresident and CEO, manag-ing 13 professional employ-ees.

Bannon Corporation special-izes in consulting in employ-ment and labor relations.

“When companies haveproblems with their employ-ees they call us,” he said.

Bannon credits his time aseditor for helping him devel-op skills he continues to usein business today.

“It was a fabulous way for akid from a small town to meet

Jerry Ringle with his wife, Christine. Ringle was editor from 1964-65 andgraduated with a B.S. in 1965.

Photo provided

Gene PolicinskiPhoto provided

9SPRING 2002

important, powerful peopleand report on them,” he said.“It was a wonderful way topractice and hone manage-ment skills which were help-ful throughout my career.”

One of Bannon’s mostmemorable events as a stu-dent newspaper reporter waswhen he was sent to covermusician Louis Armstrong.He also had contact withadministrators, such as BallState President John Emens.Bannon said the newspaperwas a good link between stu-dents and administrators.

“He [Emens] had a greatfacility for taking time with thestudents and promoting theidea that Ball State is a friendlycampus,” Bannon said.

Bannon plans to continueworking in his corporation,but also plans to increase hiscommunity involvement.

“I hope to be able to spendmore time volunteering incommunity philanthropicorganizations,” he said.

Linda (Beerman) Prange, B.S. 1966, M.A. 1976, editor1964-65 and 1965-66Since Prange graduated

with a journalism and Englishmajor and a minor in second-ary education, she has had aneventful career. After gradua-tion, Prange taught in FortWayne, Ind., then took timeoff to be a full-time mom toher three children. In 1978,she accepted a position asassistant newspaper educa-tion coordinator for Knight-Ridder Fort Wayne. In 1987,Prange and her husbandmoved to Miami, Fla., whereshe worked as assistant circu-lation/sales/marketing direc-tor for The Miami Herald.

In 1991, Prange left theHerald to start a computerlearning center for childrenand adults. The centeropened in 1992 and was asuccess. By 1998, Prange andher husband moved to JensenBeach/Stuart, Fla. Prange isnow a licensed realtor withLifestyle Transitions Services,Inc., a full service real estatefirm that specializes in needs

of senior citizens.She also said that her work

as a student editor helped herin her professional life.

“It was one of the first timesI had to manage/directpeers,” Prange said.“Learning to work as a teamtoward a common goal wasdefinitely a life skill whichhas served me well. I alsolearned the importance ofworking and satisfying ‘boss-es.’ Dr. Louis Ingelhart was agreat boss.”

Another skill she developedwhile working at the DailyNews hasn’t been quite ashandy. As editor, she workedwith the typesetters. Theywould set the page, then giveher a copy to edit. There weremany times that the staff waspushing deadline, so Prangewould edit as they set type.

“This means I learned toread upside down and back-wards,” she said. “Yes, thissounds impossible, but I didit and can do it today.”

She especially rememberswhen Ball State was declared auniversity and she worked onthe issue covering it.

“I realized it would beimportant in the history ofBall State and I was veryproud to have an opportuni-ty to work with that issue,”she said.

She also appreciates learn-ing to work as a team whileworking on the newspaperand finding out the impor-tance of humor when dealingwith stress.

For now, Prange plans tocontinue her work withLifestyle Transitions Services,Inc., but that could alwayschange.

“I am satisfied and chal-lenged by my current posi-tion,” she said. “But, whenthat is no longer the case,who knows what I will do? Ihave always enjoyed beingchallenged.”

Bob Jonason, B.S. 1980, editor 1977-78When Jonason graduated

from Ball State in 1980, heheaded straight into a posi-tion at the Fort Wayne (Ind.)News-Sentinel. He stayed atFort Wayne until 1987 work-ing in such positions as copyeditor, reporter, music critic,assistant sports editor anddesign editor. In 1987, heheaded to the PhiladelphiaInquirer, where he stayeduntil 1999 working as assis-tant news editor, deputynews editor, sports editorand online editor.

In 1999, Jonason returned toIndiana to work for theIndianapolis Star, where heremains today. To beginwith, he was the generalmanager of online services,Linda (Beerman) Prange

Bob Jonason

Photo provided

Photo provided

but now he is the director ofonline services.

According to Jonason, histime as student newspapereditor served him well.

“It was a hands-on leader-ship experience that gave megreat confidence once Ientered the professionalworld,” he said.

A big story while Jonasonwas editor was the selectionof Ball State’s president.

“I enjoyed overseeing ourwatchdog coverage of the uni-versity presidential selectionprocess,” he said. “I learned alot from [student newspaperadviser] Dave Knott’s adviceand council...It was just agreat environment.”

For now, Jonason plans tostay with the IndianapolisStar and is working to makeits Web site one of the best inthe country for a newspaperof its size.

Brian Usher, B.S. 1969, editor 1966-67While Usher was a student

at Ball State, he also workedfor the Muncie newspaper.After graduation, Usherheaded to NorthwesternUniversity to earn his mas-ter’s degree in journalism.

For 15 years, he worked forthree different newspapers inOhio – one in Cleveland, onein Akron and one in Dayton.After that he was theWashington correspondent forKnight-Ridder before servingas press secretary to OhioGov. Dick Celeste for fouryears in the late 1980s. Forthree years, he worked for apublic relations companycalled Worth Associatesbefore starting his own publicrelations and marketing firmnine years ago.

Usher is president of hiscompany, CapitalCommunication Alliance,which specializes in publicaffairs, but also has consumercompanies such as Frigidairein its client list.

The time Usher spent withthe Ball State student newspa-per taught him a lot about thefield he was going into.

“I learned a heck of a lot

about journalism,” he said. “Ilearned just an incredibleamount of the basics of jour-nalism and patience with staffmembers.”

According to Usher, whenhe was editor was the firstyear that the student newspa-per switched to a daily paper,changing its name from theBall State News to the BallState Daily News.

“It was really the emergingyears of the Daily News,” hesaid.

One of the things Usher saidhis staff accomplished wasusing the newspaper toprotest the university’s policyof women’s hours. The stu-dents felt it was unfair forwomen to have a curfew. Healso mentioned that there wasa cartoonist on his staff whowas always getting the papera reprimand from Emens.

“I had a little bit of troublewith this cartoonist that keptstretching the right of freepress,” Usher said. “By theway, his name was Jim Davis.”

Usher plans to stay with hiscompany until retirement.

Sue (Barnhizer) Anderson,B.S. 1983, editor 1981-82For Anderson, her career

path started in journalism,but took a turn a few yearsago. She started as a reporterfor a small newspaper, then

moved to Tucson, Ariz., withher husband, where she free-lanced and wrote a bookabout the city’s history.Something just wasn’t click-ing for Anderson, though.

Then her younger sister wascritically injured in a car acci-dent, which brought Andersonand her husband and childrenback to Indianapolis, whereAnderson’s answer to herunhappiness became apparent.

“It just felt like life finallymade sense to me in that hos-pital,” she said. “Like I had acalling to be a nurse.”

In 1993, she received herbachelor’s degree in nursingand then her master’s in nurs-ing in 1997. She is now afamily nurse practitioner andteaches at Indiana UniversitySouth Bend where she workswith the Health and WellnessCenter.

Anderson said that she stilluses her journalism skills,even in such a different career.

“I use my journalism skillsevery single day,” she said. “Istill write a lot; it’s just not fora newspaper. I’m interviewingpeople; every patient I see, I’mreally interviewing them.”

Anderson’s students are alsowell aware that she has a jour-nalism background.

“My students really hate itbecause I tell them at thebeginning of the semester thatI started my life as a journal-ist, and I will grade theirpapers like a journalist,” shesaid. “They kind of shudderwhen they turn in their papersto me.”

The Daily News inAnderson’s time was a bit dif-ferent and she recognizes thechanges and opportunitiesnow afforded Daily Newsstaffers.

“When we started there,they had the ZBTs, whichwere Video Display Terminals;they were like early comput-ers,” she said. “And I remem-ber at that time that was cut-ting edge technology. It wasjust so cool. And, now, here itis on the Internet. It’s just soexciting to see the growthdown there [at the DailyNews].”

Anderson is consideringapplying for a full-time posi-tion at the Health and WellnessCenter, which means that herclass load would be cut, butshe would still teach a class.

Tom Gubbins, CurrentEditorGubbins is the current

Daily News editor and willgraduate in May 2002. He isproud to be a different kindof first Daily News editor.

“I am honored to be thefirst editor in the Art andJournalism Building,” hesaid. “Having worked inWest Quad, the StudentCenter and now here, I canreally appreciate it.”

Gubbins will alwaysremember being editor onSept. 11, 2001.

“Sept. 11 was, I think, ashining moment for the DailyNews,” he said. “I am soproud of this staff and theway we were able to puttogether an issue that thor-oughly covered the events ofthat tragic day.”

Gubbins plans to move toFort Wayne, Ind., and workas a copy editor for theJournal Gazette.

No matter when editorsserved the Ball State studentnewspaper, all seem to agreethat their days in the news-room at Ball State havehelped them in their profes-sional careers.

“I use my journalismskills every singleday. I still write alot, it’s just not for anewspaper...everypatient I see, I’mreally interviewingthem.”

- Sue (Barnhizer)Anderson

10 PHOENIX

Rebecca Burns gives tips for developing story ideasBy Stacey ShannonPhoenix Editor

With new technologyadvancing the magazineindustry, good ideas are whatwill get writers published,according to Rebecca PoynorBurns, editor of IndianapolisMonthly magazine. Burnscame to Ball State on Feb. 20as part of the Department ofJournalism's Professional-in-Residence series.

She gave students sevenreasons why ideas are so cru-cial, beginning with the verybasic reason.

“Ideas are the whole reasonthat media outlets exist,”shesaid during her lecture.

Burns also suggested thatideas represent the identity ofthe writer or publication andthat putting a new spin on anold idea can make a difference.

“Ideas are what peopleremember you for,” she said.“Good or bad, ideas are whatstick with the reader.”

Burns, who has been atIndianapolis Monthly since thespring of 2000, has experiencewith turning ideas into capti-vating articles. She previouslyworked for Atlanta Monthlymagazine as senior editor andhad a good article idea her edi-tor didn’t like. Burns wantedto write an article on the stripclub industry in Atlanta wherescandals were breaking. Hereditor had different ideas.

“I had actually proposedthe idea to my editor for fiveyears,” she said. “My editorwas very straitlaced.”

Finally Burns got the go-ahead to write the article witha business angle. After sixmonths of research she hadan article exposing scandal

and the size of the industry.“I actually discovered that

it [the sex industry] con-tributed more to the city thanthe Braves, the Falcons andthe Hawks combined,” Burnssaid. “And that more peopleworked for those businessesthan for Home Depot and forCoca-Cola.”

Atlanta was shocked, but

New photo labs benefit photojournalism studentsBy Christi GirtonGraduate Assistant

What a difference a yearmakes. Although theDepartment of Journalismhas seen many transforma-tions since the 2000-2001school year, it can be arguedthat no sequence has seen thechanges quite like photojour-nalism. Facilities oncedescribed as small and ineffi-cient are now described asspacious and state-of-the-art.

“The new photojournalismlabs in the Art andJournalism Building are vast-ly improved compared withwhat students had to workwith in West Quad,” saidfirst year graduate studentJoe Krupa.

The new photojournalismarea, located on the secondfloor of AJ, is made up ofthree sections: the digitalclassroom, the wet-lab andthe photography studio.Each section contains manypieces of new equipment,offering students the chanceto strive for a new level ofphotography.

The digital classroom isequipped with 21 new

Macintosh G4 computers,each with its own NikonSuper Coolscan 4000 scanner.These negative scanners areof the highest quality, capableof scanning an image at 4,000dots per inch.

The digital classroom islocated directly down thehall from both the wet-laband the photography studio.This new layout is muchmore efficient than the WestQuad design.

“In West Quad, the class-room was two floors awayand on the other side of thebuilding,” said Tom Price,photojournalism sequencecoordinator. “Now, the roomsare adjacent.”

The second section of thephotojournalism area is thewet-lab.

“In West Quad, there wasone room to develop filmand one room with 16 enlarg-ers and one big sink,” saidPrice. “There were also justsmall rooms for loading film.The old set-up was good forbig classes, but we havemany people who work onindividual projects and thesenew darkrooms are great forthat purpose.”

Instead of one communalworkspace for developingpictures, there are now 11darkrooms that can accom-modate two people. Eachdarkroom contains twoenlargers and a wet sink, aswell as data ports for futuredigital use.

“The wet-lab area wasdesigned with the foresightto have data terminalsinstalled in each of the print-ing stations,” said Krupa.“Having data ports already

in place is especiallyimportant for theease of conversionfrom black andwhite printing todigital imaging sta-tions as photojour-nalism rapidly pro-gresses into the digi-tal age.”

Also included inthe darkroom area isa larger developingarea for use duringclass demonstra-tions.

Safety was a toppriority in designingthe photo lab. Eachdarkroom containsan eye washing sta-tion and a vent toremove fumes.

Ken Heinen, assis-tant photojournalismprofessor, also point-ed out that the darkroomcontains an area that is com-pliant with the Associationfor Disabled Americans.

“This is a very unique fea-ture for a university photolab,” said Heinen.

The finishing area outsideof the darkroom is improvedas well. This area containstwo light tables and a nega-tive dryer.

“The negative dryer in thefinishing area is greatbecause you just hang thenegatives to dry flat insteadof drying them on a roll,”said first year graduate stu-dent Jenny Lesselbaum. “Wejust pin them at the top andbottom with clothespins.Drying the negatives like thisjust makes it more conven-ient to work with them later.”There are three other dryers

Daniel Johnson (left), a junior photojournalism major, works in the new photo laboratorieswith John Shearer, a junior telecommunications production and photojournalism major.

Photo by Jenny Lesselbaum

Phot

o by

Jen

ny L

esse

lbaum

Rebecca Burns

located in the darkroom.The finishing area is also

equipped with computers.“In West Quad, when class

was in session, only one com-puter was available in thefinishing area,” said Price.Seven computers are nowavailable.

The final section in the pho-tojournalism area is the pho-tography studio.

“This area is incredibly out-fitted,” said Heinen. “Thereis just a lot more space andmuch better equipment.”

The photo studio in WestQuad had low ceilings, mak-ing it hard to effectively con-trol lighting and take pic-tures.

Now, all lighting equip-ment is hung from muchhigher ceilings on a track sys-tem. All of the lights can be

the magazine sold out.Burns won a bronze GreenEyeshade award for her arti-cle. The award includesmore than 10 states and isvery prestigious. The articlewas picked up by Salon andBurns was interviewed by“Extra” after a major stripclub scandal broke in Atlanta.

Aside from writing theinvestigative pieces sheenjoys, Burns also writes arti-cles with her 9-year-olddaughter. The two havewritten articles for thePowerpuff Girls OfficialPowerZine and for theCartoon Network magazine.

As Indianapolis Monthlycelebrates 25 years in publish-ing this year, Burns men-tioned that the magazineindustry has recently beenbumpy. Advertising has beenmore difficult to sell and rev-

enue is down. Her magazine,like many others, was forcedto make budget and staff cut-backs.

“The staff is very close andwe work together reallyclosely,” Burns said. “It’s likea small family, but I had tolet people go. Personally,that was the hardest thing Ihad to do.”

Indianapolis Monthly ispart of EmmisCommunications. Burns her-self oversees the editorialcontent for the magazine andits other 19 publications,including Indianapolis atHome and Indy Shops.

Burns, who received abachelor’s degree in journal-ism from Georgia StateUniversity, plans to beginwork at her master’s degreeat Indiana University thissummer.

completely controlled byremote control. The roomalso features a shooting table,a dressing room for modelsand a storage room for back-drops and other equipment.

“This studio will be equalto most commercial studiosin terms of equipment,” saidPrice. The studio also has thepotential to be set up digital-ly, but most digital equip-ment is still on order.

Students and faculty alikeare excited about the oppor-tunities the photojournalismlaboratories will provide inyears to come.

“The digital lab, wet-laband lighting studio are greatareas separately, but to putthem all together you have amind-boggling teaching facil-ity,” said Heinen. “Plus, thekids love it.”

Garth Moore, a sophomore, focuseshis camera in the new photo labs.

Photo by Jenny Lesselbaum

Alumni Notes

11SPRING 2002

Class of 1963◆ Greg Harrell (B.S.) is an asso-ciate professor in the Englishand Media CommunicationsProgram at Johnson CountyCommunity College inOverland Park, Kan.

Class of 1968◆ Donald L. Lemish (B.A. 65,M.A. 68) recently retired fromLongwood College where hewas the director of athletics.He lives in Harrisonburg, Va.

Class of 1971◆ P. Douglas Mays (M.A.) iscurrently self-employed as anattorney in Benton, Ark.

Class of 1972◆ Gary Graham (B.S.) wasamong 15 Gannett newsroomsupervisors given a Gannettnewspaper NewsroomSupervisor Recognition Awardfor 2001. Graham is managingeditor of the Press and Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton, N.Y.

◆ Betsy M. Ross (B.S.) wasselected to carry the Olympictorch when it passed throughthe Cincinnati area. In the past,Ross has won the BennyAward and has been a recipientof the Distinguished AlumniAward.

Class of 1973◆ Lisa A. Davis (B.A.) wasappointed as PrincipalAssistant Deputy Under-Secretary of Defense forIndustrial Policy on Dec. 3,2001. She works in thePentagon. Her appointment isa political one within the Bushadministration.

◆ Bob Friend (B.S. 1969, M.A.1973) is the president ofGeneral Sign Midwest, Inc. inIllinois.

Class of 1977◆ Julie A. (Nason) Vincent(B.S.) recently accepted theposition of director of market-ing for Sallie Mae.

Class of 1978◆ Michael L. Hanley (M.A.)recently joined Ball StateUniversity’s Department ofJournalism as an adjunct facul-ty member. During the springsemester, he is teaching coursesin the news-editorial sequence.

Class of 1979◆ John Biel (B.S.) is the editor-in-chief of CollectibleAutomobile magazine inLincolnwood, Ill. The maga-zine, part of PublicationsInternational, Ltd., won awardsfrom the Society of AutomotiveHistorians for best overall pres-entation of automotive historyin a periodical and best auto-motive history article in a peri-odical for 2001.

◆ Kenneth J. DePaola, Jr. (B.S.)is the vice president of adver-tising, sales and marketing forthe Chicago Tribune.

◆ Kevin A. Feeney (M.A.) wasrecently named Senior VicePresident of RuaneCommunications, Inc. inRoswell, Ga.

◆ Stephen Hines (M.A.) isworking in public relations andin the book publishing indus-try as a literary prospector. Herecently collaborated withauthor Steven Womack to write“The True Crime Files of SirArthur Conan Doyle.”

APJob Fair a success despite sluggish economyBy Greg ChandlerGraduate Assistant

Indiana University graduate student, James Stinson, attended Ball State’s jobfair and talked with Rick Martinez of the South Bend tribune. Stinson said thejob fair at Ball State is excellent and he hasn’t heard about anything else likeit in Indiana. He was interviewing for a reporting position with the newspa-per.

Ball State welcomed repre-sentatives from 22 Indiananewspapers and oneMichigan publication into theL.A. Pittenger Student Centeras host of the Associated PressManaging Editors Associationand Hoosier State PressAssociation Journalism JobFair.

Despite a stumbling job mar-ket that has limited the hiringcapabilities of many newspa-pers, more than 70 students—primarily junior and seniorjournalism majors from acrossIndiana—attended the eventon Feb. 22 seeking entry-levelemployment or internships,and most left with positivefeelings.

“The fair was a good net-working experience and agreat way to make contacts,”said Elaine Buschman, a BallState senior photojournalismmajor.

Newspaper editors, whocame to the fair with equalenthusiasm, met individuallywith students in 20-minuteinterview sessions, givingthem a chance to gauge stu-dent potential for present andfuture job opportunities in allfacets of journalism.

“It’s good for the students toget out there and meet the edi-

tors—even those who are nothiring,” said Keith Robinson,Bureau Chief for theIndianapolis Associated Press.“Most newspapers will havesome kind of opening beforetoo long and, when they do,they will be likely to call stu-dents from the job fair.”

Students were able toexpand their networking skillsand build on their job inter-view experience.

“Even if they’re not hiring,this was a great way to get myname out there,” said LauraHobbs, a junior news-editorialmajor at Ball State. “I thinkthis has been a very helpfulexperience.”

An added benefit for allattendees was the opportunityto hear the lunchtime addressof Joe Grimm, a newsroomrecruiter and staff develop-ment coordinator for theDetroit Free Press. Hisspeech, “The Sky is NotFalling: Here’s How to GetYour Piece of it,” encouragedstudents and professionals tothink of the job fair as arecruiting tool for futureopportunities, as opposed toimmediate ones. In addition,he reminded the group thatthe job market and economyare ever changing. The smartrecruiters, said Grimm, are theones who think in terms of

Photo by Gerry Appel

future possibilities, and thesmart students are the oneswho remain persistent eventhough immediate job oppor-tunities are scarce.

This is the third consecutiveyear Ball State has held theevent. Past AP job fairs havebeen held at both Indiana andButler universities.

“We’ve enjoyed having it atBall State,” Robinson said.“It’s centrally located, thefacilities are very good andthe university office is alwaysvery accommodating.”

Students and faculty mem-bers from institutions acrossthe state, including NotreDame, Indiana University andFranklin College, also attend-ed the event. While themajority of interviews werereserved for students whopre-registered with specificnewspapers, the fair was alsoopen to walk-ins.

Excited by the networkingopportunities that the job fairprovides for students, BallState faculty members wouldwelcome the opportunity tocontinue hosting the event.

“Three years in a row isunprecedented,” saidDepartment of JournalismInternship Coordinator SherylSwingley. “We’ve enjoyedhaving them, and would lovefor them to keep comingback.”

Prestigious public relations award presentedBy Stacey ShannonPhoenix Editor

Amanda Brown-Olmstead,APR, was awarded theNational Public RelationsAchievement Award fromBall State’s Department ofJournalism. The award isgiven every year to a publicrelations practitioner whohas had outstanding accom-plishments and made vari-ous contributions to thefield.

Brown-Olmstead is aFellow of the PublicRelations Society of Americaand has been the presidentand executive officer of herown public relations firm, A.Brown-Olmstead Associates,since 1972. The award waspresented at the IndianaPublic Relations andCommunications Conferenceheld in Indianapolis onMarch 21.

As the award winner,Brown-Olmstead also spokeat the conference to studentsand professionals about theextent of professional influ-ences and the importance ofpersonal interaction, com-munication and networking.

She has been very involvedwith PRSA in her more than20 years working as a pro-fessional. During this time,Brown-Olmstead has servedPRSA as chair of both theCounselors Academy andthe Bronze Anvil AwardsCommittee. These two posi-tions are two of the highestwithin the Society. Brown-Olmstead has also been amember of the nationalHonors and AwardsCommittee, theAccreditation Committee,the Ethics Committee andthe Diversity Task Force.She shares her distinction asa PRSA Fellow with onlyapproximately 300 otherpublic relations profession-als worldwide.

Outside of PRSA, Brown-Olmstead has served on var-ious committees. She is cur-rently a member ofGeorgia’s Regional BusinessCoalition Policy Board, theRegional Business Institute,the Board of Central AtlantaProgress, the AdvisoryBoard of the ShepherdSpinal Center, the Board ofCouncilors for the CarterCenter, the executive com-

mittee of the Board of theAtlanta Botanical Gardenand the Board of Atlanta’sexclusive One-Ninety-OneClub.

Brown-Olmstead’s profes-sional accomplishmentsinclude receiving the SilverAnvil Award. She has alsodirected marketing and pub-lic relations plans for the1986 Goodwill Games inMoscow, the creation of theRitz-Carlton hotel chain, theAtlanta Police Department,Turner Broadcasting System,Citibank and the NationalBlack Arts Festival. Theseare only a few of the eventsand organizations she hasworked with.

With all of her professionalachievements and communi-ty involvement, Brown-Olmstead has been designat-ed as one of the 10Outstanding Atlantans. Shewas also recognized as aWomen of Achievement bythe International Women’sForum, named to the PRSAGeorgia Chapter Hall ofFame and awarded a GoldMedal in the New York Filmand TV Festival.

Previous National PublicRelations Achievement

Award Winners

22000011 - David Drobis22000000 - John Paluszek11999999 - John M. Reed11999988 - Lawrence G. Foster11999977 - Tim Traverse-Healy11999966 - Daniel J. Edelman11999955 - Ann Barkelew11999944 - James B. Strenski11999933 - James Little11999922 - John. D. Graham11999911 - W. Howard Chase11999900 - Chester Burger11998899 - Robert L.

Dilenschnieder11998888 - Harold Burson11998877 - David Ferguson11998866 - Edward L. Bernays11998855 - Philip Lesly11998844 - Patrick Johnsoon11998833 - Denny Griswold11998822 - Betsy Ann Plank11998811 - Jim Haynes11998800 - Allen H. Center11997799 - Frank W. Wylie11997788 - Maurice L. Denton11997777 - Ellen Hall

12 PHOENIX

Alumni Notes - Cont.◆ Phoenix McKinney (MaryAnn Terrell) (B.S.) is an adjunctinstructor at University of SouthFlorida and an account executiveat Communication Solutions, afull-service public communica-tions agency that specializes inwater and related environmentalissues. McKinney lives inBrooksville, Fla.

Class of 1980◆ Amy Alhersmeyer (B.S.)recently became a principal ofHetrick Communications, Inc.,an Indianapolis-based publicrelations and marketing commu-nications firm. She is a memberand past president of the BallState Journalism Alumni Boardand currently serves on the BallState Alumni Council.

◆ Mary Dale Walters (B.S.)recently accepted a position assenior director of corporate com-munications for LexisNexisGroup in Dayton, Ohio.

Class of 1982◆ Diane Salucci (M.A.) wasrecently named eFunds vicepresident of corporate communi-cations and investor relations.She oversees many aspects ofcommunication for the companyin Scottsdale, Ariz.

Class of 1983◆ Michael D. Hall (B.S. 79, M.A.83) is a copy editor inBrownsville, Texas.

Class of 1984◆ Jon Ferguson (B.S.) works onthe copy desk for the SanFrancisco Chronicle.

◆ Byung-Kook Lee (M.A.) is aprofessor of mass communica-tions at Hanseo University inSouth Korea.

Class of 1987◆ Daniel Courtney (B.S.) is asales representative for CNHIMedia in Carmel, Ind.

Class of 1988◆ Larry Costello (M.A.) current-ly directs public relations forSears, Roebuck and Co. appli-ances and electronics business.He also leads the company’scampaign to generate andincrease sales as well as aware-ness for energy efficient appli-ances.

◆ Todd Earl (B.A.) is the Directorof Business Development at G.Temple Associates. He lives in asuburb of Detroit.

◆ Dana Nussio (B.A.), a self-employed author, recently soldher first novel to Steeple HillBooks, a division of HarlequinEnterprises. “A Blessed Life,”written under the pseudonymDana Corbit, will be released inOct. 2002 under the LoveInspired imprint. (see article onpage 5)

Class of 1989◆ Tom Davies (B.A.) was recent-ly promoted to day supervisor ofthe Associate Press bureau inIndianapolis. He also started atwo-year term as president of theIndiana Journalism Hall of Fameboard of directors and is vice-president of the Indianapolischapter of the Society ofProfessional Journalists.

Class of 1994◆ Pamela Fettig (B.S.) is copyeditor with Endless Vacationmagazine, part of RCI, inIndianapolis.

Alumnus and former Ball Stateprofessor speaks about graphicsBy Greg ChandlerGraduate Assistant

The ability to tell the storygraphically—in a way thatreaders will appreciate andunderstand—is no longer anadded bonus to a well-cov-ered story, but a necessity intoday’s visually orientedsociety.

Reaching out to visuallyminded readers with holisticimages and informativegraphics is whatPhiladelphia Inquirer graph-ics editor and former BallState University professorMichael Price has been doingfor nearly 20 years. Pricehimself is an alumnus of BallState’s Department ofJournalism (B.S. 1984).

The founder of the journal-ism graphics major at BallState, where he taught formore than 10 years, Pricereturned on April 17 as apart of the Professional-in-Residence lecture series. Hislecture, titled “ProducingGraphic Journalism:Information Sharing,Newsroom Resources andThinking Out of the Box,”discussed his role as a designeditor and the importance ofincluding graphics withinthe traditional mix of jour-nalism.

“We are a very time-pres-sured and visual society, and

people today don’t want tospend as much time with anewspaper,” Price said.“Strong visual images are soremembered because theyare more holistic and com-municate better than soundand words both.”

“The graphic journalistshows things that cannototherwise be shown,” headded.

Price also discussed theshift from traditional graph-ics editing to integrated edit-ing, mentioning how newsgraphics relate to all sectors

of communication, includingpublic relations, advertising,photojournalism and report-ing.

“Visual graphics isn’t justabout being a journalismgraphics major,” Price said.“Understanding how visualimages play a role in reach-ing public audiences is avaluable tool for any kind ofpractitioner.”

In addition, Price noted theimportance of understandingthe different roles played bypeople in various positionsthroughout a newspaper.Interns, in particular, shouldkeep this in mind in order toenhance their newspaperexperience, according toPrice.

“Get to know your editorsand writers,” encouragedPrice. “Your experience willbenefit.”

After founding the graph-ics sequence at Ball State,Price served as sequencehead and helped establishthe program as one of thetop news design programs inthe country.

Price is a former boardmember of the Society forNews Design and a fellow atboth the NationalGeographic magazine andthe Poynter Institute forMedia Studies. He alsoserves as a graphics consult-ant to several American

Michael PricePhoto by Gerry Appel

newspapers.As a college newspaper

and yearbook adviser, Price’sstaff received numerousCSPA Gold Crown Awards,as well as several �ACPPacemaker and Best of ShowAwards. Under his guid-ance, Ball State’s Daily Newswas honored with severalSociety for News Designawards, and was named asone of the 14 “World’s BestDesigned Newspapers.” Itwas the only college newspa-per to be recognized withsuch an achievement.

In 1997, Price was named aBall State OutstandingTeaching professor and washonored as the Departmentof Journalism’s “OutstandingYoung Alumnus” in 1996.He currently serves on BallState’s Journalism AlumniBoard.

Price was also instrumentalin developing a Newspaper-in-Residence fellowship pro-gram in 1999, which createdan ongoing partnershipbetween Ball State and thePhiladelphia Inquirer. Theprogram has offered BallState journalism studentsongoing internship opportu-nities at the Inquirer, whileallowing for the annualappearance of a PhiladelphiaInquirer representative as aProfessional-in-Residenceguest lecturer.

Alumni return for annual SNDWeekendBy Stacey ShannonPhoenix Editor

The annual Society forNews Design Weekend thisyear was a bit different. Theevents took place in the newArt and Journalism Buildingand were hosted by the newgraphics sequence coordina-tor and SND adviser,Jennifer George-Palilonis(B.S. 1996).

According to Palilonis,around 20 alumni returnedfor the events of the week-end held April 12 and 13.Palilonis worked with SNDstudent president, MikeHartz, and student vice pres-ident, Erin Hein, to put theweekend together.

Over the weekend, whichstarted at noon on April 12,students had the opportunityto talk with alumni aboutwork, feast on pizza, gobowling, have their portfo-lios reviewed and listen to a

speakers talk about workingfor various-sized newspa-pers. Those in attendancealso toured the new build-ing. There was a quickmeeting for SND members tovote for next year’s officers.

Palilonis said the weekendfocused on bringing in alum-ni to talk about their experi-ences, allowing students toget an idea of where graph-ics can lead.

“Journalism graphics alum-ni returned to share theirexperiences and their portfo-lios from professional publi-cations, mostly newspapers,with current students,” shesaid. “It was an opportunityfor students to pick theirbrains about the professionalindustry, socialize and talkabout topics such as graphicsreporting, art direction, pagedesign, what it’s like to workfor large and small newspa-per, careers outside of news-papers, etc.”

Some of the alumni whoattended the weekendincluded Beth Cusmano (B.S.2000), Angie Smith (B.S.2001), Justin Gilbert (B.S.1997), Craig Blanchard (B.A.2001), Kevin Burkett (B.S.1997) and Julia Zolandz(B.A. 1999).

The weekend was previ-ously held in 1999 and 2000.Palilonis was excited for stu-dents to have the opportuni-ty to talk with alumni whohave been successful in jour-nalism graphics.

“The whole weekend reallycenters around hearing theexperiences of alumni in theprofessional world,” shesaid.

Hartz, a senior journalismgraphics major and currentSND president, helped withthe planning. He has beenan SND member for fouryears and attended the SNDWeekend held two yearsago.

“It gave me a good per-spective about what toexpect in the real world,” hesaid.

He mentioned that talkingwith alumni is helpful forstudents.

“They have been where weare now and can tell us whatto expect next,” Hartz said.

Hein, a junior journalismgraphics major, also helpedwith planning of the week-end. She helped with mail-ings, developing ideas andmaking contacts. Hein hadnot previously attended anSND Weekend before andlooked forward to the oppor-tunity to see friends whohave graduated.

Hein agreed that the week-end was a good chance forstudents to talk with profes-sionals and get a better ideaof what the work entails.

“It helped students to seewhat it’s really like,” shesaid.

13SPRING 2002

Students participate inCCIM Week activitiesBy Stacey ShannonPhoenix Editor

Freedom of speech was thetheme for this year’s annualCollege of Communication,Information, and Media Week.Officially called “CelebratingFreedoms: The Volume ofYour Voice,” the week fea-tured various activities forCCIM students. More than800 participants attendedevents throughout the week.

According to Dr. DominicCaristi, Associate Professor ofTelecommunications andorganizer of CCIM Week, thecollege has been hosting suchan event since it was createdin 1997. This year’s eventswere held from April 1through April 4. Each year,the organizers strive to offernew activities and events.

“Every year we attempt tobring in different speakers andprograms of interest,” Caristisaid. “But, of course, thetheme changes every year.”

One change from last year’sCCIM Week is that there wereno student competitions heldthis year. According to Caristi,the theme of the week wasn’tconducive to contests thatcould be conducted in a fewhours at the end of the week.

This year, CCIM Weekincluded a “Student Soapbox”held daily at the ScrambleLight at the intersection ofMcKinley and Riverside.Caristi said that some speakersof the soapbox were scheduled

while at other times it wasopen for any student to speakon any topic. The soapboxwas to encourage and makestudents aware of free speech.

“It was an opportunity forpeople to stand up there andsay whatever they wanted tosay,” Caristi said.

CCIM Week also featured apanel on Monday night aboutmedia ownership and freespeech. The panel includedTom Gjelten, a national securi-ty correspondent for NationalPublic Radio. Gjelten wasalso available to talk with stu-dents early Tuesday afternoonin an open house at the WBSTstudio and lectured in the Artand Journalism Building lateron Tuesday afternoon.

On Tuesday evening, CCIMWeek presented “Seventeen,”a documentary made inMuncie in the late 1970s. Thedocumentary was part of afilm series on Middletown,but was so controversial at thetime that it was never shownin Muncie. Caristi felt that aweek devoted to free expres-sion was a good time to showit.

The Department ofJournalism’s Pulliam Lectureon Thursday night wasincluded in the CCIM Weekevents (see article on page 2).

Caristi said that the overallgoal of the week was to buildexcitement about the collegefor students of all ages and tofocus on and explore one topicfully.

A note from the Alumni Board PresidentBy JimGrimAlumniBoardPresidentfrom 2001to 2003

When 11 members of thesenior class at Indiana’sEastern Normal School setout to capture their campusexperiences in the form of ayearbook in 1919, I suspectthey couldn’t have evenimagined how far their ini-tial journalistic adventurewould develop over the fol-lowing eight decades. Whiletheir Orient yearbook is athing of the past, the aca-demic endeavor theysparked is impressivebeyond the wildest imagina-tion of many students whofollowed over the years.

Former students may recalltaking up the study of jour-

nalism in garages, old hous-es and a building that oncehad been the campus physi-cal plant we called WestQuad. We pounded out sto-ries on manual typewriters,“pasted up” copy galleys—with hot wax, none-the-less,or rubber cement––and shotphotos on “bulk film.”

Take a look at theJournalism Departmenttoday and it’s instantaneous-ly clear these memories, too,are also a thing of the past.The Art and JournalismBuilding, one of the largestacademic buildings on cam-pus, illustrates the advancesin our field of study. Multi-million-dollar fundedCollege of Communication,Information, and Mediacommunications conver-gence programs further illus-trate major advances in thecurriculum and campusfacilities.

Students aren’t strollingalong the Cow Path any

more.Staying connected and sup-

porting this growth is therole of the JournalismAlumni Association. Itsboard meets quarterly, usual-ly at the Alumni Center andworks with DepartmentChairwoman MarilynWeaver, Professor DanWaechter and AlumniCommunications DirectorCharlotte Shepperd on avariety of related projectsand department updates.Projects include:

Recommending to facultyannual alumni and Hall ofFame award recipients

Sponsoring aProfessional-in-Residence

Encouraging alumni tomake classroom presenta-tions

Participating in specialevents like the dedication ofthe new building

Hosting regional alumnioutings across the state.

Last spring we sponsored a

Journalism AlumniBoard welcomes new members and changes

Ball State University Journalism Alumni Board membersare elected for four-year terms. Officers have two-yearterms. Their current terms expire on Dec. 31, 2002.Appointed to the board also are Department ChairwomanMarilyn Weaver (1965, M.A. 1970, EdS 1981), journalism fac-ulty representative, Dan Waechter (1987, M.A. 1993) andAlumni Association Liaison, Charlotte Shepperd (1968,M.A. 1975). Below is a list of the current officers:

President: Jim Grim, 1980Vice President: Sarah Shrode, 1996Past President: Amy Ahlersmeyer, 1980Secretary: Charlotte Shepperd, 1968, M.A. 1975Alumni Council Representative: Amy Ahlersmeyer, 1980Alumni Staff Assistant: Diane Williams

Term expires December 2002:Susan Akers, 1990Gary Graham, 1972Deborah Robinson, 1989

Term expires December 2003:Jim Grim, 1980Mark Kornmann, 1983, M.A. 1984Pam Records, 1982Lesley Stedman, 1991

Term expires December 2004:Amy Ahlersmeyer, 1980Brian Hayes, 1996Gene Policinski, 1972

Term expires December 2005:David Knott, M.A. 1971Juli Metzger, 1985, M.S. 1988Michael Price, 1984Sarah Shrode, 1996

For more information on how to get involved with the Alumni Board,contact Marilyn Weaver at 765-285-8200 or Charlotte Shepperd at 765-285-1080.

Alumni Notes - Cont.

regional outing at the Coltscomplex in Indianapolis andplans for a similar event thisyear are in the works. Whendetails of such plans arrive,please consider participating.It’s the perfect opportunityto see old friends, catch upon campus happenings andestablish new networks.Besides, imagine the possi-bilities when decades ofalumni get together. If 11members of the senior classin 1919 capturing their expe-riences in the form of a year-book initiated all of this, thesky may be the limit when itcomes to Ball State journal-ism alumni.

Jim Grim, B.S. 1980, is presi-dent of the Ball StateJournalism Alumni Board. Hecoordinates community rela-tions for George WashingtonCommunity School inIndianapolis and teaches cours-es for the Indiana UniversitySchool of Journalism, where heearned an M.A. in 1988.

Class of 1994 - Cont.◆ Michelle Linn-Gust (B.S.) wasselected to carry the Olympictorch through Albuquerque,N.M., on Jan. 12. Linn-Gustrecently published a book aboutsibling suicide and spoke at BallSate in the fall of 2001. She livesin Albuquerque.

Class of 1995◆ Tricia (Raber) Parrott (B.S.) isthe senior account executive forParallax Communications Groupin Indianapolis.

◆ Andrew Stoner (M.A.) hasjoined the staff of IndianaGovernor Frank O’Bannon asDeputy Press Secretary and asExecutive Assistant for Humanand Social Services.

Class of 1996◆ Emily Brannon (B.S.) is agraphics editor for theWashington, D.C. Bureau of theAssociated Press. She also teach-es a graphics class at theUniversity of Maryland twodays a week.

Class of 1997◆ Justin Gilbert (B.S.) is an edito-rial artist for Newsday in NewYork. He is in charge of researchand creating the informationalgraphics and design packagesfor the New York City edition ofthe paper.

◆ Aminda Jacobs (B.A.) is agraduate student and works inthe field counseling victims ofdomestic violence and rape.

Class of 1998◆ David A. LaTorre (M.A.) is thedeputy press secretary at thePennsylvania Governor’s office.Previously, LaTorre worked fornewspapers in York, Pa., andAllentown, Pa.

Class of 1999◆ Melissa (Frey) Granger (B.S.) isthe design coordinator for HighSchool Sports Publications inCrown Point, Ind.

◆ Bridget (Shireman) Lukick(B.S.) is currently working as agraphics designer for the DailyJournal in Franklin, Ind.

Class of 2000◆ Lindsay Allard (B.S.) is work-ing for CMG Worldwide inIndianapolis as the web manag-er.

◆ Roya Kousari (B.A.) is work-ing on a master of arts manage-ment degree at Carnegie Mellonin Pittsburgh, Pa.

◆ Darci Valentine (B.A. 1994,M.A. 2000) is editor of Angie’sList in Indianapolis, which pub-lishes nine local magazines innine markets.

Class of 2001◆ Cameran Erny (B.S.) is work-ing as editorial assistant atMuscle Media and Energy forWomen magazines in Golden,Colo.

◆ Ayesha George (B.S.) worksfor the March of Dimes as theWalkAmerica Representative.She is coordinating her ownWalkAmerica event in Adrian,Mich. and plans to attend gradu-ate school at the University ofMichigan part-time starting inthe fall.

◆ Sarah Jaeck (B.S.) is researcheditor for Bacon’s DirectoryPublishing in Chicago.

with the team came the fifthbest selling sports book,“The Jordan Rules.”

“I am the internationalexpert on the NBA,” saidSmith, laughing at himself.“If someone in New Zealandwants to know what is hap-pening, they call me.”

While Smith has had manyyears in the newspaper busi-ness, Daniel Swenson is arecent Ball State graduate,but with many successesbehind him already.

Swenson was awarded theYoung Alumnus Award bythe department. During hisacceptance speech, heremembered Professor WaltBaker’s suggestion to partici-pate in the graphicssequence. It was advice he isglad to have taken.

Swenson has worked atMacmillan Publishing, theLexington (Ken.) Herald-Leader and the ChicagoTribune in the illustrationand graphics departments.Then Swenson took a posi-tion as a graphic artist withthe Times-Picayone in NewOrleans. He has receivednumerous awards, including

five awards of excellence andtwo silver awards from theSociety for News Design andtwo first place awards, foursecond and one third placefrom the Associated Press.

While he has receivedmuch recognition for his pro-fessional achievements as agraphic artist, Swenson isvery modest about his work.

“I am very honored toreceive this [award]. I amalways working and alwaysvery tired because of it,”Swenson said. “I take myawards as achievements.

14 PHOENIX

“Every time I getan e-mail or phonecall from a reader, Iconsider that anachievement,also.”

- Daniel Swenson,Young Alumnus Award Recipient

By Kimberly JanaGraduate Assistant

Annual journalism awards presentedAs in years past, the

Department of Journalismtook an afternoon toacknowledge and distinguishthose in the field of journal-ism. On April 4, 10 profes-sionals were honoredthrough the support of theEugene S. Pulliam Family,the Journalism AlumniAssociation and the depart-ment. Additionally, this wasthe 18th year for theJournalism Hall of Fameinduction ceremony.

Three Ball State alumniwere honored during the cer-emony: Sam Smith (M.A.1974), Terry Nelson (B.S.1973, M.A. 1978) and DanielSwenson (B.S. 1995).

The Journalism AlumniBoard selected Smith as the2002 Journalism Hall ofFame member. Originallyfrom New York, Smith cameto Ball State in the 1970s topursue a career in journalism– and leave his job as anaccountant for Arthur Youngand Company behind.From 1973 to 1979, Smithhad various positions withthe Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel, the States NewsService and as press secre-tary for U.S. Sen. LowellWeicker, Jr. However, it wasa move to Chicago fromWashington, D.C., in 1979that changed his professionalcareer forever.

“You can’t follow the paththat I took. It was luck andbeing at the right place at theright time,” Smith said.

After being apolitical/national reporter,business columnist andTribune Sunday magazinefeature writer, Smith wasgiven the opportunity to picka Chicago professional sportsteam as a beat.

It was 1984 and ChicagoBulls guard Michael Jordanwas not the legend that he istoday. However, Smith wasable to travel with the teamand learn the complete pic-ture of what comprised anaward-winning basketballteam. From his experiences

Every time I get an e-mail orphone call from a reader, Iconsider that an achievementalso. Stephen Ambrose [his-torian/D-Day museumfounder] wrote a letter to oureditor saying my Normandymap was the best he’d everseen.”

Additionally, theJournalism Alumni Awardwas given to Terry Nelson.She has been nationally andlocally recognized for yearsas a friend to the high schoolpress. When she first beganher teaching career atYorktown (Ind.) High School,Nelson was fired, temporari-ly, for standing up for therights of her students.

Currently the Dow JonesNational Journalism Teacherof the Year, Nelson is usingthe national publicity tospeak about student pressrights and teaching skills andtechniques.

“[Journalism is] a grandopportunity to make theworld a better place,” shesaid.

Nelson has worked for theBall State summer journalismworkshops as a teacher andlecturer. Additionally, shehas received awards fromvarious organizations,including USA Today, theNational Scholastic PressAssociation, ColumbiaScholastic Press Association,the Indiana High SchoolPress Association and theSociety of ProfessionalJournalists.

Also at the luncheon, PamEssex of Avon High Schoolwas given the ScholasticJournalism Award. Essexhas been the adviser forAvon’s publications for 22years. In 2000, one of her

Hall of Fame inductee, Sam Smith (right), accepts his plaque from Journalism Alumni Board President Jim Grim duringthe luncheon. Smith is the 30th person inducted into Ball State’s Journalism Hall of Fame. He graduated in 1974 withan M.A. in journalism.

Photo by Joe Krupa

students, Marina Hennessy,wrote a story concerninghazing on the high schoolfootball team. Because ofHennessy’s excellent journal-istic work and Essex’s sup-port of it, both becamenationally recognized. TheFreedom Forum, JournalismEducators Association,IHSPA, National PublicRadio and Cosmo Girl maga-zine featured the work thatadviser and student pro-duced in the school’s paper,the Echo.

The Joseph Costa Awardfor Courtroom Photographywent to Sheila Springsteenfor her work with the HomeNews Tribune, EastBrunswick, N.J. Her photoessay, “Emmanuel: Witnessto his Mother’s Murder,”showed the strength of a 10-year-old boy who survivedthe killing of his mother –and was a witness duringthe trial. Springsteen spentover three years withEmmanuel and his family forthe entire duration of theirstory, which eventually ledto the conviction of the mur-derer, Andrew Lewis.

The Indianapolis Star andWTHR-TV were recognizedfor their dedication andwork in the area of mediaconvergence. Honored withthe 2002 Indiana JournalismAward, the two media haveshared projects, stories andlegal expenses in pursuit ofpublic records and have cre-ated public forums and townmeetings. While there havebeen print/broadcast combi-nations throughout the coun-try, the Star/WTHR relation-ship is unique in that theyshare no formal joint market-ing agreement or official con-

tract. Indiana Gov. Frank

O’Bannon and the AmericanSociety of NewspaperEditors were both honoredby the department withSpecial Citations. O’Bannonwas credited during the cere-mony for his political effortsto increase the access of pub-lic records for the media.ASNE’s citation honored itscontinued dedication tofuture journalists – throughfinancial and educationalsupport. The organizationassists financially deprivedor inner-city schools wherestudent publications fre-quently do not flourish orexist at all. Through thegrant program that ASNEhas created, student press ismore active than ever.

The Tony Majeri Award forInnovation and Leadershipin Graphic Journalism wasawarded to Karl Gude ofNewsweek magazine. Gudehas worked for such publica-tions as United PressInternational, New YorkDaily News, the NationalSports Daily and theAssociated Press. He hastaught internationally inThailand, Britain, Chile,Columbia, Denmark,Germany, Hong Kong,Argentina, Norway andSpain and in the U.S. onvisual communication andinformation graphics.

Finally, the Eugene S.Pulliam National JournalismWriting Award was given toChristine Evans (see article onpage 2) and the NationalPublic RelationsAchievement Award waspresented to AmandaBrown-Olmstead at an earli-er date (see article on page 11).

Daniel Swenson(left) accepts hisYoung Alumnusaward fromDepartment ofJournalism chair-woman, MarilynWeaver.Swenson gradu-ated with a B.S.in 1995 and cur-rently residesand works inNew Orleans.

Photo by Joe Krupa

15SPRING 2002

Please let us know where you are and what you are doingName ____________________________________________________

Graduation Year _ ____ _____ Degree Earned ____ __________

Place of Employment ______________________________________

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News

Send to Ball State UniversityDepartment of Journalism, Phoenix

Muncie, IN 47306-0485Phone: (765) 285-8200

Fax: (765) 285-7997E-Mail: bsujourn@bsu.edu

Three Ball State journalism alumnireceive top teaching awards in 2001By Kimberly JanaGraduate Assistant

Ball State’s Department ofJournalism has always prideditself on producing studentscapable of surviving in theprofessional world, includingthe world of teaching.Evidently, the department hasevery right to brag. ThreeBall State journalism alumnireceived top teaching awardsduring 2001.

Alumni Mike Frazier (B.S.1976, M.A. 1983), TerryNelson (B.S. 1973, M.A. 1978)and Fred Blevens (B.S. 1974,M.A. 1979) were all awardedprestigious teaching awardsfor their work with highschool and college journalists.

Frazier, who was awardedthe Sengenberger Award bythe Indiana High School PressAssociation on Oct. 12, wassurprised to win. TheSengenberger Award honorsadvisers with special dedica-tion to their students andpublications.

“When I look back at thenames of the other peoplewho have received thisaward, I am truly humbled. Itis wonderful to be recognizedby your peers – the peoplewho really understand whatyou go through [as an advis-er],” he said.

Frazier, who has worked forHanover High School inCedar Lake, Ind., for 23 years,was also recognized in 1999with the prestigious MilkenFamily Foundation Award.This award was a direct resultof a somewhat radical movethat he made with the stu-dents’ newspaper – movingtotally online and discardinga print version altogether.

“We try to explore realworld experiences with cut-ting edge technology,” heexplained. “With CyberCat,

we replaced the newspaperwith a timelier version.There is a constant turnoverof information – somethingnew every day.”

The switch from a print ver-sion to the online paper wasin 1999. Hanover was thefirst school in Indiana andone of the first in the nationto go totally online. Whilethe main reason for theswitch was economics,Frazier received much sup-port from the school’s princi-pal and the school systemitself. All necessary technolo-gy was provided for theCyberCat staff.

“Our staff is very self sup-portive – there is virtually nocost to [the newspaper] staff.Whatever funding we receivein sales goes directly back tothe staff for movie tickets andpizza,” he said.

While the staff occasionallysends out reminders to the750 junior high and highschool students at Hanover,the site has had over 26,000hits since it was put up.

“We get letters and respons-es from alumni about the site.We provide an e-mail for con-tact with the staff, but we arehoping to change it for moreinteraction – adding flash ani-mation, sound and video,”Frazier explained.

The high standards thatFrazier places on his 10 stu-dent staff members resultpartly from his experiences atBall State.

“The skills I accumulated atBall State helped at Hanover.I was well prepared on con-tent and methods. I was pre-pared for what I could expectand never felt lost,” Fraziersaid. “The most importantthing to me about my educa-tion from Ball State was thatthey set high standards – wehad to produce.”

Nelson, who was awardedthe Dow Jones NationalJournalism Teacher of theYear Award for 2001 inNovember, echoes histhoughts. She is currently theadviser at Muncie (Ind.)Central High School.

“Ball State is a great place tobe as a student. If you workreally, really hard you canaccomplish a lot without get-ting lost in the numbers,”Nelson said. “The professorsin the journalism departmentwere excellent. The debatesand lectures we would havein classes helped to strength-en me personally.”

Nelson, who has beennationally and locally recog-nized many times for herdefense of student pressrights, received much of herunderstanding of this issuefrom department founder andretired professor, Dr. LouisIngelhart. Ingelhart is knownworldwide for his belief inthe rights of student journal-ists. Nelson hopes the recentnational attention through theDow Jones Award will giveher the opportunity to conveyher personal beliefs across thecountry.

“This gives me a platform totalk about student press rightsand teaching skills. There is alot of opportunity for discus-sion and to share the wordabout students and what theyare producing. Part of themessage is to teach well. Badjournalism is out there, andthat is why it is so necessaryto hire accredited advisers andteachers,” she said.

Nelson has not always trav-eled the easy path to speakup for her students. Whenshe was 25 and working atYorktown (Ind.) High School,she was fired by the adminis-tration for speaking up andsupporting the high school

paper. This mirrored anexperience that her own highschool adviser had, when shewas a student at Merrillville(Ind.) High School. Nelsonstill remembers her advisercleaning off her desk and cry-ing as she left the buildingafter being fired.

“When I think about indi-viduals confronted with los-ing their job [for studentpress rights] it makes me feelvery lucky. I found out earlywhy I was doing this. It alsogives a sense of realness tothe students when you arewilling to lose your job forthem,” Nelson said.

Nelson’s staff has been recog-nized nationally for the qualityand depth of their reportingand writing. And whileawards are not the absolutegoal of her staff, Nelson is

proud that others, who do notknow her or her students, canlook at their work and say thatit is some of the best producedin the country.

“I have a real belief in whatI do. Enthusiasm is conta-gious – I am not super obses-sive, but [my staffers] write,rewrite, photograph and re-photograph. I try to teachthem what a grand opportu-nity this is to make the worlda better place,” she said.“[My students] will allbecome good citizens. Whenyou have a sense of humor,and you love your job, thehours just don’t count.”

Blevens, who is an associateprofessor in the Department

of Mass Communication atSouthwest Texas StateUniversity, was awarded theFreedom Forum JournalismTeacher of the Year Award for2001.

The Freedom Forum pro-vides three $10,000 awards ayear to honor journalism pro-fessors for classroom teachingexcellence at bachelor’sdegree-granting colleges anduniversities.

The award, as described bythe Freedom Forum, recog-nizes classroom teaching andleadership in the core areas ofprint and broadcast journal-ism instruction: reporting,editing, journalism history,media law or ethics. Theawards are designed to recog-nize, reinforce and rewardoutstanding journalism teach-ers who have demonstratedjournalism teaching excel-lence on their own campusesand beyond.

Blevens has worked for var-ious publications, includingthe Missouri Magazine, theHouston Chronicle, the FortWorth Star-Telegram and theSan Antonio Light. WhileBlevens did not start teachingfull-time until 1995, he hasbeen awarded nationally forhis work with students. In2000, he was a fellow for theInstitute for JournalismExcellence at the AmericanSociety of Newspaper Editors.However, like Frazier andNelson, Blevens credits hissuccess with pushing his stu-dents to do their very best, ashe said in a press release fromthe Freedom Forum.

“I try to encourage studentsto think deeply and movetheir work in new directions,”he said. “Getting some of thestory is not acceptable; gettingmore of the story is the dailyresponsibility; getting all isthe personal goal.”

“When you have asense of humor andyou love your job,the hours just don’tcount.”

- Terry Nelson

NONPROFITU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDBALL STATE UNIVERSITY

16 PHOENIX SPRING 2002

Department of JournalismBall State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

A day in the life ABOVE:

Junior SamGibbs workson an articlewhile senior

RoxanneAllen edits

photographson the com-puter in thebackground.

RIGHT:Studentsmeet in

Adviser TJHemlinger’s

office to discuss story

ideas.Clockwisefrom left,

Hemlinger,junior John

Ursch, soph-omores Gail

Koch andCourtney

Renard, sec-retary for the

Society ofProfessionalJournalists.

With theirbacks to thecamera arejuniors LoriHerber and

ChrisSchilling.

of Ba l l S ta te ’s Dai l y NewsB Y J E N N Y L E S S E L B A U M • G R A D U AT E A S S I S TA N T

ABOVE: Junior Joe McFarrenfollows a lead for a story.

LEFT: Sophomore LaurenPhillips and junior ChetBaumgartner discuss anupcoming article.

ABOVE: Hemlinger addressesthe staff during the weeklyMonday meeting. SophomoreMeghan Farr sits below.

Sophomore Kelli Cardinal (left), DN pictureeditor, talks with staff photographer and graduate assistant Joe Krupa.