CCurrentSpring 2012

The newsletter for alumni and friends of the School of Communication

A 7.0 magnitude earth-quake ravaged Haiti and surrounding areas on Jan. 12, 2010. Nations watched as the already poverty-stricken country became even more devastated. In response, missionar-ies and doctors from the United States packed their bags and made their way to the hurting people in Port-au-Prince. But, for those unable to make the journey for personal or medical reasons, hopes of assist-ing Haiti were discarded as impossible. Christina Ruotolo, a graduate of East Carolina University’s School of Communica-tion, was determined to find a way to aid Haiti from North Carolina despite how far-fetched it seemed. A few years before the earthquake, four of the five

main authors of “The Day the Earth Moved Haiti: From Havoc to Healing” met in a writing and pub-lishing class at East Caro-lina University in 2006. The group regularly met at a local Barnes & Noble store to swap and critique one-

another’s new work. It also hap-pened to be the same store

at which Ruotolo worked part-time. After talking with the group on numerous oc-casions, Ruotolo eventu-ally joined Elaine Hughes, Patricia Koenig, Elizabeth Thompson and Lynne

Wigentin and the Cri-tique it for Me Writers’

Guild. Soon after Ruotolo joined the

Guild, Carol West walked into

Shay QuigleySchool of Communication

Former Pirate writes for Haiti reliefIN THIS ISSUE

> Haiti page A3

All profits from the book

were donated to relief efforts in

Haiti.|Shay Quigley

School

Of

Comm

Alumna named VIP

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A4Shifts in

MPRD program

A messagefrom the field

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Shouse on

Silverman

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School of Communication alumna April Baer, who received her M.A. Degree from ECU in 2008, was recently recognized for her career achievements by a Maryland news-paper. The Daily Record named Bear one of their “Top 50 Very Impor-tant Professionals” in 2011. This list highlights professionals under the age of 40 who have made signifi-cant achievements in their work and community. Baer received her bachelor’s degree in communication with a concen-tration in public relations in 2006, graduating Cum Laude. She went on to earn her master’s in communication with a concen-tration in health. She completed the graduate program with Phi Kappa Phi honors in 2008. Baer works for Frostburg Univer-sity in Maryland as the coordinator for University Wellness. She related that it felt “surreal” to receive this kind of recognition for her work. “I believe in always doing some-

thing that fulfills me, so it wasn’t even on my radar,” Baer said.   Aside from her work as coordinator for University Wellness, Baer has been working closely with a new pro-gram at Frostburg called CHILL. “CHILL was a generous gift given

to us by Astra-Zeneca and I have been tasked with it. It stands for creating healthy, informed, lasting lifestyles. CHILL has really become my child,” Baer says. CHILL works to promote the health of students at Frostburg by

providing them with preventative health screenings, encouraging wellness and many other activi-ties and educational programs that encourage the importance of exercise and good nutrition all over the campus. Baer was also part of a project to make Frostburg a smoke-free campus. In the future Baer hopes to expand her program to a

national level. Director of the School of Com-munication, Dr. Linda Kean, had Baer as a student. “April is an incredibly exceptional individual,” Kean stated. “She has always been a hard worker who values the health of the university student and addresses that in a variety of ways.” Kean added that the communication program for graduate students provides indi-viduals with the information and opportunities to achieve success in serving the health needs of com-munities through expertise in com-munication. Baer says that what she learned while completing her degrees at East Carolina’s School of Commu-nication has helped her a great deal today. “The communications program taught me tenacity,” Baer said. “That no doesn’t mean no; it means maybe. You always have potential and you just can’t be afraid, you have to push the boundaries. ECU taught me to go for it and I think that’s what all Pirates have in com-mon.”

SOC Alumna Named VIP

“I believe in always doing something that fulfills me, so it wasn’t even on my radar.”

Samantha RiceSchool of Communication

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Baer was recog-nized at an event held by The Daily Record in 2011.| April Baer

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> Haiti page A1

Barnes & Noble while Ruotolo was working. West was purchasing books for children in Bolivia, and the two began talking about mission work. The topic turned to Haiti, and West mentioned that she had been there during the earthquake. “As a writer, what do I do? I write. So I asked her, ‘Can I write about you?’” Ruotolo said. After telling the Guild about her conversa-tion with West, the idea of writing a book about Haiti, its people and the earthquake was born. The book wouldn’t be any ordinary book however, as all the profits from the book would go toward relief efforts in Haiti. The idea was wildly accepted and over two years of hard work began. “Everything really just fell into place with this book,” said Hughes, a children’s book author and staff member in ECU’s Department of Kinesiology. “We all just started writing pieces separately. As we saw things on the news or wherever, we would write pieces that touched our heart from what we saw.” Soon after the five women began writ-ing in reaction to photographs and videos of the disaster, a mission team returned from Haiti and another was preparing to depart from a church a few of the authors attend. Once approached with the Guild’s book concept, the missionaries readily agreed to contribute photographs, writ-ings and personal time to be interviewed by the authors about their experiences in the devastated nation.

Two years later, the writing was compiled and completed, and the Guild had found a publisher. The next step was to get the word out about their book and its purpose. Ruotolo, who graduated with a B.A. in Communication with a con-centration in public relations from East Carolina University in 2002, currently has her own PR firm, The Ruotolo Agency. Using her knowledge of media and promotion, Ruotolo helped to spread the word about the Guild’s book. “As authors, you are partly responsible for marketing your own book. We market to all of our friends and family. We use social media and Facebook, email blasts and things like that,” said Ruotolo. The five authors are currently holding book signings locally,

celebrating the fruition of their vision, and vying for slots on national television. All the prof-its from the book are benefit-ting the Ryann Epps Children’s Home, Compassion Weav-ers, and The Hope For Haiti Foundation--all organizations actively at work in Haiti. “The Day the Earth Moved Haiti: From Havoc to Healing” began with Ruotolo’s desire to make a difference in Haiti, but also with the knowledge that she couldn’t travel there for health reasons. For count-less others wanting to make a difference but unsure how to, Ruotolo advises those people to find a personal talent and take advantage of it. For Ruotolo, it’s communication: “I’m a writer. That’s my gift. That’s what I do. I can put pen to paper and make a difference that way.”

Four of the five authors of the book met in a writing and publishing class at ECU in 2006. | Shay Quigley

East Carolina is going through many transitions, some more visible than others. Construction projects are continuously going on, residence halls are being closed down and receiv-ing major renovations and even the East Carolina University website has received a face lift. Any student walking around campus can view these changes being made, but there are some changes that are less noticeable. Budget cuts and other re-evaluations have been changing the different col-leges and moving majors around. The Media Production degree had already taken

a transformation by re-structuring the sequence of courses and only offering the courses once a year. Now the degree has been shuffled into a completely different college. The Media Production major was originally a part of the School Of Com-munication at ECU but has been moved to the School of Fine Arts. This not only transforms the major from a Bachelors of Science degree to a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, but has transformed the major and its focus.

“The degree I’m sure has changed since I graduated, but I remember many of the courses I took focused on the art of story telling, but at the same time other courses spoke firmly on the busi-ness behind produc-

tion. Now that it is an art degree I wonder what its like?” says graduate Jona-than Butler. In communications, the degree had many classes focused on studying film and an understanding of

society’s percep-tion of films, as well as having courses about turning the major into a career and being profitable. The course is now moved into the School of Fine Arts and has transformed once again.

The degree now requires a different curriculum more focused on the de-partment’s general require-ments. Media Production now requires multiple art courses, such as various art history courses as well as six other art courses. Some instructors of the major, such as Rudy Chu, are excited about this move and all the new courses added to degree. Chu has expressed, on many levels,

Transforming MPRD degreeC-Current

Michael JarrettSchool of Communication

> MPRD page A5

The degree now requires a different curriculum more focused on the department’s general requirements.

Check out the School of Communication online

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BY THE NUMBERS

An SOC student works with some of the older equipment at ECU. | Michael Jarrett

6The School of

Communication’s rank on

Education-Portal.com’s current

list of “Top Universities

for a Broadcast Journalism Major.”

*42Number of SOC

students for each full-time

faculty member.

*1.8Ratio of women

to men in the School of

Communication

*As of May 2011 according to www.ecu.edu/comm/facts

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his excitement for the department change and new equipment for the major. Meanwhile some students who were interested in the degree have chosen different pathways of film, to avoid the new course load with the degree. Sophomore Dana Mor-gan was interested in the degree but is now hesitant, “I’ve always been interested in film, and wanted to do more of it in college. But after I heard all of the requirements in

the new department, I think I can do just as well with a broadcast degree in comm.” The move of the department has recently left a group of commu-nication based Media Production students in limbo. The communi-cation-based students are unable to utilize the new cameras purchased for the major, due to it being placed in the School of the Arts. While at the same time the com-munication based students are still unable to utilize the higher quality camera equipment in the School of

Communication based in Joyner East, The majority of high defini-tion cameras, that Media Pro-duction students require, are for Journalism students. These hic-ups are creating frustration for produc-tion students, and in turn creating hesitation for students interested in the Media Production major. Only time will tell the success of this degree program, and its transi-tion into a new department. But with the many alterations occur-ring in the major, some are asking was it for the best?

UPDATE YOUR RECORDLet us know what you’re up to. Even if you’ve only had a change in phone number or email address, please let us know.

Please email the following to: Barbara Bullington, Alumni Relations Committee Chair,bullingtonb@ecu.edu

Name:

Semester/year of graduation:

Degree: Email:

Phone number:

Current job title:

Company/organization:

Personal news: (such as marriage, children, awards, etc.)

> MPRD page A4

www.ecu.edu/comm

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Transitioning from the struc-tured world of college to the ever-changing world of the workforce is never an easy task. But for recent East Carolina University gradu-ate Kelly Lott, this change is even greater. She is now working in one of the fastest-paced industries in the world: broadcast news. Lott, who graduated from ECU’s School of Communication with a degree in media production in May 2011, now works full-time as a camera operator for WCTI News Channel 12 in New Bern, N.C. As an evening news staffer, Lott con-trols the cameras for the 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. primetime newscasts, as well as the 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. late newscasts. However, camera operating is not the only duty that falls on Lott. Coming in at 3 p.m. everyday, Lott

first checks all the equipment, from microphones to lighting. She also is given graphics to create for the newscasts through a Photoshop program. “The graphics that you see over the anchors’ shoulders are the pictures that I create each day,” said Lott. During filming, Lott’s position on the cameras changes. “Usually, there is another camera operator out there with me, so we switch back and forth from floor direct-ing and will alternate working each camera,” said Lott. However, while the process of preparing the news is consistent day to day, the world of news is changing every second and Lott and her coworkers have to be pre-pared for anything that comes their way. Lott recalls one such situation — the station’s coverage of Hurricane Irene in August 2011. “(During

Irene), we were there for wall-to-wall coverage and were on-air for around 60 hours,” recalls Lott. “Be-cause of the storm, people couldn’t or wouldn’t come in to relieve us, so, for the last 12 to 13 hours, I was there in the station and I was work-ing — no breaks or anything.” Another challenge Lott had to en-dure was the relocation of someone she looked up to at WCTI. “The thing that has been most challeng-ing has been losing my favorite di-rector, Dave Henderson,” said Lott. “He taught me so many things since I began working here and it was amazing. He truly was my mentor and I wanted him to teach me more on directing.” Henderson, who moved back to Raleigh in November 2011 to be closer to his family, now works at WRAL as the newscast director — the same position he held at WCTI.

Hunter IngramSchool of Communication

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From ClassroomtoNewsroom

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Lott positions a camera in WCTI’s studio. | Hunter Ingram

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Sarah Silverman is the only comedian breaking down walls for women in terms of vulgar and hostile humor, ac-cording to Professor Eric Shouse. Shouse, who is a Professor of Com-munication at ECU, was the speaker at a colloquium Tuesday where he presented his latest research entitled Sarah is Magic: The (Post-Gendered?) Comedy of Sarah Silverman. The paper was co-written by Professor Patrice Oppliger of Boston University. Shouse touched on the idea of outdated ideas about women in re-gards to comedy. “What does it mean to be a lady?” Shouse asked. “Society believes their role models should be modesty, virtue, and placidity. What a lady should be and what humor is are opposites.” But Shouse says Silverman is the first woman to segue into un-ladylike characteristics of what women’s hu-mor is not and receives much harsher criticism for it. Critics call her “narcissis-tic, wrongheaded, and irritating.” From what Shouse researched, Silverman has broken all five traits of what women’s humor usually is. These include telling stories instead of jokes, using a less hostile approach, making jokes about the powerful instead of the powerless, trying to connect to the audience, and using self-deprecating humor. In each case Silverman breaks away from the stereotype. To demonstrate, Shouse quoted Silverman. “‘I was raped by a doctor, which, for a Jewish girl, is so bitter

sweet.’” Shouse said that jokes like these showcase her ability to tell jokes in a less feminine way. Another point made by Shouse was the fact that there is a double standard towards women in the comedy busi-ness. “Men who use foul language and taboo subjects are seen as brave and edgy,” said Shouse. He writes in his pa-per that “despite doing so on a regular basis, male comedians like Dave Attell, Louis C.K. and Daniel Tosh are almost never taken to task by critics of their performances of ‘empathy-starved humor’”, a phrase which is applied to Silverman. Shouse said this can be traced back to the early 20th century when women first started performing comedy. They started out at night clubs and strip joints where they were only seen as sex objects. Now, women are placed on “safe” daytime talk shows to share their humor instead of the more stand-up comedy way of late night talk shows. For example, Ellen Degeneres, who Shouse called “one of the best comics of all time”, despite the fact that she is a woman. Shouse said that “even the best fe-male comics remain ghettoized in the mainstream media.” The only woman in late night is Chelsea Handler, and Shouse said even she is not pushing the boundaries enough as men. But Silverman is. She even goes so far as to verbally attack her audience members. But since “women are taught not to have a public voice” according to Shouse, she is not very well accepted.

SOC professor presents research on Silverman

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Katherine GerberSchool of Communication

Shouse presents his work to a class of SOC students. | Katherine Gerber

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