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months to complete the book.Three months later, “Waiting forMorning: Hearing God’s Voice inthe Darkness” was completed.

“I was fortunate to have a largeenough advance royalty that Icould take time off from myother freelance work and focuson the book 100 percent,” Crosbysaid.

The book has a specific focusthat Crosby strove to convey.She also hopes to reach otherswho are dealing with similar sit-uations.

“‘Waiting for Morning’ seeks tocommunicate that much of faithis a mystery,” she said. “But,God’s love for us is constant even

during times when we feel He is far away and silent. AsI wrestled with difficult questions about my faith, Ifound images and reminders of God’s love as I walkedoutdoors and worked in my garden. My desire was thatreaders who are also struggling with their faith or withdifficult circumstances would find hope and comforthere.”

Crosby’s professional friends recognize the quality ofthe book as well. Phyllis Tickle, religion editor emeritusfor Publisher’s Weekly, formed a friendship with Crosbyfive years ago when they met while on assignment.Tickle, who wrote the book’s forward, is pleased withher friend’s writing.

“It’s an excellent first book,” Tickle said. “This is awriter to watch.”

Crosby is already working on another book aboutprayer. She hopes to find answers for herself throughher writing.

“I’ll always be writing, whether I’m published again ornot,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the next bigadventure.”

Eli Lilly Foundation givesBall State $20 million

If Scott Olson, dean of the Collegeof Communication, Information, andMedia, tells you the mass media aredying, do not be alarmed. Do not callyour boss, lawyer or therapist. Yourfavorite television show is not goinganywhere—but, according to Olson,the mass media are indeed on theirway out.

Mass media, meet iCommunica-tion. iCommunication will be the nextstage in the media revolution, Olsonsays—a digital, more personalized,intimate form of media consumption.And iCommunication will begin here,at Ball State University, thanks to a$20 million grant from the Eli LillyFoundation. The four-year grant hasled to the creation of the Center forMedia Design, which includes theGlobal Media Network and theMedia Studies Program.

iCommunication is the foundationof the CMD. According to the grant

By Gerry AppelGraduate Assistant

See “Grant” on page 2

Inside this Issue

Page 4Alumnae Kris Johns has foundher niche at Hoosier Park inAnderson, Ind.

Page 7The annual Schranz lecture onOct. 25 featured Ball Statealumnus Brad Wilks.

Pages 8-9The Department of Journalismmoved into the new Art andJournalism Building in August.

Page 16The new Journalism WritingCenter helps students improvetheir writing skills.

Cindy Crosby publishes bookCindy Crosby had always dreamed of writing a book,

but after graduating from Ball State in 1983 with adegree in journalism she worked on other areas of herwriting instead. She covered religion for media andeventually worked as a freelance writer. This year shefinally realized her dream of writing a book.

“I’ve wanted to write a book ever since I was oldenough to hold a pen in my hands,” she said.

It wasn’t until Crosby had recovered from a deepdepression that she finally found a topic for her book.Her idea was to write how nature helps heal the spiritand connects people to God. The only problem was shedidn’t know if the topic would work, so she headed backto the classroom.

“I took a nature writing class last year at the MortonArboretum in Lisle, Ill....in hopes I could figure out if thistype of writing was going anywhere,” she said.

After turning in her first assignment, Crosby wasthrilled when her instructor, James Ballowe, encouragedher to get it published.

“He gave me the confidence to begin putting together abook,” she said.

From there, the book idea was off and running. Crosbyconsulted with her husband, Jeff, a fellow 1983 graduateof Ball State’s Department of Journalism. As Director ofSales and Marketing for InterVarsity Press, Jeff was ableto help her with the process of publishing.

“Dating back to our days at Ball State co-editingPhoenix and working together on the Daily News andScoreCard [a sports tabloid at Ball State], we’ve alwaysworked together shaping one another’s writing andwork in general,” he said. “I was able to help Cindycraft the proposal around clear themes, a unique struc-ture and a focused, targeted audience.”

The system worked and within six weeks of sendingproposals to three publishers, Crosby heard from BakerBook House. They offered her a deal and gave her six

By Stacey ShannonPhoenix Editor

proposal, the “i” in iCommunicationstands for “independent control,imagination, innovation, internation-alization and integration of themedia.” Olson believes the move-ment from analog to digital commu-nication will have as much of animpact on communication asJohannes Gutenberg’s moveable typemachine did. Gutenberg’s inventiondid much more than produce clearertype on a page—the printing presscreated the mass media. In compari-son, Olson says digital media aremuch more than clearer pictures andstunning sound. iCommunicationwill introduce personal media in thesame dramatic manner thatGutenberg brought us the massmedia.

“The way that I experience media isbecoming unlike the way you experi-ence media,” Olson said. “The tech-nology can learn what news I’minterested in. For example, let’s sayI’m very interested in internationalnews, somewhat interested in local

news and not at all interested insports. This software has a way offiguring out what my preferences are,so that when I subsequently go totheir Web site and select news con-tent, it structures a show for me like aTV news broadcast.”

A large motivation of building theproject is to make Ball State a leaderin digital media research and train-ing. This, in turn, will help Indianamake the transition from an agricul-tural state to a technological state.The CMD will have print and broad-cast partners throughout the state,and may also ally with the IndianaPublic Broadcasting Service and theOntario Corporation. National part-ners may include Disney IDEAS inOrlando, Fla. and The Cable Centerin Denver.

The CMD will primarily be housedin the Ball Communication Building,and the director of the Center willreport to the dean of the CCIM. The

The Ball State University Department of Journalism Alumni NewsletterFall 2001 Vol. 23, No. 1

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“Waiting for Morning”can be found at mostBorders Bookstores,Christian retail outletsand Amazon.com. Itcan also be orderedfrom Baker Book Houseby calling 1-800-877-2665.

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Page 6Family Weekend over Nov. 3 and4 was well-attended in the newArt and Journalism Building.

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2 PHOENIX

Faculty NotesLilly grant - cont. from page 1CMD is a research, development andteaching center boasting three-dimen-sional technology and digitally pro-duced entertainment and news.CCIM students will not be the onlypeople utilizing the CMD—digitalmedia will likely be part of the BallState general curriculum, meaning allBall State students will have theopportunity to dabble iniCommunication. The CMD not onlyoffers classes and curriculum to BallState students, but to industry part-ners as well. Conferences and out-reach programs for alumni and alum-nae are being planned, and a certifi-cate program will also likely beoffered.

Ball State alumni may not only takeiCommunication courses, but theymay be involved in the creation of theCMD as well. About a quarter of thegrant will be spent on hiring newpeople to work in the CMD, such asdigital filmmakers, digital news pro-ducers and video game designers.Olson says there are enough fundsavailable for good wages, and futureemployees will be sought from bothacademia and the professional world.

Both Olson and Department ofJournalism chairperson MarilynWeaver say iCommunication will notnecessarily be a new major, but a pro-gram to enhance and complementcurrent departments. The projectstresses content along with technolo-gy.

“In this business, I don’t think it isenough anymore for a student toknow only content,” Weaver said.“The technology is the tool in whichwe deliver our content. Without

Dr. Louis Ingelhart continues workBy Kimberly JanaGraduate Assistant

Robert Gustafson, AssociateProfessor

◆ Served as a manuscript reviewerfrom 1997-2001 for the Journal ofAdvertising Education, an Association for Education in Journalism and MassCommunication (AEJMC) publication.

◆ Worked with Ball State University’sEarly Start three-day Workshop duringthe summers 2000 and 2001.

◆ Published: “Subtle Images ThreatenGirls More,” Marketing News, June 4,2001.

◆ Presented: “Seniors’ Perceptions ofSeniors in Magazine Advertisements,”with Tom Robinson and Mark Popovichat the AEJMC’s annual conference inWashington, D.C. in Aug. 2001. Thispaper was also presented at the annualconference of the International Societyfor the Scientific Study of Subjectivityheld in Oct. 2001 at Ball State.

◆ Presented Workshop: “Why wouldyou ever want to be in advertising?” atthe CCIM Multicultural Day, Oct. 2001

◆ Wrote Book Review:“Communication Planning: An IntegratedApproach,” Journalism & MassCommunication Educator, Winter, 2001.

◆ Served on the Industry RelationsCommittee for the American Academyof Advertising during 2001.

◆ Served as adviser to the studentchapter of the American AdvertisingFederation.

◆ Selected to serve on the regular edi-torial review board for the Journal ofAdvertising Education, Nov. 2001.

Ken Heinen, Assistant Professor◆ Received the College of

Communication, Information, andMedia’s Teaching Award at the CCIMfaculty meeting on Aug. 17, 2001.

◆ Presented: “Newspaper PhotoEditors’ Perceptions of Women inPhotojournalism,” with Mark Popovichat the International Society for theScientific Study of SubjectivityConference in Muncie, Ind., Oct. 6, 2001.

Mark Herron, Director of SecondaryEducation Services

◆ Published: “Knowing YourAudience,” Adviser & Staff, a journalismeducation magazine.

◆ Keynote speaker for the AlabamaScholastic Press Association, Summer2001.

◆ NSPA Publication Judge, Summer2001 and Fall 2001.

◆ Keynote speaker for LeadershipConference of the Indiana Association ofSchool Principals (IASP), Summer 2001.

◆ Received Indiana High School PressAssociation’s (IHSPA’s) “Louis IngelhartAward,” Oct. 2001.

◆ Keynote speaker at IHSPA’s stateconvention, Oct. 2001.

◆ Keynote speaker at Ohio Principal’sAssociation Leadership Conference, Oct.2001.

◆ Spoke at the IASP co-curriculumconference, Oct. 2001.

◆ Keynote speaker at thePennsylvania Scholastic PressConference, Nov. 2001.

Professionals in iCommunication� Information designers� Rendering animators� Media producers� Media writers� Wireless Internet

application designers� Hypermedia directors

� Curriculum delivery specialists

� Classroom content developers

� Training moduledesigners

� New media journalists

� Digital media projectcoordinators

� Digital media advertising managers

� Digital media publicrelations managers

Information taken from the Lily Grant proposal

understanding the technology wecan’t deliver. I don’t know how youcould survive today without under-standing and being able to harnessthe technology.”

Olson uses an analogy of a pipe andwater to explain how content andtechnology are mixed iniCommunication. The pipe is thetechnology, but it needs water, thecontent, to have a purpose.

The CMD has five program goals.These goals focus on understandingdigital technology, providing digitalleaders, supporting digital mediaindustries, enhancing infrastructurefor technology and learning aboutdigital media on a global scale.

These goals will not only be carriedout through the CMD, but throughthe Global Media Network and theMedia Studies Program, which alsostresses content and technology. TheGMN links media design technologywith global learning environments.Olson envisions Ball State studentssitting down at a conference table inthe morning and discussing mediatrends with their international coun-terparts, via a high-speed network.

“The idea is to have a very highquality image so that it’s really very

natural,” Olson said. “What we areenvisioning is really one step downfrom ‘Star Trek,’ which is beamingthe person right there into yourroom.”

However, with the GMN, Ball Statemay indeed go where no universityhas gone before. Olson desires to cre-ate virtual settings for global commu-nication.

“What if there was a table, and halfthe table is in here, and that tablecomes up to a big video screen,”Olson said. “And the other half of thetable is in the other place so that thevideo screen is there, right inbetween. You have this effect of usall sitting around a table together.”

Another arm of the CMD, theMedia Studies program, will focus oneducating students campus-wide ondigital media. Theories will beexplained, and digital animation willbe created, among other products.

With the early stages ofiCommunication taking shape, manyfaculty and students are excited to beinvolved. Olson simply can’t waituntil the day he can glance down theoffice table and see visitors dis-cussing digital media—all from thecomfort of their home countries.

junior high, highschool or universi-ty level. In addi-tion to having thegrant named afterhim, Ingelhart isalso being listed asa DistinguishedProfessional andwill be in the nextlisting of Who’sWho in America.

“It surprised me that a person of myage is still going strong and gettingrecognition for his work,” saidIngelhart. “Going through my ordeal,I received flowers and cards fromalumni. It was thrilling to hear fromthose people. I really believe thatwhen you are a Ball State journalismstudent or faculty member, you neverreally leave the campus – it is justsuch a thrilling place.”

While Ingelhart still has a fewmonths left before he is totally recov-ered from his fall, he was present forthe dedication on Nov. 4 to commem-orate the opening of the new Art andJournalism Building. Accompaniedby his son and daughter, Ingelhartattended lunch and a ceremony thatweekend.

“I think I walked about a mile thatday,” he joked. In a more serioustone, he continued, “I think thatbuilding is like a palace – the technol-ogy, the equipment and the space willmake it a great place to study journal-ism.”

Since he startedwith Ball State in1953, Ingelhart hasseen the journalismprogram go throughmany geographicalchanges: from thetop floor of theadministrationbuilding, to littlehouses by the stu-

dent center and finally to West Quad,the last location before the move toAJ. It is the state-of-the-art facilitiesthat Ingelhart believes will strengthenthe journalism program in waysnever possible before.

“That building will attract more andmore people – we will have well overtwo thousand majors soon. We havethe best facilities in the country. Ithink that we have surpassed them allbecause we are now the newest one –therefore being better now than ever,”Ingelhart said.

So, with the “small cane” which heuses for longer walking periods andsome support bars being placed in hishome, Ingelhart is up and going andin the best of spirits – and still sup-porting the future professional jour-nalists who will graduate from theBall State journalism program.

“The opportunities for our studentswill just be tremendous (because ofAJ) – as the years go on this willshow. The administration has beenvery good to us,” Ingelhart conclud-ed.

It was a typical summer day inMuncie – hot and steamy. July 24was also the day that Dr. LouisIngelhart decided to bring fresh flow-ers to the Department of Journalismmain office staff. Unfortunately, thekind gesture from the “FoundingFather” of the journalism programcost him a three-month stay in BallMemorial Hospital and in rehabilita-tion treatment.

“I was walking along and all atonce lost my balance; don’t knowwhy. I broke a vertebrae in my neck,which made it necessary for me to beput in a halo,” recalled Ingelhart.“However, I never really sufferedmuch.”

Now, after being released and backat his home, he is grateful to be upand going again. He recently joinedProfessor TJ Hemlinger and membersof the Daily News staff in a trip toNew Orleans for the unveiling of afund named after him, not letting“old” injuries keep him away.

The Louis E. Ingelhart FirstAmendment Fund was created by theCollege Media Advisers to providefinancial assistance for students andfaculty working on projects concern-ing First Amendment rights.Ingelhart has been long knownthroughout the professional and aca-demic world as a crusader for stu-dent press rights, whether it is for the

“It surprised me that aperson of my age isstill going strong andgetting recognition forhis work.”

- Dr. Louis Ingelhart

PHOENIX

Phoenix is published periodically forthe alumni and friends of the BallState University Department ofJournalism. This issue was producedby Stacey Shannon. Any comments ormaterial should be directed to:

The Department ofJournalism

Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306-0485

(765)285-8200bsujourn@bsu.edu

3FALL 2001

New faculty bring array of talents to the departmentBy Erin YazelGraduate Assistant

This is a year for new and excitingadditions to the Department ofJournalism. Not only did the depart-ment move into a new building, but italso added four new faculty members.

Steven Beverly is one of the newjournalism instructors. He receivedhis bachelor’s degree in mass com-munication from AndersonUniversity in 1983, and his master’sdegree in management from theInternational College of the CaymanIslands in 1985.

Beverly was previously the Director ofMarketing Communications at PJBarnes& Associates where he developed mar-keting plans for nonprofit agencies. Hecurrently serves as editor of ShiningLight magazine. He also teaches threejournalism courses at Ball State.

“I love working with the students andhelping them see the practical applica-tions of media theories,” said Beverly.

The department also hired JenniferGeorge-Palilonis to be the sequencecoordinator for journalism graphics.George-Palilonis graduated with abachelor’s degree from Ball State in1996. She is currently working on hermaster’s degree at Ball State inEnglish composition and rhetoricwith a minor in journalism.

Her previous experience includesdesigning for Knight-Ridder Inc. andDetroit Free Press and serving as thedesign director at Chicago Sun Times.She also taught design classes atWayne State University and theInternational Academy forMerchandising and Design.

George-Palilonis teaches newspaperdesign, visual reporting and WED(writing, editing and design) Seminar.In addition to teaching and servingon various academic committees, sheis also the design adviser for theDaily News and the faculty adviserfor the Society for News Design.

Her first semester has already beenrewarding, said George-Palilonis,because she feels ahuge sense of grat-ification fromworking with stu-dents. Her love forBall State studentsreally became evi-dent on Sept. 11while she workedwith the DailyNews staff tocover the WorldTrade Center ter-rorist attacks.

“The studentsshowed such pro-fessionalism,” saidGeorge-Palilonis.“They did as goodof a job as any pro-fessional newspa-per. By the end ofthe day, I knew there was no otherplace I would have rather been thanwith the students at Ball State.”

Mark Herron joined the journalismdepartment staff as Director ofSecondary Education Services and thesequence coordinator for journalismsecondary education. He earned hisbachelor’s degree from IndianaUniversity in journalism and secondaryeducation in 1991. Presently, he is work-

Journalism G.A.s have a variety of backgroundsBy Stacey ShannonPhoenix Editor

Gerry AppelHometown: Fort Wayne, Ind.Undergrad School: Ball StateUniversity, 2001Degree and Major: B.S. in JournalismExpected Grad. Date: 2003Plans for after graduation:“Retirement sounds pretty good.Actually, I would like to go into televi-sion news as a producer and/orreporter.”

Shara BurkeHometown: Austinburg, OhioUndergrad School: WilmingtonCollege, 2000Degree and Major: B.A. inCommunicationExpected Grad. Date: Dec. 2001Plans for after graduation: “To beemployed! Dream job is at theNational Cattlemen’s BeefAssociation in Denver.”

Greg ChandlerHometown: Fort Wayne, Ind.Undergrad School: Franklin College,2001Degree and Major: B.A. in EnglishExpected Grad. Date: Dec. 2002Plans for after graduation: “I plan topursue a career in sports or non-prof-it public relations.”

Cliff FraserHometown: Hankins, NYUndergrad School: SUNY at

Brockport, 2000Degree and Major: B.S. inMeteorology and B.S. inCommunicationsExpected Grad. Date: May 2002Plans for after graduation: “Get a jobwith a sports-related organization.”

Christi GirtonHometown: Muncie, Ind.Undergrad School: University ofNotre Dame, 2001Degree and Major: B.A. in Englishand Computer ApplicationsExpected Grad. Date: 2003Plans for after graduation: “Nottotally sure, but ideally I’d like towork with a pro sports organization’sPR department. I’m sure that willchange, though.”

Kimberly JanaHometown: Valparaiso, Ind.Undergrad School: Franklin College,1999Degree and Major: B.A. in BroadcastJournalismExpected Grad. Date: 2002Plans for after graduation: “To workat a university/college for their inter-nal communication department - oranywhere that will pay off my stu-dent loans!”

Joe KrupaHometown: Southington, Conn.Undergrad School: Ball StateUniversity, 2001Degree and Major: B.S. in GeneralStudiesExpected Grad. Date: 2003

Plans for after graduation: “What...Ican’t stay?”

Jenny LesselbaumHometown: Providence, R.I.Undergrad School: Rhode IslandSchool of DesignDegree and Major: B.A. in PaintingGraduation Year: 1987

Tafadzwa WestonMudambanukiHometown: Mutare City, ZimbabweUndergrad School: University ofSierra Leone, 1991Degree and Major: B.A. ED inGeographyExpected Grad. Date: July 2002Plans for after graduation: “Get a joband appropriate the knowledgereceived at BSU. I would want to dodoctoral studies a couple of yearsafter my graduation.”

Alisha SchiffliHometown: Waterloo, Ind.Undergrad School: Southern IllinoisUniversity - Carbondale, 2000Degree and Major: B.S. in SpeechCommunication and Public RelationsExpected Grad. Date: May 2002Plans for after graduation: “Move toIllinois to work. Considering pursu-ing a J.D. in corporate law.”

Stacey ShannonHometown: Muncie, Ind.Undergrad School: Ball StateUniversity, 2001Degree and Major: B.A. in JournalismExpected Grad. Date: July 2002

Plans for after graduation: “I wouldlike to get a job writing for a Christianmagazine.”

Jonathon StreanderHometown: New Albany, Ind.Undergrad School: IndianaUniversity, 2001Degree and Major: B.A. inAdvertisingExpected Grad. Date: Summer 2002Plans for after graduation:“PR/advertising agency work.”

Kyna WillisHometown: Gary, Ind.Undergrad School: Ball StateUniversity, 1999Degree and Major: B.A. in PublicRelationsExpected Grad. Date: May 2003Plans for after graduation: “Work fora firm in Chicago. My ultimate goalis to work for the Terrie WilliamsAgency in New York.”

Erin YazelHometown: Fort Wayne, Ind.Undergrad School: Taylor University,Fort Wayne, 2000Degree and Major: B.A. in PublicRelationsExpected Grad. Date: August 2002Plans for after graduation: “I wouldlike to work again as a public relationspractitioner in a non-profit organizationor do public relations consulting fornon-profits. I would also like to eventually teach public relations as anadjunct faculty member at a university.”

ing on his master’s degree in journal-ism from Ball State while he teachesundergraduate journalism classes.

Herron was the Marketing andCommunication Manager and theSenior Creative Accounts Manager atJostens Publishing Co. He served asthe editor of Jostens’ quarterly maga-zine and authored a textbook andcurriculum. In addition, Herron con-

ducted education-al seminars, work-shops and lecturesthroughout thecountry. He alsoserved for fouryears as yearbookand video year-book adviser forCenterville HighSchool in Dayton,Ohio.

Herron joined thedepartment staff inAugust 2001. Hisresponsibilitiesinclude teachingMass MediaWriting & Editingand Advising HighSchool Publications,hosting J-Days,

directing the summer journalism work-shops, producing the quarterly J-Communiqué magazine, developingnew programs, seminars and work-shops and serving as a keynote speakerat various journalism conferences.

Although he enjoys hosting semi-nars and speaking at conferences,Herron said the students are hisfavorite part of the job.

“I forgot what a joy it was to teach

and turn kids on to the writingprocess and journalism in general,”said Herron.

His passion was affirmed when hereceived the 2001 Louis IngelhartAward, given by the Indiana HighSchool Press Association. The awardis based on dedicated service toscholastic journalism.

Robert Pritchard, who earned a mas-ter’s degree in public relations from BallState in 1988, decided to return to hisalma mater as a professor instead of astudent. He served 27 years in the U.S.Navy as a Public Affairs Officer andmost recently as the Director of PublicAffairs for the U.S. EuropeanCommand. His responsibilities includ-ed crisis management, providing infor-mation to external and internal audi-ences, community relations and strate-gic planning.

As Pritchard prepared for his retire-ment from the military, he heard of anavailable faculty position at Ball State.

“I was so thrilled with the quality ofeducation that I had gotten from BallState, I determined in my mind thatmy dream job would be to come backto Ball State and be on faculty,” saidPritchard.

Pritchard now teaches PublicRelations Publication Design &Production and Principles of PublicRelations, serves on theses commit-tees, is the faculty adviser for thePublic Relations Student Society ofAmerica and holds positions on sev-eral academic committees.

“I enjoy being around the studentsand the energy I get from them,” saidPritchard. “I also enjoy their journeyof discovery.”

StephenBeverly

JenniferGeorge-Palilonis

RobertPritchard

Mark Herron

4 PHOENIX

Kris Johns leads HoosierPark to Winner’s Circle

HORSE RACING! These words generally conjure up

thoughts of world-renowned horseraces such as the Kentucky Derby orthe Breeder’s Cup. Perhaps thethought of horse tracks with a longlegacy of racing tradition such asChurchill Downs or TheMeadowlands spring to mind.

A half-hour southwest of BallState, in Anderson, Ind. a horsetrack is beginning a legacy of itsown. Hoosier Park, in only its sev-enth year of existence, is gainingnational recognition at an unprece-dented pace. Recent coverage byESPN’s “The Race Horse Digest”has thrust Hoosier Park’s marqueeracing events, the Indiana Derbyand Dan Patch Invitational, into thenational spotlight.

Leading the charge is HoosierPark’s vice president of marketing,and Ball State alumnae, Kris Johns(formerly Thompson). Upon gradu-ating from Ball State’s Departmentof Journalism in 1993, with a B.S. inthe news-editorial and public rela-tions sequences, she obtained a jobwith Sunshine Promotions inIndianapolis as a special event andcorporate sales coordinator. In 1994,

By Cliff FraserGraduate Assistant

huge lecture hall at some of theseother universities. The journalismdepartment at Ball State providedme with all the skills that I neededto be successful right out of college.”

Johns, who entered Ball State onthe Topics Newspapers’ SuburbanJournalism Scholarship, made thebest of her time in college. She par-ticipated in many organizationswhich molded her into the personshe is today. Her fondest memoryoccurred over the summer after herfreshman year.

“I spent a month working on aspecial publication with the PeruTribune to celebrate Grissom AirForce Base,” Johns said. “I wroteseveral articles and got to see howan air force base operates. I rode ina military plane over South Dakotaand watched a B-1 bomber get refu-eled in the air, I participated in train-ing sessions with the K-9 unit of themilitary and got to meet the topbrass at the air force base. It was arewarding experience. During theGulf War, I received letters frommany of my friends that I made dur-ing that internship and treasure thememories of that month. It hastaken on a greater significance afterthe Sept. 11 attacks.”

In Johns’ four years at Ball State,she participated in a wide variety ofactivities. She was elected presidentof the student chapter of the Societyof Professional Journalists, was amember of the Public RelationsStudent Society of America, RhoLambda National Honor Society,

Kappa Tau Alpha Journalism HonorSociety and served as a staff reporterfor the Daily News. As if this wasnot time consuming enough, Johnswas vice president of Sigma KappaSorority.

Through all of her experiences atBall State, there was one professorwho stands out in her mind.

“Dr. Fred Woodress was a profes-sor, faculty adviser of the Society ofProfessional Journalists, facultyadviser on the Peru/Grissom AirForce base program and mentor,”Johns said. “He had a huge influ-ence on my career choices and jour-nalism accomplishments; and Iadmire his zest for life.”

It is safe to say that Johns hastaken full advantage of the opportu-nities presented to her. Consideringhow far she has come in such a shortamount of time she is an inspirationto those in her field.

When asked where she hopes to bein 15 years she replied with a smileon her face, “I’d like to return to myjournalism background and do somefreelance writing for publications. Iam very interested in writing screen-plays, as well. I could see myself asan executive director for a not-for-profit organization affiliated withanimals, film, the environment orcerebral palsy. I could also seemyself starting my own entertain-ment marketing company someday.”

Johns sets lofty goals, but if herrecent past is an oracle of successesto come, then the sky’s the limit forwhere she can take herself.

Hoosier Park Facts◆ Hoosier Park at Anderson cele-brated its grand opening on Sept.1, 1994.

◆ Churchill Downs holds a 77 per-cent interest in Hoosier Park.

◆ Hoosier Park is equipped with16 barns and 1,076 stalls.

◆ Hoosier Park is one of only fivetracks across the country to con-duct both Standardbred andThoroughbred racing on the sameoval.

◆ Thoroughbreds took to the trackfor the first time on Aug. 28, 1995.

◆ A record crowd of 10,827 wit-nessed the 2000 Indiana Derby atHoosier Park.

◆ Hoosier Park's record payout fora $2 wager was $42,798.10 in1997.

◆ The two major events held atHoosier Park are the Dan PatchInvitational (Standardbred) andIndiana Derby (Thoroughbred).

Photo by Cliff Fraser

she assumed the position of market-ing director for F&W Promotions inAtlanta. She moved back to Indianain July of 1995 when she was offereda job at Hoosier Park. Johns beganworking for Hoosier Park as themanager of market developmentand has witnessed the horse trackgrow in leaps and bounds.

Her key responsibilities as the vicepresident of marketing are to over-see the entire marketing depart-ment—advertising, research, promo-tions, direct mail and sales—andHoosier Park’s three Off-TrackBetting facilities scattered through-out Indiana. Her hard work haspaid off as the Society ofProfessional Journalists named her“Outstanding Graduate.” TheHoosier Park marketing departmenthas also won several ADDY (adver-tising) awards under her tenure.These awards do not sufficientlydemonstrate the true value of herdedication to Hoosier Park. The realvalue can be seen in the rapidgrowth in sponsorship sales, groupsales and local marketing efforts thatJohns has orchestrated.

“She’s one of my stars,” HoosierPark President and GeneralManager Rick Moore proudly pro-claims. “It’s fun to see someonecome here at such an early age andgrow. Kris is a team player whoalways does what’s best for HoosierPark.”

Johns loves horses and she lovesIndiana, making her the perfect per-son for her job.

“I love the challenge of marketinghorse racing in a state where autoracing is so popular and the generalpublic has little understanding ofthe sport,” she said enthusiastically.“I love horses, so the fact that I getto spend time around them is great.I think Churchill Downs Inc. is anexcellent company to work for and Ienjoy all the people that I work within this company.”

One concern that troubles not onlyJohns, but also the whole Hoosier Parkcommunity, is the approval of a sec-ond horse track, Indianapolis Downs,to be located in Shelbyville, Ind.

“The second track approval is ahuge disappointment. I am all forcompetition but I don’t think thisstate can support two tracks and Ithink it will be detrimental to theindustry,” Johns said.

With Johns’ rapid ascent up theladder of success, she has not forgot-ten the foundation of her success.

“After graduating from[Noblesville] High School, I consid-ered going out-of-state and I alsoconsidered some larger universi-ties,” she said. “I am so glad that Iattended Ball State University. Ithink I would have been just anoth-er number, another student in a

Ball State alumnae, Kris Johns (B.S. 1993) sits behind her desk at Hoosier Park. Johns hasbeen with Hoosier Park since July of 1995 and is the Vice President of Marketing. She over-sees advertising, research, promotions, direct mail and sales.

5FALL 2001

Students and faculty enjoy life in new buildingPhotos Gerry Appel, Graduate Assistant

CLOCKWISE: An overview of the atrium area in the Art andJournalism Building where students and faculty can eat orjust meet.

Graduate Assistant for the Daily News, Joe Krupa, looksthrough film.

Dan Cooper, computer lab assistant works on an assignmentin one of the new computer labs.

Daily News staff reporter, Chet Baumgartner, looks throughnotes from a story.

Mark Herron, director of the Secondary Education Services,hangs JCommuniqué covers and pictures in the SES office.

Journalism students volunteer in communityBy Stacey ShannonPhoenix Editor

Two Ball State journalism professorshave joined the movement towardservice-learning projects. Both Dr.David Sumner, head of the magazinesequence, and Walt Baker, an instruc-tor of graphics, involve their studentsin the Muncie community.

Sumner has been organizing serv-ice-learning projects for students inhis midlevel magazine editing coursesince the fall semester of 1999. Hefirst got the idea after hearing about agrant being offered from the Eli LillyFoundation. The $750 grant was tocover costs and compensate for theextra time required to organize suchprojects. Sumner leaped at theopportunity, thinking it was just whatthe class needed.

“I wanted a way to make the classmore interesting,” he said.

This fall, 20 students, mostly jun-iors, participated with 20 differentnonprofit organizations. Theirresponsibilities included workingwith promotion and newslettersthrough editing, writing and design-ing. The emphasis was on editing,because of the nature of the class.Sumner said that his students enjoythe experience.

“The students seem to appreciatethe opportunity to get experiencewith what they’re learning in class,”he said. “I think the practical experi-ence is the most beneficial and theability to put theory into practice.”

Sumner also said that his studentsbenefit from being exposed to thereal-world application of what theyare learning. These projects helpthem understand the importance ofediting to avoid embarrassing mis-

takes. They also benefit by expand-ing their world view.

“It really does, I think, give a littlemore compassion and sensitivity andbroadens their outlooks,” Sumnersaid.

He mentioned one student who hadnever worked with Alzheimer’spatients before, but had been exposedto them in his work with an adultday care center. Another student wasworking with innercity, low incomechildren for the first time.

Starting in the fall of 2002, the mag-azine editing class will be changed toMedia Editing and include studentsfrom the news-editorial and publicrelations sequences. Sumner hopes tocontinue and expand the service-learning projects and noted that theclass will then be offered year roundinstead of only in the fall.

Baker has had students in his intro-ductory graphics classes work withcommunity organizations for the lastfive years. This year, his four classes,totaling 80 students, worked withfour organizations in Muncie: theMuncie Center for the Arts, theMuncie Civic Theater, CardinalGreenway (a walking and bicycletrail) and the Muncie Children’sMuseum.

At the beginning of the semester,Baker took his classes on a tour ofeach organization, then had them pickone. Throughout the semester, theywere responsible for designing a logo,a poster, a newsletter and a Web site.At the end of the semester, Bakershowed the ideas to the organizations.He said that previous students havecontinued to work with their organi-zation after the class and that theorganizations have benefitted fromusing student-produced material.

Baker originally got the idea whenexamining his personal life a fewyears ago.

“I realized that I had been a takerlong enough and I needed to be agiver as well,” he said. “I think thateverybody needs to start that at ayounger age.”

Baker himself has been and contin-ues to be involved with most of theorganizations his students work with,so he has a sense of what the groupsare looking for and need.

“This is my contribution,” he said.Baker also thinks that students ben-

efit from being exposed to areas ofthe community they are unfamiliarwith. Most of the students havenever heard of or been to the placesthey work with.

“We want the students to see there’smore to life than Ball State,” he said.“They get a sense of community[and] it forces them to look at the big-ger picture.”

Jessica Sullivan, a junior public rela-tions major in one of Baker’s classes,enjoyed her work with CardinalGreenway during the semester. Sheselected the organization because it isrelatively new, so she thought itwould be the most exciting. She hascome away from the project with afew lessons.

“I’ve learned a lot more aboutgraphics programs,” she said.

Sullivan also said she had volun-teered previous to the class and shewould volunteer again in the future.

Another one of Baker’s students,Jason Foust, is a senior in telecommu-nications with a minor in public rela-tions. Foust was the only student inthe class who chose to work with theMuncie Civic Theater.

“It appealed to me the most,” he

said. “Nobody else really wanted todo it.”

He has learned more about whatgoes on at the Civic Theater and itshistory. Before this project, he hadonly heard the name of the theater.Foust, too, will leave the class havinglearned some lessons.

“As far as this class goes, I think it’san excellent foundation for learningthe basics,” he said. “It helped me.”

Foust had also volunteered previ-ously with organizations such as theYMCA and the Children’s MiracleNetwork. He plans to keep up withvolunteer work as his schedule per-mits.

Both Sumner and Baker recognizethat there are opportunities for theother departments at Ball State toparticipate in these programs.Sumner has written an article to helpprofessors understand what success-ful service-learning projects involve.The article was published in thespring of 2001 for the College ofCommunication, Information, andMedia faculty. He is working to pres-ent it at an upcoming conference.

Baker encourages other depart-ments and other professors to getinvolved with this kind of work.

“I think the university culture isripe now to support more of this kindof thing,” he said.

He went on to say that work like thiswould have to be handled with somecare so as not to overwhelm theMuncie community. He mentionedthat some other areas, such as theTeachers College, are already involvedwith service-learning projects, but BallState overall is still relatively new toservice-learning projects.

“I’m just kind of tickled that we canlead the way in journalism,” he said.

6 PHOENIX

Faculty NotesCelebrating future generations through giftBy Kimberly JanaGraduate Assistant

At the Art and Journalism Buildingdedication ceremony on Nov. 4, theJournalism Alumni Board presented asubstantial and emotionally bindinggift to the department and futuregenerations of students. Throughdonations of the board’s 19 members,a timeline history of the JournalismDepartment was created, titled “BallState University Department ofJournalism: A Timeline ofAchievement.”

“We were looking forward to thenew building and it is a greatachievement from where we camefrom the past,” said timeline designerand alumni board member PamRecords. “There are great opportuni-ties and prospects with the newbuilding. With this project, it was achance for us to reflect and show ourexcitement for the things that lieahead. We want students to appreci-ate where we have come from. It is away to remember your traditions –staying connected to traditions and tothe past.”

The timeline starts in 1919, when a

graduating senior from the then BallState Teachers College created a year-book. The timeline highlights thecareers of Drs. Louis Ingelhart, MarkPopovich and Earl Conn, and ends in2001, with current chair MarilynWeaver and the dedication of the newbuilding.

Four members of the board werethoroughly involved with the processof the timeline. Records was thedesigner, alumni board president JimGrim wrote the text, Susan Akers wasin charge of research and AmyAhlersmeyer hosted the planningmeetings.

Additionally, the board receivedassistance from the AlumniAssociation through board membersCharlotte Shepperd and DianeWilliams. Although board membersare required to meet three times ayear, Grim believes that the extraeffort to put together the timeline wasa worthy project for the board.

“The Journalism AlumniAssociation wanted to do somethingfor the new building – somethinghelpful and that would be construc-tive,” Grim said. “The building is farmore impressive than anything we

could ever have imagined.”In addition to its recent gift to the

department, the Journalism AlumniAssociation hosts social eventsthroughout the year for alumni tocome together, one in Muncie duringhomecoming weekend and regionaloutings throughout the state. ForRecords, keeping up her connectionswith the university was in importantfactor in becoming a board member.

“Every time I go back to the univer-sity, I remember the reasons of why Ibecame a journalist,” Records said.“It is a good way to stay connectedand to stay in touch with trends with-in the department and the industryand to provide input.”

Additionally, the board sponsorsone Professional-in-Residence everyyear, nominates candidates for theJournalism Alumni awards andreviews scholarship applications forthe Louis Ingelhart FreshmanScholarship.

A look at Family Weekend, Nov. 3-4

CCIM Week focuses on free expressionBy Alisha SchiffliGraduate Assistant

Events for the 2002 College ofCommunications, Information, andMedia’s CCIM Week are still in plan-ning stages. Events are scheduled forthe week of April 1-5 and focus onthe theme of Free Expression.

The week’s events begin with a per-formance by the Freedom Singers, a

Dr. Tendayi Kumbula, AssistantProfessor

◆ Appointed by the governor to astatewide advisory committee for the Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr. Indiana HolidayCommission.

◆ Appointed by the Zimbabwe gov-ernment to a 15-member MediaAdvisory Committee charged withcharting short and long term goals andpolicies for the Zimbabwe media.

◆ Completed a yearlong assignmentas the Association for Education inJournalism and Mass Communication’s(AEJMC’s) Newspaper Division’s minor-ity liaison to the AEJMC MinorityDivision.

◆ Named to Who’s Who in the 21stCentury.

◆ Named to Who’s Who AmongAfrican Americans.

Alfredo Marín-Carle, AssociateProfessor

◆ Served on committees for two grad-uate theses, one for a master’s in jour-nalism and another for a doctorate inmusic.

◆ Presented: “Design PrinciplesInteractive CD-ROM: ATutorial/Classroom Supplement toTeaching Art and Graphic Design,Design Principles” at the Association forEducation in Journalism and MassCommunication Conference inWashington, D.C., Aug. 2001.

Mark Massé, Associate Professor◆ Promoted to Associate Professor,

May 2001.◆ Conducted all-day workshop,

“Getting Started,” at the MidwestWriters Workshop held in Muncie, Ind.,July 2001 .

◆ Established the Department ofJournalism Writing Center, Aug. 2001.

◆ Published: “Find Your Focus, OrganizeYour Story,” Writer’s Digest, Aug. 2001.

◆ Served on Newspaper Divisionpanel at the annual Association forEducation in Journalism and MassCommunication’s Convention inWashington, D.C., Aug. 2001.

◆ Served as project director for$100,000 grant from the KnightFoundation for the Department ofJournalism to fund the new WritingCenter and a national study of journal-ism educators regarding the teaching ofwriting, Sept. 2001.

◆ Elected Interim Treasurer of theInternational Society for the ScientificStudy of Subjectivity (ISSSS), Oct. 2001.

◆ Presented paper with MarkPopovich on student writing apprehen-sion to the annual conference of theISSSS, Ball State University, Oct. 2001.

◆ Published: “Perfecting the Craft ofLiterary Journalism,” Writer’s Digest,publication pending.

Dr. Becky McDonald, AssistantProfessor

◆ Served on the Indiana School PublicRelations Association Board of Directorsduring 2000-01.

◆ Indiana Special Olympics, Memberof State PR Network, 2000-01.

◆ Served as the College ofCommunication, Information, andMedia’s representative to the UniversitySenate, 2000-01.

◆ Presented: “The Power of Story inPublic Relations Response to Crises: ANarrative Criticism of Roselyn BakeriesCrisis Management,” at the PR Sectionof the Central States CommunicationAssociation, April 2001.

◆ Wrote grant proposal with other fac-ulty members for the George andFrances Ball Fund for AcademicExcellence, “Enhancing Sports Studies atBall State University: The Next Step.”Received $13,000, April 2001.

◆ Member of the five-person facultycommittee who initiated and receivedapproval for the creation of the Centerfor Sport, Ethics and Culture at BallState.

◆ Competitive panel judge, publicrelations division, NationalCommunication Association, April 2001.Papers were ranked for possible presen-tation at the Fall 2001 conference inAtlanta.

◆ Member of Ad-Hoc Committee fordevelopment of Marketing Plan.

◆ Nominated to Senate GovernanceCommittee.

special presentation by members ofthe First Amendment Center. Themusical performance focuses onsongs that have been controversialthroughout time. Songs dating backto colonial times up to present daywill be performed and then dis-cussed. The First Amendment Centerwill also host a faculty workshop.The workshop will cover teachingFirst Amendment rights in the class-

room.A competition similar to last year’s

will be held between teams from thedifferent CCIM departments. Thetheme and type of competition havenot yet been decided.

For more information regardingevents, please contact the Departmentof Journalism in the spring at 765-285-8200 or bsujourn@bsu.edu.

Photos Jenny Lesselbaum, Graduate Assistant

CLOCKWISE: Ann Cain, senior, andher parents. Cain is the co-director of Cardinal Communica-tions.

Suzanne Clem and her motherlook at the display cases on thethird floor of the Art andJournalism Building.

Professor Alfredo Marín-Carlespent the morning talking withstudents and parents.

Jaclyn Chesterfield, senioradvertising major, and her par-ents chat with professor HowieSnider.

If you are interested in gettinginvolved with the Journalism AlumniAssociation, please contact MarilynWeaver at 765-285-8200 or CharlotteShepperd at 765-285-1080.

7FALL 2001

Schranz lecturer confronts publicrelations in an ever-changing world

Faculty Notes

By Alisha SchiffliGraduate Assistant

In lieu of the events that took placeon Sept. 11, many have struggled tobetter understand what separates theUnited States from other cultures.Brad Wilks, Managing Director ofOgilvy Public Relations Worldwide,Chicago, spoke about this to nearly350 students, local professionals andfaculty at the 23rd Annual Schranzlecture on the evening of Nov. 25.Wilks is the first Ball State graduateto receive the DistinguishedLectureship award. His lectureexamined the constructive role publicrelations can play in helping bridgeperceptual gaps and build commonground.

For Wilks, “…the notion of platetectonics seemed an apt metaphor forrecent events.” Plate tectonicsdescribes the geological process bywhich continents slowly drift acrossthe globe driven by powerful forcesat the center of the Earth.

“The process,” said Wilks, “is infini-tesimally slow and invisible to us.However its results are dramatic.”He went on to relate plate tectonics tothe events of Sept. 11: “In this case,however, the collision was not of con-tinents, but of civilizations.”

The events that took place inSeptember have shed new light onthe phrase “globalization,” accordingto Wilks. The march toward global-ization is destined to continue.

“I believe that public relations as aprofession is ideally suited to addressthis global challenge,” he said.

International markets now accountfor the single most important growthopportunity for the majority of U.S.corporations. Wilks reported, howev-er, that a recent survey revealed nineout of 10 of the world’s top brandsare American.

“A central paradox of the 21st cen-tury thus far is that while globaliza-

tion and technology have more close-ly knit our global villagetogether…the perceptual gapbetween our view of the world andhow others see us has become anabyss,” Wilks said.

He also indicated that in a worldwhere we have the ability to speak toone another with unprecedented easeand speed, we seem less willing thanever to listen. America’s principles,he mentioned, of plurality and free-dom must seem remote to individu-als where their day-to-day existenceis filled with hunger, economic dis-parity and endless sectarian strife.

Branding America and its principlesof freedom and democracy will besignificantly more complex thanbranding a product or company, andpublic relations must be a criticalcomponent of this communicationseffort. In terms of the domestic audi-ence, said Wilks, there has been amovement in America known as mul-ticultural diversity. In recent yearswe’ve seen things differently.

“Instead of a melting pot, we’vespoken of our society as a mosaic,where each piece is different, and yetsomehow manages to come togetherto form a unique image of America,”said Wilks.

Public relations can help Americaand other nations find commonground. We must truly embrace theold adage: “Think globally, act local-ly.”

So rather than using the same strat-egy in the U.S., we must focus marketby market on communicating thebenefits of the local brand. How hasthe public relations profession per-formed thus far in the wake of Sept.11? From Wilks’ point of view, “Ithas done admirably, under the cir-cumstances.”

Wilks believes the public relationsprofession stands ready to meet thecurrent challenge in helping Americaand its institutions find commonground with the rest of the world.He left some words of advice to thoseentering the profession during theseunstable and uncertain times: “Bepassionate. Be proud of public rela-tions. Be principled. Be connected.Be a communicator. Be a counselor.And finally, be credible.”

Wilks himself is an award-winningcommunications professional withmore than 18 years of combinedagency and corporate experience. Asformer head of investor relations forBall Corporation, InstitutionalInvestor magazine featured Wilks asone of the leading investor relationsprofessionals in the United States.

He received his Master of Artsdegree in Public Relations from BallState and started his career in NewYork City. Wilks also received theDepartment of Journalism’s 2001Alumni of the Year award.

The Vernon C. SchranzDistinguished Lectureship in PublicRelations was established in 1979 tohonor Schranz for his 25 years ofservice to Ball Corporation as itsdirector of public relations. The lec-tureship is made possible by a BallCorporation endowment to honoroutstanding professionals in the fieldof public relations.

Homecoming 2001 celebrated in new buildingBy Stacey ShannonPhoenix Editor

On Oct. 20, Ball State celebrated Homecoming in theusual way with parades and tailgate parties, but theDepartment of Journalism celebrated in a new style.

Alumni were invited back to campus to see the newbuilding and enjoy a continental breakfast with facultymembers before the parade. Around 15 alumni returnedto tour the new building and share stories about theirtime at Ball State.

Sarah Shrode, who earned her B.A. in 1996, toured thebuilding and was impressed.

“It is beautiful,” she said. “It almost makes me want tocome back and get my master’s.”

Shrode, who now works in Indianapolis as the Directorof Marketing Communications for the Society ofProfessional Journalists, is a former editor of the DailyNews. She was impressed with the new offices for theDaily News. Shrode felt the space and technology wouldmake it “much easier to do.”

Other alumni like Brian Taggart were impressed withthe building, but also had good things to say about WestQuad, the former home of the department.

“Even in West Quad this was a good place,” he said.Taggart received his master’s degree in 1982 from the

university and now lives in Bloomington, where he writesfor an architecture magazine and does consulting for mar-

Brian Taggart (M.A. 1982) talks with former department chair Dr. EarlConn at the Homecoming Continental Breakfast. The breakfast washosted by the department for alumni to return and see the new facil-ties in the Art and Journalism Building.

ket research.In the afternoon, Ball State’s football team scored a

homecoming victory in their game against the ToledoRockets. The Cardinals’ victory came with a final score of24-20. Two players on the team were named the Mid-American Conference West Division Defensive andSpecial Teams Players of the Week.

At the end of the day, Homecoming 2001 was a successwith a stunning football win and the new Art andJournalism Building.

Photo by Jenny Lesselbaum

Pat Mills, Instructor◆ Served as High School Journalism

Day Contest Judge, April 2001.◆ Wrote poem, “Frail Linens,” that

was accepted by the Humpback BarnFestival, a juried poetry and art exhibit,Oct. 2001. The festival publishes a bookof contributors’ work.

Donna Penticuff, Instructor◆ Elected first vice president of the

National Federation of Press Women.Previously she was the second vice pres-ident of the 2,000 member organization.

◆ Director of public relations forLifeStream Services, Inc.

Dr. Mark Popovich, Professor◆ Vice-president, program chair,

International Society for the ScientificStudy of Subjectivity (ISSSS), 2000-2001.Planned and hosted the 17th annualconference of the ISSSS, Muncie, Ind.,Oct, 4-6, 2001.

◆ Published: “High Schools Girls’Perceptions of Female AdvertisingStereotypes and East-DisorderedThinking: A Q Method Analysis,” withRobert Gustafson and Steven Thomsen,Proceedings of the 2001 Conference ofthe American Academy of Advertising,May, 2001.

◆ Published: “Subtle Ad ImagesThreaten Girls More,” with RobertGustafson and Steven Thomsen,Marketing News, 35:12, June 4, 2001, 12-13.

◆ Presented: “Seniors’ Perceptions ofSeniors in Magazine Advertisements,”with Tom Robinson, Robert Gustafsonand Cliff Fraser at the Association forEducation in Journalism and MassCommunication’s annual conference inWashington, D.C. in August 2001. Thispaper was also presented at the annualmeeting of the ISSSS held in October2001 at Ball State.

◆ Served as chairman for theUniversity Senate Taskforce onGovernance, Sept. 2001 to Dec. 2001.

◆ Presented: “Newspaper PhotoEditors’ Perceptions of Women inPhotojournalism,” with Ken Heinen atthe ISSSS Conference in Muncie, Ind.,Oct. 2001.

◆ Presented: “Revisiting StudentWriter Apprehension: A Q Interpretationof the Riffe and Stacks’ WritingApprehension Measure,” with MarkMassé at the ISSSS Conference inMuncie, Ind., Oct. 2001.

◆ Received $100,000 grant with MarkMassé, “Excellence in the Teaching ofWriting,” from the Knight Foundation,Oct. 2001.

◆ President of the ISSSS, Oct. 2001 toSept. 2002.

Robert Pritchard, AssistantProfessor

◆ Instructor/Moderator for a GeorgiaCrisis Management Seminar inBankuriani, Georgia (the former SovietUnion), May 2001.

◆ Awarded the Department ofDefense Superior Service Medal uponhis retirement Aug. 1, 2001 as Captainafter 27 years in the U.S. Navy.

Larry Riley, Instructor◆ Judged Web submissions for the

nationwide 2001 CommunicationContest conducted annually by theNational Federation of Press Women,June 8-11, 2001.

◆ Wrote a weekly social-political com-mentary column for The Star Press inMuncie, Ind.

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Web sites to check out:

Department of Journalismwww.journalism.bsu.edu

Ball State Daily Newswww.bsudailynews.com

Ball Bearingswww.journalism.bsu.edu/ballbearings

Cardinal Communicationswww.journalism.bsu.edu/cc

8 PHOENIX

AJ atlast

By Stacey Shannon, Phoenix Editor andKim Frazier, Contributing Writer

The PlanningIt all began in 1997. Ball State was

going to build a new building tohouse the Art Department and theJournalism Department. Plans gotunderway, led by journalism depart-ment chair, Marilyn Weaver.

Meetings with RATIO Architectswere set and blueprints began to takeshape. According to Weaver, journal-ism faculty members were involvedthroughout the design process.

“The faculty met with the architectto talk about the needs in each oftheir areas,” she said.

Weaver also said that sometimesdetermining what would be neededin the future could be difficult, tech-nology in particular was difficultbecause it changes so rapidly.

Assistant to the chair and head ofgraduate studies, Dan Waechter, wasalso greatly involved with planning,especially the technological aspects.

“We looked at the best possible con-figurations for our labs and how wecould provide the necessary infra-structure,” he said.

Waechter also said he spent moretime with blue prints than he everimagined and realized how crucial itis for a client to be involved with thebuilding process.

Finally, the plans came together andground was broken in May of 1999.Originally plans called for movinginto the building by the fall semesterof 2000, but the building wasn’t readyfor use until the fall semester of 2001,leaving the Journalism Departmentstranded in West Quad which wasunder major renovations.

Dr. Mark Popovich, former depart-ment chair and current professor, hasbeen in the department for 32 yearsand has seen it through varioushomes such as the AdministrationBuilding, the current Fine ArtsBuilding, houses on the south side ofcampus and then West Quad in 1977.He was frustrated with West Quad bythe end of the 2000-01 school year.

“West Quad was an absolute pitbecause of the construction goingon,” he said. “The West Quad situa-tion was really intolerable...the goodnews was everybody was civil to

each other.”Popovich said that he had to throw

away two pairs of shoes ruined bythe mess in West Quad. Finally,though, it was time to move into anew, clean building and start the2001-02 school year in style.

The MoveMoving a department of 23 faculty

from the south side of campus to themiddle of campus proved to be anenormous task, but one that wasaccomplished with no major glitches.For professors like Popovich, movingoffices took time and patience.

Professor Howie Snider sharedPopovich’s feeling about moving hisoffice. Snider has been associatedwith the department since 1952 andwas part of four of the five locations.Snider reported that cleaning out hisoffice was the greatest challenge ofthe move.

Waechter was concerned with hav-ing the classrooms up and running sosoon after the move.

“As far as my perspective goes, Ithink the greatest challenge was mak-ing sure that everything was inplace,” Waechter said.

He reported that a couple of theclassrooms weren’t totally ready togo when classes started on Aug. 20,but he doesn’t think anyone noticed.

Some of the offices weren’t quiteequipped at the start of school either.Dr. David Sumner, professor andhead of the magazine sequence, saidthat the professors’ offices had noshelves, which was inconvenient.

“The greatest challenge has beentrying to be patient and putting upwith a lot of minor inconveniences,”he said.

The LocationOnce here, though, faculty and stu-

dents began to settle into their newhome located across from the library.Professors such as Popovich andSumner are excited to be so close tothe library. Other professors, likeAlfredo Marín-Carle, who teachesgraphics, are thrilled to be close tothe Art Department.

“It’s good for the graphic people to

be close to the Art Department,” hesaid, adding that having the ArtDepartment in such close proximityallows graphics students to exploremore creativity.

The Journalism Department is alsocloser to the TelecommunicationsDepartment and the Office of theDean of the College ofCommunication, Information, andMedia. A skyway links the Art andJournalism Building with the BallCommunications Building. Weaver isglad for the proximity.

“It allows us to work more closelywith the TCOM Department,” shesaid.

Daily News adviser, TJ Hemlinger,also appreciates the new location. Hesaid that being in the middle of cam-pus benefits the newspaper.

“I like being in the middle of cam-pus; more students have access tous,” he said. “We are close to otherdepartments and colleges.”

The new building also has a foodcourt on the first floor that includesrestaurants such as Sbarro, Block &Barrel Deli, McKinley Grille andChick-fil-A. Soon Asian Creationswill open as well. The food court hasbeen an asset to the new location.

Weaver said that with journalismstudents and faculty in the buildingfor extended amounts of time, thefood court is ideal.

“The faculty really enjoy being able

to go down to the food court nightand day,” she said. “It’s great thatthey can enjoy it.”

There is also a university-runBarnes and Nobles bookstore on thefirst floor that includes a StarbucksCoffee.

The TechnologyNew technology in the Art and

Journalism Building is also helpingmove the department into the 21stcentury. The graphics labs areequipped with state-of-the-art com-puters, all classrooms have computerdisplay capabilities, there is space forthe new Journalism Writing Centerand space has been allotted for anIntegrated Media Lab.

“The ability to do innovative teach-ing in the building, like through theIntegrated Media Lab, allows us toapply the convergence of media theway we think we need to,” Weaversaid.

Marín-Carle has found the technol-ogy beneficial in teaching graphicsclasses, but said that the technologyisn’t vastly different from West Quad.

“I think technologically speakingwe weren't that bad off where wewere,” he said, pointing out that thebiggest difference is more space andequipment.

With the extra space, graphics class-es have increased in size from 16 stu-dents to 20 students which presents a

The new Art and Journalism Building sits in the middle of campus between Teachdirectly across from Bracken Library. There is also a new metered parking lot be

Ball State Journalism AlumniAssociation President, JimGrim, presents the Departmentof Journalism with a timelineof the department during thededication ceremony on Nov.4. Alumni board member PamRecords helped to design thetimeline which starts in 1919and covers the careers ofdepartment chairs Dr. LouisIngelhart, Dr. Mark Popovich,Dr. Earl Conn and MarilynWeaver. Susan Akers was incharge of research for theproject and Amy Ahlersmeyerhosted the planning meetings.A related article on the time-line can be found on page 6.

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9FALL 2001

challenge to graphics professors. Theoverall increase is similar to taking onanother class, according to Marín-Carle.

“That’s the price you pay,” he said.Popovich is especially impressed

with the new equipment because heremembers during the 1970s when Dr.Louis Ingelhart, founder of the depart-ment, would drive a BallState truck to the Armysurplus store to pick upsupplies.

“We’ve been sort of likesecondhand Rose,”Popovich said.“Everything had justbeen used...[The] qualityand amount of newequipment we have isjust awesome.”

Popovich also feels thatthe department is nowbetter prepared than 95percent of the universitiesin the United States. Hedoes have one complaint,though. The food courthas caused problems.With his schedule, Popovich eats twomeals a day in the food court result-ing in a weight gain of eight pounds.

“I have to find a way to get out ofthe building more,” he said.

Snider is also impressed with thenew technology that the Art andJournalism Building offers.

“Every week I learn more and moreabout how to use it,” he said.

The student media organizationsbenefit from the new technology aswell. According to Weaver, theoffices were planned carefully.

“[The offices were] designed tomeet their needs and to keep themfunctioning at a greater level,” shesaid.

Editor of Expo magazine, NicoleVoges, agrees.

“I love being here,” she said. “Idon’t dread having to go into theoffice to do work.”

Senior magazine major, KatieFurtaw, appreciates the new facilitiesas well.

“Last year, for Expo magazine, wedidn’t even have a printer that

worked,” she said. “We only had onecomputer, which means we used thelabs more than our own office. Nowwe have several nice, new computers,scanners and a printer.”

The Daily News is also more cen-trally located and organized as well.Located on the second floor, itsoffices overlook the atrium area andare larger and more collaborated thanpreviously.

Adviser, TJ Hemlinger said that pre-viously the various departments ofthe newspaper were spread through-out West Quad, but now being in onecentral office gives them a bettersense of teamwork.

“It’s a much more professionalatmosphere,” he said. “It’s importantthat the students and the staff feel thatthey’re in a professional environment.”

The DedicationThough students and faculty began

using the building by the beginningof the fall 2001 semester, it wasn’tdedicated until Nov. 4. RATIOArchitects, Ball State President BlaineBrownell, Chairs of the Art andJournalism Departments along withother faculty, staff, students, parentsand alumni were present for the ded-ication ceremony.

Steve Risting, principal of RATIOArchitects, told the crowd about thefour goals the architects had. First,they worked to create a distinctivebuilding that fits into the campus.Second, they strove to reflect thegroups within the building. Third,they wanted to create a gatewaybuilding that connects it to the rest ofcampus and finally they also workedto fit everything into the budget.

“A building is all about people and

it’s great to see all these people herein the building,” Risting said duringthe ceremony and later continued,“Everyone’s voice hopefully cametogether.”

President of the Board of Trustees,Thomas DeWeese, presented thebuilding to the university.

“Without a doubt, this building willdo much to enhance the education ofBall State students and increase theopportunities for Ball State faculty,”he said.

Dean of the CCIM, Scott Olson, waspleased that the journalism depart-ment was finally in facilities thatmatch its reputation. He also com-mended Weaver and the rest of thejournalism faculty for their work onthe new building.

Also during the ceremony, TommyRector, President of the StudentGovernment Association, presented atime capsule to be sealed for 100 years(see sidebar). He, too, dedicated thebuilding, but in a different way.

“We dedicate this building today to

Building Breakdown

those who will received their newsfrom Ball State graduates,” he said.

Journalism Alumni Board memberspresented the department with atimeline of events.

Gene Policinski, a 1972 graduateand former Daily News editor,returned to Ball State for the ceremo-ny and was impressed with the newfacilities.

“This is an extraordinary opportu-nity, I think, for the department tofinally be recognized physically forthe things they’ve done academical-ly,” he said. “It makes quite a differ-ence. It’s good to see it from a pro-fessional level as well – to see thedepartment finally get the kind ofhome it should have.”

Policinski is currently the DeputyDirector of the First AmendmentCenter at Vanderbilt University andis proud to have a son who designsfor the Daily News. Policinskiremains active at Ball State throughserving on the News Advisory Boardand the Alumni Board.

The FutureNow that the Department of

Journalism has settled into its newstomping grounds, faculty and stu-dents are looking toward the future.Weaver and Waechter agree that thenew building will be a good recruit-ing tool.

“[The most exciting aspect is] theleverage it provides the department,”Waechter said. “I’ve yet to encounteranybody who isn’t blown away bythe new building. We’re doing somany things that appeal to studentsstudying journalism.”

Weaver is pleased with the wayeverything turned out, despite somecompromises that had to be madealong the way.

“It’s a happy building,” she said.“This is very freeing.”

She also enjoys having a centrallylocated main office that is well-organ-ized.

“As department chair, the mostexciting aspect for me is to have aprofessional office,” Weaver said.“The environment here is so muchbetter, so much more efficient.”

She is grateful to the faculty for allof their help with the new buildingand hopes that this building will beher legacy to the department.

Dean Olson recognizes the great-ness of the building as well.

“We have our Emerald City righthere,” he said at the dedication cere-mony. “There’s no place like thishome. To all of you – welcomehome.”

Time Capsule

Photo by Ball State Photo Services

Journalism Space in AJ32,074 square feet

Journalism Space in WQ20,274 square feet

Total Difference11,800 square feet

The new Art and Journalism Building also has:

◆ Electronic newsroom◆ Wireless networking

capabilities◆ A 219-seat

auditorium◆ A four-story atrium◆ Five restaurants◆ University bookstore

operated by Barnes &

Noble ◆ A Starbucks Coffee

Shop◆ Integrated Media Lab◆ An art gallery◆ An interior pathway

to the BallCommunicationBuilding

v.v.

hers College and Bell Communications Building. It isetween TC and AJ.

During the dedication cer-emony for the new buildingon Nov. 4, a nitrogen-sealed time capsule wasplaced in the Art andJournalism Building to beopened again in 100 years.The capsule contained 27items and was presentedby Student GovernmentAssociation President,Tommy Rector. Rectorcredited the administrationfor their work. “You have built a solid

foundation of hopes,dreams and opportunitiesfor all the years to come,”he said during the dedica-tion ceremony.Some of the items includ-

ed in the capsule are asfollows:

◆ three editions of Expo magazine

◆ a 2001-02 Theatre andDance brochure

◆ a Department of Art,“Studying Art” brochure

◆ a 1996 Orient yearbook(the last published year-book)

◆ Sept. 12 and 13, 2001issues of the Daily News

◆ a CDRom with Daily Newsissues from Sept. 12-23,2001

◆ a Cardinal Beanie Baby◆ a Chick-Fil-A Beanie Baby

cow◆ “Edmund Ball’s Century”

VHS tape◆ a photo album from the

College of Communication,Information, and Media

◆ Anthony Edmonds andBruce Geelhoed’s book,“Ball State University: AnInterpretive History”

Dr. Louis Ingelhart, founder of the Department of Journalismat Ball State, attended the dedication ceremony on Nov. 4.Ingelhart was accompanied by his daughter, Sharon White(left). Alumnae Amy Ahlersmeyer sat with Ingelhart(right).(For more information, see article on page 2.)

Photo by Ken Heinen

10 PHOENIX

Faculty NotesAlan Levy speaks at BSUBy Stacey ShannonPhoenix Editor

At age 69, Alan Levy’s career is farfrom over. He has no plans of retir-ing as editor of The Prague Post anytime soon – he loves it too much.

On Aug. 29, Levy came to Ball Stateto talk with journalism studentsabout his career and his work inPrague.

He first became editor of thePrague Post in 1991, the year thenewspaper was created as the secondand more serious English-languagenewspaper in Prague. Two youngpeople who wanted to start a paperapproached Levy. He agreed to bethe editor and on Oct. 1 of that yearthe first issue hit the stands.

In the 10 years the paper has exist-ed, circulation has grown from 3,000to 17,500. Of their current reader-ship, 40 percent are Czechoslovakian.

“We found out we had a publiceven in the most working class dis-tricts,” Levy said. “A lot of the peo-ple of the working classes were pro-fessors who were made into laborersby the communist system punish-ment.”

The staff was particularly excitedabout how well the newspaper hasdone because they charge 10 times

more than the Czech-language news-papers do.

“We thought we had priced our-selves out of the Czech market,” hesaid, proudly reporting that half ofthe first readers were Czech.

Before his work with The PraguePost began, Levy was busy workingas a full-time writer. Starting hiscareer in the mid-1950s, he spentseven years free-lancing in NewYork, wrote 17 books, wrote profilesfor the New Yorker and spent yearscovering the social unrest inCzechoslovakia as well as the CubanRevolution.

Though he has written about suchcelebrities as Sophia Loren, ElizabethTaylor and Elvis Presley, these arenot the books he is most proud of.His book “So Many Heroes” playsthe role of the son he never had. Thebook became very controversial incommunist Czechoslovakia becauseit introduced ideas the communistsdeemed radical.

“I have two daughters who wereeasy children,” Levy said. “I want tobe remembered for my son – thisbook that had a difficult birth...but,in the end, grew up to be respectedand admired.”

Levy told of various situationswhen his book was smuggled into

the country. There were a fewaccounts of guards fighting over whogot to read the book first after theyconfiscated it from smugglers.

Not all Czechs were thrilled withLevy’s book, though. The commu-nist government punished him forwriting such a provoking piece. Hewas sentenced to 5,615 years inprison. The sentence included pun-ishments such as 10 years in prisonfor each time he used the word“invasion.”

Levy didn’t stay around to servehis sentence but was able to return tothe country in May of 1990 after thefall of the communist regime.

He has had two offers from thesame publisher to write another bookabout Prague in the 1990s. Levy hasdone some work on the book, but isbusy running a newspaper.

“I think I will one day write a bookwith the title of ‘Second Chance City– Prague in the 90s,” he said. “I’mthe chronicler.”

Until then Levy enjoys living inPrague with his wife, a retiredteacher, and working on a dailynewspaper.

“Right now I’m happy,” he said.“Happiest in my life with the instantgratification of working on and get-ting a new paper every Wednesday.”

Michelle Linn-Gust talks about first bookBy Stacey ShannonPhoenix Editor

Often inspiration for a piece ofwork comes out of tragedy. This wasthe case for Michelle Linn-Gust, a1994 graduate of Ball State’s journal-ism program. She recently returnedto her alma mater on Sept. 18 tospeak with students about hernewly-released book, “Do TheyHave Bad Days in Heaven:Surviving the Suicide Loss of aSibling.”

Linn-Gust was a junior at Ball Statewhen her younger sister, 17-year-oldDenise, purposefully walked in frontof a train in their hometown ofNaperville, Ill. and dramaticallychanged Linn-Gust’s life.

“I thought I was supposed tobecome a teacher,” she said. “I lefthere with no intention of pursuingjournalism.”

Linn-Gust headed to the Universityof New Mexico to get her master’sdegree in health education. Sheplanned to be a health teacher andcross country coach.

Her path began to change during aclass called “Health Issues of Deathand Dying.” For the class, sheworked on a research paper aboutgrief. Only one and a half years afterher sister’s death, Linn-Gust was stilldealing with her own grief.

“I didn’t know anything aboutgrief,” she said.

At that time, she found little mate-rial available and no material for sib-lings dealing with death.

With encouragement from a griefcounselor, Linn-Gust began working

on her book after graduation whileteaching full time. After three years,she stopped teaching to concentrateon her writing full time. Her bookwas finally completed after fiveyears of work.

She credits her journalism back-ground for helping her write thebook.

“I was very prepared when Iwalked out of Ball State,” Linn-Gustsaid. “I didn’t know when I left herein 1994 that I was going to write abook. I had all the tools and I justhad to apply them.”

Though she had the skills neededto write the book, personal issuestugged at her. Near the end of herwriting, Linn-Gust was concernedabout the effect her book would haveon her parents and older brother andsister.

“My family was very, very sup-portive of this,” she said. “Theyknow that it’s to help people, butthere was a real fear – was I going tohurt anybody in my family?”

Linn-Gust found that her family

was fine once the book was released.The other issue she struggled with

was making sure the details abouther sister’s final days were accurate.With other people involved shewanted to make sure the details werecorrect and avoid false accusations.

“This book isn’t to make anybodymad,” Linn-Gust said. “This book isto help people where I couldn’t behelped. It’s to help the future sib-lings.”

The book’s journey to publicationwas a steep hill, though. Linn-Gustproved in every book proposal shewrote that no other books on thetopic existed, but 30 publishersrejected the book.

Finally, she called the president ofthe American Association ofSuicidology for help and was invitedto speak at the association's confer-ence in Los Angeles.

After she spoke, Jack Bolton fromBolton Press, a small publisher,approached her about publishing thebook. His wife, Iris, had written abook, “Survivor” for parents of sui-cide in 1983. Linn-Gust’s book wasreleased by Bolton Press on June 25.

With her first book on its way,Linn-Gust looks to the future, but isuncertain of exactly what it holds.

Right now, Linn-Gust plans to con-tinue with her writing career, wher-ever that leads.

“I’ve got a lot of speaking [engage-ments] coming up,” Linn-Gust said.“I’ll see where that takes me. I defi-nitely have a lot more writing in myfuture. I’d like to say that I’m not aone book wonder. I’ve got a lot thatI want to do.”

Photo by Joe KrupaLinn-Gust speaks to students.

Dr. Melvin L. Sharpe, Professor◆ Delegate to the National Assembly,

PRSA International Convention, Atlanta,Oct. 27, 2001.

◆ Appointed East Central DistrictCollege of Fellows Ethics Officer (Ind.,Mich., Ohio, Ken., W.Va., Penn.), Atlanta,Oct. 27, 2001.

◆ Elected Chair-Elect, College ofFellows, Public Relations Society ofAmerican International Convention,Atlanta, Oct. 28, 2001.

◆ Appointed member, 2002 SanFrancisco International ConventionPlanning and Steering Committee,PRSA, Atlanta, Oct. 28, 2001.

◆ Presented and served as PanelMember: “Internships that Work,” PRSAInternational Convention, Atlanta, Oct.30, 2001.

◆ Citation: “Steps Public RelationsPractitioners Can Use in Increasing TheirInvolvement in the Implementation ofChange,” Institute for Public Relations,Oct. 2001.

◆ Citation from interview, “Television,Movies Might Hamper American PREffort,” Associated Press news release,Oct. 27, 2001; Ball State “CampusUpdate,” Oct. 29, 2001.

◆ Reappointed chair of AssessmentSub-Committee, Commission on PublicRelations Education, for the purpose ofdeveloping a national public relationsskills assessment instrument for gradu-ating seniors, Atlanta, Oct. 28, 2001.

◆ Invited participant of the Summiton Life-Long Learning in PublicRelations, Atlanta, Oct. 31, 2001.

Dr. David Sumner, Professor◆ Published: “Magazines,”

Encyclopedia Britannica Book of theYear, 2001 and 2002.

◆ Published: “How to Recognize andPrevent Identity Theft,” Kiwanis maga-zine, publication pending.

◆ Published: “Sixty-Four Years of Lifemagazine: What Did Its 2,128 CoversCover?” Association for Education inJournalism and Mass Communication(AEJMC) Convention, MagazineDivision, Washington, D.C., Aug. 2001.

◆ Published: “Who Pays forMagazines – Advertisers orConsumers?,” Journal of AdvertisingResearch, Jan. 2002.

◆ Served as webmaster for AEJMCMagazine Division (http://aejmc-magazine.bsu.edu).

◆ Served as department representa-tive for the University Academic PoliciesCouncil.

◆ Managing Editor for the Journal ofMagazine and New Media Research.

◆ Created a web site for the MagazineSequence (www.bsu.edu/magazine) anda listserv for BSU magazine journalismstudents. This is the first sequence tohave its own web site.

Marilyn Weaver, DepartmentChairman

◆ Presented: “Politics, Technologyand the Profession,” Association forEducation in Journalism and MassCommunication Convention, HonorsLecture for the Scholastic JournalismDivision, Aug. 2001.

◆ Published: “Politics, Technologyand the Profession,” Scholastic Source,Sept. 2001.

◆ Received a 21st Century Grant forFaculty Development, $6,000.

Fred Woodress, Faculty Emeritus◆ Published: “A Girl Named Zippy,” a

book review in the Arts Indiana SummerIssue.

◆ Published: “RememberingFaulkner: Two Visits Recalled with this‘Outrageous, Interesting’ Man,” TheFaulkner Newsletter andYoknapatawpha Review, July-Sept. issue.

◆ Published: “Yes, You Too Can be aCommercial Success,” Jar Monthly, Aug.2001.

◆ Completed a fourth Middletownplay in collaboration with three otherlocal playwrights titled, “A Train Ride toMuncie.” It will be presented by theHeartland Stage Company of Muncie inSept. 2002. The three previously pre-sented plays were “MiddletownUnmasked,” “Middletown: TheDepression Years” and “Middletown atWar” (WWII).

11FALL 2001

Alumni NotesResidence hall provides uniqueatmosphere for CCIM studentsBy Cliff FraserGraduate Assistant

Three years ago the folks inHousing and Residence Life wereexploring new ways to add valueto dorm living. The College ofCommunication, Information, andMedia was ready with a suggestion– developing a “CommunicationDorm” for CCIM students.

Initial meetings occurred betweenleadership in Housing andResidence Life, the CCIM Dean andAssociate Dean. Both sidesembraced the concept and movedforward. The notion of a“Communication Dorm” wouldsoon come to fruition within thewalls of the Brayton/ClevengerHalls, a part of LaFollette HousingComplex.

Research suggests that studentsare better connected whenliving/learning with students whoshare a common academic empha-sis. To assure that a living/learn-ing arrangement would come topass, the dean and associate deanhad to rally support among the fac-ulty and guarantee commitmentfrom them outside of the class-room. Finally, Housing andResidence Life had to be intentionalabout staff selection and training,resident placement, faculty accom-modations and maintaining inter-action with the dean and his col-lege. If these aspects could cometogether then the notion was todevelop a “Communication Dorm”that would:

◆ Provide students with a more focused academic living environment.

◆ Support student satisfactionwith their major.

◆ Increase student/facultyinteractions outside the class-room.

◆ Increase retention of stu-dents.

◆ Assist students in theiradjustment to collegethrough academic clustering.

◆ Help students explore val-

ues and goals in relation totheir academic majors.

There are numerous positiveeffects directly resulting from theformation of Brayton/Clevenger.First and foremost, students are therecipients of a focused academicenvironment. They receive oppor-tunities that are not available toother academic majors, within aliving environment. These oppor-tunities include faculty mixers,work related field trips, advisingsessions, programming specific fortheir majors and hall staff moresensitive to their academic needs.

“I really feel that Brayton/Clevenger is a wonderful opportu-nity for all CCIM majors toimprove upon their chosen aca-demic major,” notes Brayton/Clevenger Residence Hall DirectorRobert Engblom. “CCIM studentorganizations and professors out-side of the hall know to target ourhall specifically when advertisingopenings or opportunities thatwould be to the CCIM students’benefit.”

Last year the CommunicationsActivities Board (CAB) wasformed. This programming board

was developed to involve morestudents in the bridging of the aca-demic and residential componentsof the college experience. CAB isan organization comprised of com-munication majors, whose primaryresponsibility is to bring program-ming to the hall that targets its resi-dents. Their events have rangedfrom social ice-breakers to fieldtrips to television stations.

In just the three short years of theproject, CCIM Dean Scott Olsonwill not hesitate to tell you of thegreat successes experienced as aresult of forming theBrayton/Clevenger communicationdorm.

“Everything surroundingBrayton/Clevenger has been great.Students like it and are getting bet-ter grades; they are also moreinvolved and connected,” Olsonsays enthusiastically. “Retentionhas gone way up. The universityaverage is 75% returning [stu-dents]. The goal of the universityfor a few years from now is 80%returning. Our college, CCIM,already has 85% returning, which isclose to rates at elite liberal arts col-leges.”

Brayton and Clevenger Halls are part of Ball State’s largest residence hall complex,LaFollette. LaFollette is home to approximately 1,900 students overall. There are three din-ing areas within the complex, America’s Buffet, Out of Bounds and Courtside.

Students Speak“Brayton/Clevenger hasso much tooffer its resi-dents. Manypeople workhard to makeour stay hereenjoyable andworthwhile. Itis a great placeto grow aca-demically andpersonally.”

“I feel themost impor-tant thing inlife is goodfriends andI’ve made somany here inBrayton/Clevenger.”

“I’d rather livehere than any ofthe other dormsbecause thepeople here areamazing! Thereare so manyinteresting peo-ple here andeveryone is somotivated. It’sgood to havethat kind ofatmosphere ruboff on me.”Kathy Spenos,

Freshman TCOM

Brynn McIntyre,Freshman

Secondary Ed.

Morgan Metzger,Freshman

History/Secondary Ed.

Class of 1969◆ Walter M. Brasch (M.A.) recentlypublished a new book about theClinton Administration titled “The Joyof Sax.” He is a professor of journal-ism at Bloomsburg University and haswritten 12 other books. Brasch is also asyndicated newspaper columnist whohas received more than 80 mediaawards in the last 10 years.

Class of 1974◆ Paul Nussbaum (B.S.) was recentlypromoted to SMASH Editor for thecoverage of science, medicine, healthand environmental issues for thePhiladelphia Inquirer.

Class of 1975◆ David Sullivan (Z.B.) has been pro-moted to Assistant ManagingEditor/Copy Desks at the PhiladelphiaInquirer.

◆ Doug Toney (B.S.), publisher of theHerald-Zeitung in New Braunfel,Texas, has been named chairman of theCommunity Newspaper IssuesCommittee of the SouthernNewspapers Publishers Association.He also won first place in column writ-ing in the 2001 Texas Press Associationnewswriting contest and was the BallState Journalism Alumnus of the Yearin 1998.

Class of 1978◆ Al Lesar (B.S.) was namedSportswriter of the Year for 2000 by theIndiana Chapter of the NationalSportscasters and SportswritersAssociation.

Class of 1983◆ Mike Frazier (B.S. 1976, M.A. 1983),publications adviser at HanoverCentral High School (Cedar Lake,Ind.), was named the 2002 IndianaAdviser of the Year at the recentIndiana High School PressAssociation's state convention. He wasalso elected to the IHSPA’s Board ofDirectors.

Class of 1984◆ David Penticuff (B.S.) was namedMetro North bureau chief and worksas the city editor of the Marion (Ind.)Chronicle-Tribune.

Class of 1987◆ Dan Courtney (B.S.) works as a SalesAccount Executive at CNHI Media.

Class of 1988◆ Eileen Erickson (M.A.) started herown public relations company in June2000 after working as CommunicationsDirector for The National Council ofTeachers of Mathematics for eightyears. The company focuses on non-profit and educational issues.

Class of 1991◆ Lisa Morris (B.S. 1989, M.A. 1991),publications adviser at Connersville(Ind.) High School, was recently elect-ed to the Indiana High School PressAssociation’s Board of Directors.

Class of 1993◆ Sonja Popp-Stahly (B.A.), TeamLeader at Hetrick Communications,Inc., recently passed the APR examsgiven through PRSA. She is now“Accredited in Public Relations” andlives in Carmel, Ind.

Class of 1994◆ Tammi Hughes (B.S.) is the Directorof Education and Programs for theSociety of Professional Journalists.

◆ Marvin R. Kiefer (B.S.) is a fictionwriter in Columbus, Ind. and a volun-teer with the U.S. Press Corps. HisPress Corps service started this fall inHaiti.

Class of 1995◆ Carmen Mann (B.S.), publicationsadviser at Franklin (Ind.) Community

Photo by Cliff Fraser

12 PHOENIX

Alumni NotesWorkshops tradition changing with styleBy Kimberly JanaGraduate Assistant

Making it Work ThroughTradition – 2001

Despite complications with facili-ties, Dr. William Holbrook and theJournalism Workshops office staffsuccessfully created two week-longjournalism sessions, July 9-13 and 16-20, for high school journalists fromacross the country.

“I was really pleased with how theworkshops operated. We had almostan entirely new administrative staff,and that is something that has neverhappened in the past. We managedto pull it all off with people who hadno prior experience with the pro-gram,” said Holbrook. “The studentstaff was really excellent.”

However, Holbrook acknowledgesthat there were problems with theworkshops program this year.Approximately 200 students attendedeach week, a number that is far lowerthan what the program usuallydraws.

“We were pretty traditional in ourofferings this year because of the situ-ation with West Quad [being renovat-ed],” Holbrook explained. “We need-ed flexibility and it wasn’t really pos-sible to be innovative with the build-ing being torn down – not knowing ifa classroom would be available fromone day to the next or if there wouldeven be air conditioning. Computerlabs had to be put together fromscratch.”

By the end of the summer, the com-plications were improving, but

Holbrook had been wanting to goback to his roots: teaching English.Mark Herron, the former nationaleducation and creative accounts man-ager for Jostens, took over whereHolbrook left off.

Now, as an assistant professor inthe English Department at Ball State,Holbrook sees a great future forWorkshops under the direction ofHerron.

“I think he will be marvelous inboth education and with his year-book experience – I don’t see himdoing anything but improving theprogram,” Holbrook said.

Recruitment Through Innovation – 2002

“We are really focused on helpingthe program grow,” Herron said.“With a new curriculum format thatfocuses on outcome-based educationand encompasses the WED process(writing, editing and design), theWorkshops are a great recruitmenttool. If we sell and turn kids on tojournalism and Ball State, it should bea no-brainer that they would want togo on for their college education atBSU.”

In addition to his duties as directorof the workshop program, Herron isalso the secondary educationsequence coordinator and a full timestudent in the Ball State journalismmaster’s program. His hard work isevident to office manager and gradu-ate student, Christie Girton.

“Mark is putting a lot of himselfand his reputation into next year’sprogram. He is making it runsmoother and it will be totally differ-

Michael Smith speaks on changing mediaBy Erin YazelGraduate Assistant

Journalism and public relationsstudents caught a glimpse of theirfuture media roles when alumnusMichael Smith spoke as part of theProfessional-in-Residence series.

Smith, a 1973 graduate of BallState, returned to campus on Nov. 5as the Professional-in-Residencespeaker. He talked to Ball State stu-dents about the changing medialandscape.

“It’s a great time to be in journal-ism because of all of the changethat is occurring in the world,” saidSmith.

He addressed the growing diver-sity and aging of America, whichaffects the methods and approachesjournalists need to use when report-ing news.

Smith said daily newspaper read-ership is declining as young peopleread less news and as people goonline to receive their news. Hesaid the world is more racially, edu-cationally and spiritually diversethan journalists realize. Journalistsmust present the news to a worldfar different than their own. On onehand, Smith said it was dishearten-ing that each new generation

appears to have less and less of aninterest in news; however, he alsoexpressed excitement because thepublic’s complacency challengesjournalists to get more creative andto create new and unique approach-es to news writing.

“We are in need of storytellersand technologically-savvy journal-ists,” said Smith.

He said the media is constantly intransition as values, ethics and legalconcerns become more importantand as young people desire breadthand authenticity in their news.Smith is excited because the chang-ing media provides new opportuni-ties for journalists.

“There’s no replacement for theexcitement of being in a newspaperwhen a big story happens,” saidSmith.

Smith now serves as the manag-ing director of the MediaManagement Center atNorthwestern University. TheMedia Management Center pro-vides executive education andresearch for television, cable, news-paper, magazine and Internet-basedcompanies.

“I enjoy teaching executives,” saidSmith. “I enjoy hearing about theproblems and issues they face and

then helping them solve the prob-lems.”

Smith was actively involved withBall State as a student and servedas editor of the Daily News. He hasalso remained involved with theuniversity by serving on theJournalism Alumni Board and theBall State Alumni Council.

Smith earned a B.S. degree in jour-nalism from Ball State and a Masterof Management degree fromNorthwestern University’s KelloggGraduate School of Management.Smith served as a reporter and edi-tor for the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel and the Detroit Free Press.He also worked at the Knight-Ridder corporate office in Florida.

Michael P. Smith

ent with lots of changes from lastyear,” Girton said.

Starting in the spring semester,Herron has decided to offer an out-reach program for high school publi-cation staff members to discuss spe-cific topics and introduce them to thedepartment.

Additionally, in conjunction withmany high school principles acrossIndiana, the secondary educationdepartment will be sponsoring aretreat for high school editors. Bothof these services will have financialbenefits for the schools if they alsoattend summer Workshops.

Workshops staff member AllisonZuber, a Ball State junior, is mostexcited about the new format for the2002 Workshops.

“This year we are going to try togive the kids an opportunity to workwith more advisers than just the onethey sign up with for their main class.We feel they should be able to beexposed to the knowledge of all ofthe excellent teachers we bring in,”she said.

With the students having less freetime and specialized classes in theevening hours, Herron and the officestaff see greater potential for theoverall success of the upcomingWorkshops.

“Each staff will leave with an entirepublication plan and it will bedesigned with a deadline schedule,policies and guidelines, banner andbudget,” he said. “Also, each studentwill leave with a writing and designproject. We are going to be individu-ally based as well as outcome basedin the future.”

High School, was recently elected pres-ident of the Indiana High School PressAssociation.

◆ Lori Rader (B.S.) is employed asManager of Communications forAdvocate Charitable Foundation ofAdvocate Healthcare in Chicago.

Class of 1996◆ Gregory L Puls (B.S.) is working as adevelopment officer for the Zeta BetaTau Foundation and lives inNoblesville, Ind.

◆ Stacy A. (Taylor) Puls (B.S.) worksfor ITT Educational Services as aCorporate Relations Specialist andlives in Noblesville, Ind.

Class of 1997◆ Kevin Burkett (B.S.) was promotedto Art Director for the PhiladelphiaInquirer.

◆ Ron Seibel (B.A.) is currently work-ing in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. with theFreedom paper. He does some writingand is involved with designing for thesports section.

Class of 1998◆ Eric Eicher (B.S.) is working as anaccount executive for Bernard HodesGroup in Indianapolis.

◆ Tom Gayda (B.S.), publicationsadviser at North Central High School(Indianapolis), was recently elected tothe Indiana High School PressAssociation’s Board of Directors.

◆ Amy (Butt) McKenzie (B.A. 1991,M.A. 1998) is a CorporateCommunications Consultant for RocheDiagnostics Corporation inMcCordsville, Ind.

Class of 1999◆ Jeff Callahan (B.A.) is working inChicago for RR Donnelley in theMarketing CommunicationDepartment.

Class of 2000◆ Kara Hansen (B.S.) has been accept-ed to the University of SouthernCalifornia’s graduate school. This fallshe began work on her M.A. inCommunication Management at theAnnenberg School.

◆ Mark Patterson (B.S.) works forAdam Young Broadcasting in Chicagoas a Media Sales Assistant.

Class of 2001◆ Gerry Appel (B.S.) is working as agraduate assistant in the Departmentof Journalism at Ball State while com-pleting his M.A. in journalism.

◆ Craig Blanchard (B.A.) works as anews-artist for The PhiladelphiaInquirer.

◆ Jennifer Blotkamp (B.S.) began workin October at Bates USA as a mediaplanner.

◆ Rachel Brantley (M.A.) recentlyaccepted the position of graphic artistat the Kokomo (Ind.) Tribune.

◆ Shelia Hammond (B.S.) was recentlyhired by DDBNeedham in Chicago andis working as an assistant media plan-ner.

◆ Raquel B. Lightbourne (M.A.) recent-ly accepted a position with AT&TGlobal to work in their Chicago salesbranch as a Data/IP sales executive.

◆ Courtney Pianki (B.A.) is working asan assistant broadcast buyer forBarkely Evergreen and Partners inKansas City, Mo.

◆ Stacey Shannon (B.A.) is working asa graduate assistant in the Departmentof Journalism at Ball State while com-pleting her M.A. in journalism.

13FALL 2001

InterFaith magazine follows difficult pathBy Tafadzwa MudambanukiGraduate Assistant

Forming a piece of pottery is along process. But there is one thingabout potters that people need toknow – if the potter does not contin-ually wet the clay, it becomes toohard to be worked on. This canserve as a metaphor for what hap-pened during the conception of theInterFaith magazine at Ball StateUniversity.

The thoughts about the birth ofInterFaith Magazine first developedin the privacy of Melinda Grismerand Jeff Amstutz’s minds during1992.

With “clay in their hands,” Grismerand Amstutz approached Dr. GeorgeJones, the student adviser for BallState’s Religious Council, a diversegroup of representatives from morethan 40 religious organizations oncampus at that time.

Grismer and Amstutz wanted direc-tion on how to make the “pottery”they had conceived in their minds. Dr.Jones came to their rescue andendorsed their ideas.

“We outlined our basic concept forthe publication and he [Jones] likedit,” said Grismer. “He thought therewould be money in the ReligiousCouncil budget for such a communi-cations project.”

The editorial concept was a maga-zine with departments and featuresthat encouraged religious discussion.Using his position as religious stu-dent adviser, Jones explained thatsince Religious Council served allreligious groups and was fundedwith activities fees collected from allstudents, any publication sponsoredby Religious Council needed to giveequal time to all religious points ofview, not just Christianity.

“The students readily accepted thisapproach believing that theirChristian viewpoints could beexpressed in such a pluralistic con-text,” said Jones.

The magazine can be compared to aChinese bamboo tree that grows onlya few inches during the first fouryears of its life, then in the fifth year,it grows 90 feet in just five weeks.

Putting IF in perspective, the ques-tion one has to answer is did IF grow90 feet in five weeks instead of fiveyears?

IF grew by leaps and bounds in itsfirst formative years.

IF drew its strength and supportfrom its name. Its mandate was toreport on diversity of faiths from allover the world that are representedamong Ball State students and facul-ty members. The name was chosenbecause of the double meaning fromthe beginning – interfaith and induc-tive approach to communication.

Grismer and Amstutz threw theirweight behind the growth of IF byrecruiting staff from journalism class-es and religious groups. Grismerbecame the first editor with Amstutzresponsible for publication. Religious

Council furnished about half thebudget and the remainder came fromadvertisements.

Motivation, recruitment, organiza-tion, meeting deadlines and financeswere the challenges IF magazinemanagement faced. Two highlyacclaimed issues were published inIF’s first year. The goal of the maga-zine then was to be publishedbimonthly.

When the Religious Council wasdisbanded in 1996, IF lost a sponsor,but Dr. Jones continued to inspire theIF magazine team to greater heights.Dr. David Sumner, a professor in thejournalism department, joined Jonesin support of IF.

“Although this is a state university,students don’t leave their religiouslives at home when they come here,”said Sumner. “I think it’s importantto have this publication so that theywill have the opportunity to read

and write about great faith traditionsof humanity.”

Despite the fact that IF had humblebeginnings, it thrust itself intonational consciousness by winningnational awards within its formativeyears. The Associated CollegiatePress and the magazine division ofthe Association for Education inJournalism and MassCommunication recognized IF for asterling performance in editorial,design and story development.

However, the achievements underIF’s belt were realized because of thededication, commitment and single-ness of purpose of various IF staffersat Ball State.

“At times, the biggest challenge wefaced was not having enough people– dedicated people – to do the job,”said Melia Ross, the 1997-98 IFExecutive Editor. “It was difficult tocoordinate everyone’s different classand work schedules. I learned veryquickly how much time and hardwork has to go into a publication,even if it was a bi-yearly.”

Erin Bedel shared her challengesand joys of working for IF at BallState during the 1999-00 school year.She worked with co-editor, StaceyShannon, to produce IF for the firsttime since the spring semester of1998.

“I learned a lot about communicat-ing with others, the creativity of stu-dents around me, and what I couldaccomplish when dedicated to some-thing,” said Bedel. “Creating a cam-pus magazine was difficult becausethe staff does not remain on boardfor any longer than a few years. So itis hard to build on former experi-ences when people are just learningeverything fresh. However, that iswhat exactly makes a campus printexciting.”

Bedel felt that the challenge of put-ting ideas into a finished productand taking pride in it was very grati-fying.

The magazine recently underwent achange in editor in the middle of anissue. The staff of about 10 is nowled by senior journalism major DanCooper and plans to have one issuethis school year.

IF Through the Years

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

Graduation Year _ ____ _____ Degree Earned ____ __________

Place of Employment ______________________________________

__________________________________________________________

Job Title __________________________________________________

Home Address ____________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

Phone ( ) Fax ( )

E-Mail ___________________________________________________

News

Send to Ball State UniversityDepartment of Journalism, Phoenix

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

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

“At times, the biggestchallenge we facedwas not havingenough people – dedi-cated people – to dothe job.”

- Melia Ross, 1997-98Executive Editor

Spring 1995EditorialDirector,

Jason LaMar

Spring 2000EditorialDirectors,

Erin Bedel &Stacey Shannon

Spring 2001EditorialDirector,

Herb Howell

During the 1994-95 school year, IFreceived the following awards from theAssociated Collegiate Press: Pacemaker,1st place in story development, 2ndplace cover (spring issue) and designerof the year, Jeff Amstutz. IF alsoreceived an honorable mention for a single issue from AEJMC.

Spring 1994EditorialDirector,

Corinne E.Johnston

During the 1993-94 school year, IFreceived an All-American rating with fivemarks of distinction from the AssociatedCollegiate Press. CMA Best of CollegiateDesign gave the spring 1994 issue a 1stplace best cover design, 5th place bestlogo design and 6th place best featurepage presentation. AEJMC awarded IFwith a 1st place for a single issue and a1st place for cover design (spring issue).

Spring 1998EditorialDirector,

Melia Ross

account, one of the managementsupervisors approached him with anoffer from ESPN.

“They offered Mazda Motors ayear of total automotive exclusivity,for the entire net-work, for a few hun-dred thousand dol-lars,” said McCoy.

ESPN was brandnew. McCoy’s ration-ale explaining to theclient why so muchmoney had beenspent on somethingthat few had heard ofearned him a reputa-tion as Foote, Cone, &Belding’s “cable TVexpert.”

He was sent to cable TV confer-ences and conventions throughoutthe United States. After five years atFoote, Cone, & Belding, he washired by the western region vicepresident of MTV, who was previ-ously in charge of Rolling Stonemagazine’s western region advertis-ing sales. The vice president knewlittle about television ad sales,which is why he sought out McCoy.McCoy went on to sell advertisingtime on MTV and became involvedwith CNN when the news networkneeded to lease MTV’s spare satel-lite transponder to launch HeadlineNews.

“MTV told CNN, ‘We will let youuse our transponder... if the MTVsales force can take over the salesfor CNN advertising,’” McCoy said.

After MTV and CNN separated,McCoy climbed the CNN ladderuntil he became the sales manager.He then went on to work with othercable networks including the Prevue

and Military chan-nels.

While attending aconference, his inter-est was sparked by abooth for an onlinecompany calledAdAuction. Hewound up the seniorvice-president of salesat AdAuction’s com-petitor, AdOutlet.

“AdOutlet was oneof about 35 dot comcompanies that tried

to establish an online media marketplace...rather than face to face sell-ing, an agency buyer could go on tothe Internet and find or locateinventory on any media...and beable to locate and purchase it onlineright from the supplier,” saidMcCoy.

AdOutlet was convenient becauseit had a search engine allowing pur-chasers to select inventory with spe-cific demographic, geographic andtime criteria. For example, a buyerfor GMC trucks could type into thesearch engine, “I want televisiontime to reach 18-35 year old maleswith a $40,000+ income,” and thenreceive a list of all available timespots fitting the criteria.

“Basically, it takes what could be amonth’s worth of work...and con-

14 PHOENIX

Advertising Alumnus Scott McCoy speaks about changing mediaBy Kim FrazierContributing Writer

Multicultural Day features Keith WheelerBy Greg ChandlerGraduate Assistant

Potential media opportunities exist in an increasinglydiverse environment according to Keith Wheeler.Wheeler was the keynote speaker at Ball State’s HighSchool Multicultural Day on Oct. 5. His lecture coveredconvergence, a growing trend in modern-day journal-ism.

Media convergence, the combining of communicationtechnologies to deliver a message, first came to thefield’s forefront when the Telecommunications Act of1996 made it economically possible by allowing for amore liberal ownership of media content producingcompanies, content delivery companies and combina-tions of both. According to Wheeler, the trend is some-thing that newspapers in particular have caught on to.

As the deputy managing editor of multimedia for theOrlando Sentinel, Wheeler has incorporated conver-gence into his practice. He heads the Sentinel’s televi-sion production staff, whose main focus is to work withthe newspaper’s reporters in packaging material for itstelevision, online and radio partners. The material canbe in the form of an edited story, video, reporterdebriefs, video presentations of specific newspapercolumns, full reporter packages, investigative piecesand breaking news briefs.

Having previously served on convergence panels forthe World Association of Newspapers, The AssociatedPress, The Society of Professional Journalists and theCanadian News Association, Wheeler is actively spread-ing the word about the trend. It is important, accordingto Wheeler, because it allows for full use of all mediaoutlets, which will in turn allow the news to reach alarger audience.

“People don’t just watch TV anymore,” he said.Wheeler, who was born in New York, holds a bache-

lor’s degree in mathematics, and was working as abank consultant in Los Angeles when he first discov-ered his love of the news.

“When you’re in L.A. you spend a lot of time in yourcar,” Wheeler said. “I found myself always listening tonews radio, and one day I said to myself: What else amI interested in?”

He soon diagnosed this interest as being a passion forthe news, and enrolled in classes at UCLA eventuallygraduating from the broadcast journalism program.Wheeler is also a graduate of the broadcast manage-ment program at the Poynter Institute, where he laterserved as a visiting faculty member.

Before joining the Sentinel in 1997, Wheeler served asnews director of WHP-TV and WLYH-TV, the CBS andUPN affiliates in Harrisburg, Pa. He is most proud ofthe time he spent as news director at KESQ-TV, theABC affiliate in Palm Springs, Calif.

Outside of his work interests, Wheeler is involved inseveral professional organizations, including TheNational Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). Hecurrently acts as president of the local chapter inOrlando, Fla.

Wheeler, who sees himself as being in a unique situa-tion because of his connection to the convergencemovement, is uncertain about where the future willtake him. Perhaps the only certainty for this journalistis his plan to continue spreading the word about con-vergence in the media. He is excited about the chance.

“I’m just going to make the most of this opportunity,”said Wheeler. “Right now I’m at the forefront of thewhole convergence thing, so I’m just going to seewhere it goes from here.”

Other Multicultural Day sessions◆ Video Editing

◆ Studio Television Production

◆ Electronic News Gathering

◆ Audio Production

◆ Newspaper Privacy Issues

◆ Visualization and Imaging

◆ The Power of Music in Our Lives

◆ Q & A with Keith Wheeler

◆ News Anchoring

◆ Balancing Coverage

◆ Advertising

◆ Cultural Understanding

◆ Act Like a Man, Act Like a Woman

Multicultural Day is sponsored bythe College of Communication,Information, and Media. Its pur-pose is to examine how varioustypes of people are reflected in themedia and what employmentopportunities exist. Each sessionstrives to teach students and advis-ers how to create different imagesin media.

Information taken from the Multicultural Dayfinal program.

Scott McCoy

Scott McCoy, a 1973 graduate ofBall State’s advertising sequence,spoke on Oct. 3, as part of theProfessionals-in-Residence series.McCoy has become an influentialfigure in the advertising world,although he didn’t start out inadvertising. His first post-collegejob included public relations andwriting press releases for the newlylaunched International VolleyballAssociation in Los Angeles, a pro-fessional league that included WiltChamberlain. The volleyball leaguedownsized after the first year, lead-ing McCoy to his start in advertis-ing – a job selling advertising spacein the Hawthorne (Calif.)Community News.

He eventually moved to sellingmagazine ads, but only did that forthree months before a friend fromthe professional volleyball leaguelanded him an interview at Foote,Cone, & Belding.

“Foote, Cone, & Belding was thelargest advertising agency in LosAngeles and the whole westernregion at that time – probably fivetimes bigger than any otheragency,” said McCoy.

He started out at the very bottomwith a job reconciling invoices, andultimately moved up to become theassociate media director on theagency’s largest account, MazdaMotors.

While McCoy was working on the

denses that down to what could bedone in two days,” said McCoy.

Most attempts at online market-places no longer exist. The closingof the last one, Mediapassage, wasannounced in the Media DailyNews on Sept. 25.

McCoy understands why. “Sales organizations were afraid

that using an online marketplacewould commoditize the sellingprocess...by having it done withoutpeople,” he said.

The larger ad agencies were alsowary of smaller purchasers’ havingas much clout as themselves, due tothe leveling effect online mediamarketplaces had on the playingfield.

Since leaving AdOutlet, McCoyhas taken time off. He is currentlyconsulting and living in New York.He plays in a rock’n’roll band, “TheCats’ Band,” with friends in theadvertising industry.

Although the industry lost a weekof advertising and revenue due tothe Sept. 11 tragedies, McCoy isoptimistic about the industry’sfuture. He is especially intrigued bythe concept of “virtual advertising,”which deals with product place-ment within live and taped televi-sion programming and is a possibil-ity for his next career move. Anexample is placing a computer-gen-erated can of Coca-Cola on thekitchen table during an episode ofthe television series “Friends.” Payattention to the can – if no one picksit up, it’s probably not even there.

15FALL 2001

Journalism and TCOMforge new partnershipBy Kim FrazierContributing Writer

“Synergy” and “convergence” are the buzzwords of thenew millennium’s media landscape. The focus is on bring-ing print, online and broadcast media together. The impor-tance of this convergence hasn’t gone unnoticed by BallState University’s College of Communication, Information,and Media. Emphasizing convergence between the differenttypes of media is one of the major reasons behind linkingthe new Art and Journalism Building to the BallCommunications Building.

“It’s very important for something like that to happen[media convergence at Ball State]. Lots of newsrooms arecombining, especially Tampa Bay,” said senior telecommu-nications major Jason Brocklesby.

According to Brocklesby, Florida’s Tampa Tribune, WFLAand TBO.com have combined. The newspaper, its onlineedition and the television station all share a building and aWeb site.

“Now, you have to be a media diverse reporter,” saidGerry Appel, a journalism graduate assistant. Appelreceived his undergraduate degree from Ball State with amajor in journalism and a minor in telecommunications.

To promote media convergence and media diverse report-ing on a collegiate level, Journalism and Telecommunicationsdepartment faculty are planning a combined curriculum forundergraduates in the Department of Journalism’s news-edi-torial sequence and the Department of Telecommunications’broadcast news option. Bob Papper, a professor of telecom-munications, said the new curriculum will begin in the fall2002 semester and will have news-editorial and broadcastnews students sharing approximately 50 percent of theirclasses.

“There’s little question that we’re moving in the directionof convergence of media,” said Papper.

The Media Law courses havealready been somewhat combined.

“At present, the two [departments]are sharing classrooms in the BallCommunications Building and theArt and Journalism Building to team-teach different courses, for examplethe Media Law class,” said ScottOlson, Dean of CCIM.

According to JournalismDepartment Chair, Marilyn Weaver,the course is currently being taught inthree sections, by two telecommunica-tions professors and one journalismprofessor. Each section is taught threedays a week, with one day of com-bined lecture. Beginning with the newcurriculum, it will be completely com-bined.

“The $20 million iComm grant [from the Eli LillyFoundation] will also create collaborative curriculum relatedto digital media design,” Olson added.

Telecommunications professor Steve Bell said future possi-bilities could include journalism students being able to takeTelecommunications Department courses in basic videoediting and shooting skills and that telecommunications stu-dents may be able to take journalism graphics.

“We’ll have to be flexible as the platforms evolve,” said Bell. There currently aren’t any plans toward combining any

sequences besides news-editorial and broadcast news option.“Some sequences are very distinctive to our own fields,”

said Weaver. Although the combining of the buildings has assisted in

instigating interaction between the departments, Weaversaid it had already begun.

“We were on the way to forming a better relationship withTCOM well before this building,” she said. “We wereaware that we needed to work more closely with our sisterdepartment. We would’ve formed a closer relationship withor without the new building.”

Physical proximity does ease the process of forming thatrelationship, however.

“We’ve been meeting jointly for probably three years,maybe more, but it was a major nuisance because we reallywere at opposite ends of the campus...this makes it a lot eas-ier to do. Yeah, you can get on the phone and e-mail, but

this really does make it easier,” said Papper, who added thathe and journalism faculty member Mark Massé now have astanding weekly meeting at the Starbucks in AJ to discussthe combined curriculum.

Weaver stressed that the combined curriculum will notdiminish either department.

“We all understand that convergence is where we’re head-ed. Convergence doesn’t mean combining departments, butit’s preparing students to be able to develop content for allthe different media,” said Weaver.

Brocklesby sees the skyway connecting the Art andJournalism Building to the Ball Communications Buildingas a “bridge to the 21st century.” He said the considerablyshorter walk will make the departments more accessible toeach other, and has led to more combined discussions andcollaborations on stories.

Already Ball State’s broadcast news program, WCRH-TV’sNewsCenter 43, and the Daily News have begun workingtogether. Tom Gubbins, editor of the Daily News, admitsthat tensions have existed between the Daily News andNewsCenter 43 in the past, but he has been working tochange that. Currently, a Daily News reporter and aNewsCenter 43 reporter are collaborating on a big story,according to Gubbins, but details aren’t yet being divulged.

The two media outlets are also working together to pro-mote each other. NewsCenter 43 reads a headline from thenext day’s Daily News during the evening newscast. TheDaily News, in turn, includes a graphic on the bottom of thefront page encouraging readers to watch “Tomorrow’sHeadlines Tonight” on NewsCenter 43.

“I think it would be an incredible added value to havetheir reporters write for the Daily News,” said Gubbins.“The Star Press is our competition. We compete with themfor ad dollars. NewsCenter 43 isn’t our competition. Wewould be a pretty amazing student media organization ifwe combined efforts…I don’t think it’s a battle of which is

better, it’s just plain dif-ferent.”

So far, the daily front-page plug and nightlyheadline readings havebeen the only collabora-tive efforts betweenNewsCenter 43 and theDaily News. Gubbinssaid time will be thebiggest challenge to fur-ther convergence.

Technology is anothermajor factor that willbring students together.Appel runs theIntegrated Media Lab,which will ultimatelyprovide the journalism

students with broadcast capabilities. Appel thinks havingbroadcast capabilities within AJ will lead to further collabo-ration on NewsCenter 43.

Weaver said that because of the combined curriculum,both telecommunications and journalism students willeventually have an opportunity to use the equipment in theIntegrated Media Lab.

“As we share students, we’re obviously sharing technolo-gy,” said Weaver.

Brocklesby admited there has been a “long-standing com-petition” between print and broadcast journalism, butthinks that the departments and student media organiza-tions at Ball State need to come together because more andmore newsrooms are being combined.

“I think it’s starting, and a lot of the graduates comingback are really pushing that along saying, ‘This is what youshould be prepared for.’ Ball State really has an opportunityto become leaders; it will [becoming media diverse] makeBall State journalism and telecommunications graduatesthat much more employable,” said Brocklesby.

Weaver agreed. “Students who write news in the futurewill need to be able to write it for multiple media. They'regoing to have to write the same story for broadcast, forInternet, for print, perhaps for radio. We’re seeing moremedia companies owning all of those outlets. It’s a financialadvantage to be able to send out one good reporter whoknows how to write for all of those outlets,” said Weaver.

Students andFaculty Speak

TomGubbinsDaily News

Editor

“...NewsCenter isn’t our com-petition. We would be a pret-ty amazing student mediaorganization if we combinedefforts.”

ScottOlsonDean ofCCIM

“We have as a major goal forthe next year or so that allour new sequence undergradstudents will become ‘media-diverse’ reporters.”

GerryAppel

JournalismG.A. andIntegratedMedia LabManager

“As media conglomerates buynewspapers, broadcast out-lets and web-based media,having one set of skills sim-ply isn’t enough any more.Journalists must learn tobecome media-diversereporters.”

JasonBrocklesbyTCOM Senior

“It’s a matter of not justcombining, but using each oftheir (journalism andtelecommunications) benefitsto the greatest degree.”

MarilynWeaverJournalismDepartment

Chair

“We all understand that con-vergence is where we’reheaded as departments. Nowconvergence means...prepar-ing students to handle thedifferent areas of our field.”

Comparing Telecommunications andJournalism Undergraduate Students

Similar Sequencesinclude:

News-Editorial (Journ.) and

News Option (TCOM)

Advertising (Journ.)and

Sales & Management(TCOM)

Pre-Journalismand

Pre-Telecommunications

JOURN970

TCOM1136

Total Students: 2106

NONPROFITU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDBALL STATE UNIVERSITY

16 PHOENIX FALL 2001

New Journalism

Writing Center

serves studentsBy Christi Girton

Graduate Assistant

Department of JournalismBall State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

After three years of hard work andplanning, Ball State’s Department ofJournalism has finally opened its ownWriting Center. Located in the newArt and Journalism Building, theWriting Center offers students assis-tance with researching, writing andediting assignments.

“There are already two writing cen-ters on campus – one in the EnglishDepartment and one in the LearningCenter, but after surveying our stu-dents, we found that they were nottaking advantage of them,” said asso-ciate professor Mark Massé. “Manyaspects of journalistic writing, such asAP Style, are unique. Our studentswanted more specialized assistancewith their journalism assignments.”

Massé developed the concept of aJournalism Department WritingCenter after researching writing cen-ters at such institutions as PurdueUniversity, Michigan Tech Universityand Southern Illinois University.

“A lot of credit goes to Marilyn[Weaver, Journalism DepartmentChairperson] as well,” he said. “Shehad the foresight to build this into theplans for the new building, evenwithout solid funding. She madesure that space would be left for theWriting Center.”

Kimberly Jana, a second-year grad-uate student, is the lead writingcoach for the center.

“This is an important event for stu-dents in the news-editorial sequence,as well as for all students in the jour-nalism department,” said Jana. “It isnice to be able to come to your peersfor assistance in a different settingthan the regular classroom.Professors are always willing to helpduring their office hours, but the cen-ter is especially nice for those stu-dents who would normally be toointimidated to go to their professorsfor help.”

The Writing Center provides one-

Jana works with jun-ior Daniel D. Livesayon an assignmentfor his beginningmedia writing classtaught by Dr. TendayiKumbula.The Writing Centeris open Sundaythrough Thursdaythroughout the dayand evenings. Formore information,contact Kim Jana at765-285-7412 orkjana@bsu.edu.

Graduate Assistant and lead writing coach, Kim Jana, helps sophomore public relations major,Alexis Kern, with a writing assignment.

on-one coaching with any problemsor apprehensions students have inthe area of journalism.

“On a student’s first visit, I sitdown with them and talk about theirassignment and the concerns they’rehaving,” said Jana. “We cover every-thing from grammar and punctuationto tone and content to AP style –whatever the student needs.”

In addition to coaching, the centeroffers volumes of writing resources,reference materials and many com-puters for the students to use.

Support for the center will comecourtesy of a two-year $100,000 grantfrom the John S. and James L. KnightFoundation. The funding will beginin January 2002 and will continueuntil December 2004.

This grant will help support manyareas of the Writing Center, includingthe conducting of surveys of studentsand faculty, the conference presenta-tions of those survey results, aWriting Center newsletter, staffsalaries and a national study on theteaching of writing and assessment ofteaching techniques.

“We are most excited about the twomain components of the grant, hav-ing a solid foundation to run the cen-ter for the next three years and to beable to conduct the national study,”said Massé. “It’s all very gratifying.”

Currently, the center runs on a 30-hour schedule with help from twostudent employees of the NorthQuad Learning Center. These under-graduate students help fill in the gapswhen Jana is unable to open the cen-

ter. “Tutoring and administrative duties

cut into time I can spend with stu-dents, so it’s exciting to have morehelp through the efforts of under-graduates Katie and Tara,” said Jana.

In addition to the help from theLearning Center, the JournalismDepartment will be employing a sec-ond graduate student in January2002. This student will help in thecenter during the spring and train totake over next fall. With an addition-al writing coach, the center will offeran expanded schedule of hours toserve students.

The center has already assistedmany students this semester, 41 as ofOct. 31, at both the graduate andundergraduate levels.

“The grad students were a nice sur-prise,” said Jana. “They were not apart of the initial research, so it’sgreat to have them come for advicewith their academic papers.”

The center runs on a staggeredschedule, with coaching sessionsavailable by appointment. A majorbenefit of the center has proven to bethe availability of later eveninghours. Most visits have occurredduring the 5-9 p.m. time slot, a timewhen most professors do not holdoffice hours.

“Our main goal for this center is tomake it a comfortable environment,”said Jana. “We want an environmentin which students of all abilities canfeel secure and respected and receivesome good suggestions to helpimprove their grades as well.”

Phot

o by

Sta

cey

Shan

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Photo by Gerry Appel