C oll e g e
of
j o u r nal i s m
an d
co m m u n i ca t i on s
FALL 2009 • NO. 83 • $4.95
The 21st Century News Laboratory
is one of three components of
the new, cutting-edge Center for
Media Innovation + Research
Alumnus dives to
restore clay banks
Professors, students
present most papers
at top convention
Syndicated talk-show
host, a former Rock
104 dj, reveals all
Dean John Wright and
the center’s executive
director, David Carlson
Triumph in
trying times
T
he past two years at the University of Florida and the
College of Journalism and Communications have been
exhilarating and exasperating.
Although we’re accustomed to immeasurable successes in Weimer Hall, it seems paradoxical to see extraordinary
achievements during unprecedented budget reductions. Only the
most prescient predicted the depth and breadth of the recession
or its severe impact on Florida’s economy. State shortfalls and
cutbacks over the past two years have slashed the College budget
by $1.6 million. That includes $1.1 million in salaries, leading to a Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) international consignificant loss of faculty, staff and broadcast-station positions.
vention in Boston (see story, Page 8). Faculty members and graduThe cumulative effects forced us to take actions deemed incon- ate students also won multiple research paper awards at numerous
ceivable before last October, including painful faculty and staff conferences around the globe.
layoffs. We lost almost all of our state expense budget and, along
• Our public relations program generated the highest number
with it, the ability to fund our outstanding documentary program. of papers and awards at the AEJMC convention. And ComVista
It is truly exasperating.
rated the department’s research productivity in the Top 10 in three
Yet, despite all of this, we’re scaling new heights.
specializations.
Our faculty members have been extremely produc• A new study analyzing a 10-year period ranks
tive, innovative and effective as researchers and eduour Department of Advertising third nationally in
cators. Our students continue to excel in and out of
research.
By Dean John Wright
the classrooms, functioning as professionals in media
• Students from all four departments won
outlets such as ABC News On Campus and creating campaigns for numerous awards. For instance, the Society of Professional
corporate partners such as FOX Sports. And our alumni lead some Journalists (SPJ) ranked our WUFT-TV News 5 newscast No. 1
of the world’s top media and communication companies.
nationally. Telecommunication students Miles Doran and Patrick
In the near future, we anticipate a brighter budget picture for Fleming won an SPJ Mark of Excellence Award for breaking
UF and the College. In the next few years, the university is raising news reporting. And SPJ named our student chapter the best in the
its comparatively low tuition rates. This will provide a necessary nation.
and substantial new revenue stream to help offset the losses. This
• The College finished fourth overall in the national Hearst
has already helped us recruit three high quality faculty members: Journalism Awards Program and ahead of all but one of our peer
Clay Calvert, Brechner Eminent Scholar in Mass Communication; Association of American Universities institutions. Tim Hussin,
Moon Lee, PhD 2001, associate professor in public relations; and JM 2008, won first place in photojournalism and second in multiTroy Elias, assistant professor in advertising.
media (see story about him being named College Photographer of
We’re not waiting to move forward. Our solid foundation, the Year, Page 8). Doran won third place in TV News.
talented faculty and bright students propel us even during the most
• Despite the budget reductions, we grew our doctoral program
challenging of times. Examples of accomplishments during the past and commitment to producing tomorrow’s academic leaders. We
few months include:
now enroll 75 doctoral students.
• For the fourth straight year, the College led all other universiWe’ve made great progress in establishing our Center for Media
ties in refereed research papers at the Association for Education in Innovation + Research (CMIR). The center’s 21st Century News
wrightstuff
continued on page 38
2
communigator
FALL 2009
12
Gene Page, JM 1989, recently
photographed the restoration
of the vandalized Cow Spring
clay banks.
Daehag Kim
frontlines
06 New Hires: Clay Calvert, Moon Lee and Troy Elias
08College presents most research papers at
premier convention for the fourth year in a row
10Journalism, communication students become
involved after broadcast stations’ first open house
11 Reporting guru Foley becomes assistant dean (really)
12 Alum participates in first underwater restoration
13 Advertising professor, alum co-write one of first free, online textbooks
14 Radio talk-show host reveals all
6
Clay Calvert, Brechner
Eminent Scholar
coverstory
27Center Stage
The 21st Century News Laboratory
is one of three components of the
new, cutting-edge Center for
Media Innovation + Research
features
34 Strong Start
College Photographer of the
Year spending a semester at
National Geographic
ineveryissue
2 wrightstuff
55 gatorsightings
15 On The Record:
Alumni Notes
Awards
In Memoriam
Alumni of Distinction
37 alumniangle
38 developingstory
39 boknows?
On the Cover: Dean John Wright and David Carlson, executive director of the new
Center for Media Innovation + Research. (Photo by Jason Henry)
communigator
FALL 2009
3
contribugators
Steve Johnson
Journalism sophomore
FALL 2009• Number 83
Publisher
Dean John Wright
Steve Johnon
When I got my first job as a freelance photographer
two years ago, I never knew the endless opportunities
that awaited me. Working for the communigator has
allowed me to continue to expand my knowledge of
storytelling in my backyard. Although I’ve covered
some of the largest sporting events in the world,
some of my most exciting assignments are getting to
know the students, professors and alumni who are a
part of my College.
Editor
Boaz Dvir
Faculty Staff
Laurence Alexander
David Carlson
Linda Hon
Ralph Lowenstein
Renee Martin-Kratzer
William McKeen
Ronald Rodgers
Jon Roosenraad
Ted Spiker
Katherine Villacis
Journalism senior
Web Administrator
Craig Lee
Zachary Bennett
As a pre-kindergartener, I was an aspiring novelist. I
dictated stories to my teachers about yogurt-toting witches
and a made-up country called Muzugaba. At 15, I joined
my high school newspaper and have wanted to be a
journalist ever since. When I began at the communigator
in 2008, magazine writing was new to me. A year later,
I’m still a newspaper girl, but with greater versatility and
understanding of who I am as a writer.
Sara Watson
JM 2009
Zachary Bennett
Even after graduating, I just couldn’t get away from
the College. I guess it’s only appropriate I spent my
first summer as an alumna at the communigator. My
time here has helped hone my skills in every part
of the writing process: What started as proofreading
articles steadily transformed into interviewing, writing
and revising, revising, revising. With Boaz’s guidance
and no-nonsense critiques, my sometimes verbose
articles (I prefer to say “extra-informative”) were
whittled down to something clean and concise.
communigator
FALL 2009
This magazine is published by the College
of Journalism and
Communications twice
a year to provide information to alumni,
UF community and friends. It’s supported
Steve Johnon
4
Student Staff
Zachary Bennett
LaTesha Campbell
Rita Chernyak
Nathan Deen
Amanda Del Duca
April Dudash
Krystina Gustafson
Sarah A. Henderson
Jason Henry
Edward Izquierdo
Steve Johnson
Alison Kitchens
Rachel Martin
Yvonne Ayala McClellan
Ashley McCredie
Katherine Villacis
Sara Watson
Kehsi Iman Wilson
2112 Weimer Hall
Gainesville, FL 32611-8400
communigator@jou.ufl.edu
www.jou.ufl.edu/pubs/communigator
Kehsi Iman Wilson
Journalism senior
Amid the hustle and bustle of being a
journalism major later in my college career,
I found an oasis at the communigator
office. I’ve been given the opportunity to
earn the titles of “journalist” and “writer.”
My passion for words is now a professional
undertaking from which I can learn and
expand for years to come.
Graphic Artists
Julie Esbjorn
Shannon Paulin
by gifts to the UF Foundation, designated
for Journalism-General.
gatorsightings
Jason Henry
World special of “Wheel of Fortune” and
won $17,000 in prizes.
At a young age, she would kiss the TV
when Pat Sajak came on and would put
on her mom’s high heels to pretend to
be Vanna White. Later, Gustafson played
the “Wheel of Fortune” video and board
games and made her college roommates
watch the show with her three or four
times a week.
Gustafson learned about the auditions
at Seminole Towne Center in Sanford
through her monthly Wheel Watchers
Club newsletter. She stood in line with
her dad, Ken, who got her hooked on the
show, with about 200 people.
After auditioning and making it past
the second round, she prepared for the
big day by playing the CD-Rom game,
watching the show even more frequently
and buying the perfect black scoop-neck
shirt and grey pants.
With her mom, dad, brother, boyfriend,
best friends and 3,500 others in the
audience, Gustafson recently took her
spot on stage. She solved three puzzles:
“brushing up on my Spanish,” “colorful coral
reef,” and “check this out.” She went on to
the bonus round, during which her parents,
brother and boyfriend came onstage. She
received the letters “I” and “T” but failed to
guess the answer, “just win.”
“I never would’ve gotten it,” she said.
Gustafson won $11,000, an eight-day
trip to Cabo, Mexico, and a $1,000 Maui
Jim Sunglasses gift certificate.
“Krystina’s brother said to me, ‘Well,
what did you expect her to do?’ ” Ken
said. “He knew she was going to win when
she got up there.”
––Ashley McCredie
Don Silver, Lauren Simo, PR 2005, Michelle Friedman, PR 2006, Jennifer Beard Evans, PR 2005,
Tracy Longin, PR 2004, Todd Templin, TEL 1984, and Julie Silver Talenfeld, JM 1984, represent UF
at Boardroom Communications in Plantation.
Public relations firm
counts on alumni
‘Wheel of Fortune’
winner achieves dream
“Wheelie, wheelie, wheelie,” is what
2-year-old Krystina Gustafson, JM 2009,
used to scream from her playpen when
“Wheel of Fortune” came on the TV.
Nineteen years later, the CNBC.com
news associate made it onto the Sea
jason henry
Nearly half of Fort Lauderdale-based
Boardroom Communications’ 15 staff
members are alumni of the College.
“I learned a great deal from UF,” said
Julie Silver Talenfeld, JM 1984, who
started the firm in 1989. “I realized very
quickly that the graduates coming from
the public relations department at the
University of Florida were very skilled,
creative and driven.”
Since 2002, the firm has hired six
public relations graduates, including
Jennifer Clarin, PR 2002, who started
when she was 20 years old, and Tracy
Longin, PR 2004, who started in 2005.
A year later, Boardroom hired Marielle
Sologuren, PR 2006, and Michelle
Friedman, PR 2006.
“The number of Gators here just really
proves the strength of the public relations
program at UF,” Friedman said. “It’s fun to
swap stories about old professors or things
that we learned in our classes and how we
are applying them in our careers.”
Jennifer Beard Evans, PR 2005,
joined the firm last year after gaining
experience at Zucker Public Relations in
Fort Lauderdale. Lauren Simo, PR 2005,
became a Boardroom staffer this year.
Talenfeld hired Executive Vice President
Todd Templin, TEL 1984, in 2000
because of his journalistic insight and
news media experience, she said. She
knew him from their days at WUFT-TV.
The firm also recruits at least one
UF public relations intern every summer.
Public relations juniors Jackie Pesce
and Lindsey Marmorstein interned at
Boardroom this past summer.
Talenfeld’s brother, Don Silver, who
attended UF in the early 1970s, serves as
Boardroom’s Chief Operating Officer and
became a partner several years ago.
Last year, when it celebrated its
20th anniversary, Boardroom generated
$2.35 million in revenues.
“Any time we get graduates from the
University of Florida,” Talenfeld said, “we
can count on them being overachievers –
all of them.”
–LaTesha Campbell
Krystina Gustafson, JM 2009, a CNBC.com
news associate, during her turn on “Wheel of
Fortune.” She watched the winning episode
with her friends in Gainesville.
communigator
FALL 2009
5
newhires
Steve Johnon
Eminent scholar achieves fast
C
lay Calvert, the College’s new
Brechner Eminent Scholar in
Mass Communication, is the
Usain Bolt of academia.
Calvert earned tenure
from The Pennsylvania State University in
five years (it usually takes six) and became a
full professor five years later. He has written
or contributed to 25 books, published nearly
100 law journal articles and composed nearly 40 refereed papers, five of which won Top
Faculty Paper honors in academic conferences – all in just 13 years.
“He has the ability to write more in the
month of January than really good faculty
members do in an entire year,” said Doug
6
communigator
FALL 2009
Anderson, dean of Penn State’s College of
Communications. “You’d better hustle to
keep up.”
At the College, where he started this
semester, Calvert teaches graduate and
undergraduate media law, directs doctoral
research and coordinates the media law
program. He also provides direction for the
Marion Brechner Citizen Access Project,
which examines constitutional provisions,
statutory provisions and appellate judicial
opinions bearing upon access to government meetings and records in every state
and the District of Columbia.
“Under Clay’s leadership,” Dean John
Wright said, “[the Access project] will be
transformed into a new and exciting project.”
Calvert joined Penn State in 1996 as an
assistant professor. As he rose to become
the John & Ann Curley Professor of First
Amendment Studies, he served on the faculty senate, was a member the university-level promotion and tenure committee,
acted as interim and associate dean of the
Schreyer Honors College and co-directed the Pennsylvania Center for the First
Amendment.
He received the Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication’s Krieghbaum Under-40
Award for Teaching, Research and Public
Service in 2004. And four Supreme Court
briefs and eight lower court opinions have
cited his research, which focuses on contemporary First Amendment issues.
“One of the greatest forms of external
validation of one’s research in the law is to
have that research cited and used by attorneys in courts,” Calvert said. “I’m lucky
that sometimes someone out there in the
‘real world’ finds my work helpful.”
One of Calvert’s challenges is to strike
a balance among teaching, conducting
research and recruiting and mentoring students, said Prof. Emeritus Bill Chamberlin,
the College’s former Brechner Eminent
Scholar in Mass Communication.
“He’s already shown that he’s quite
capable of maintaining several balls in the
air,” Chamberlin said.
Paired with his articulate delivery of
media law issues, his laidback attitude
makes Calvert popular among students,
Anderson said. His wit is “rapid fire.”
“You do not ever want to engage
with him in any game of one-upedness,”
Anderson said. “You’re going to come out
on the short end.”
In his free time, Calvert studies wine
and the different regions where it’s produced, especially California. His most frequent destination is Napa Valley, near his
parents’ Sacramento home.
As the eminent scholar, Calvert’s first
priority is to teach students the importance
of the First Amendment, he said. “Part of
it is really training the next generation of
media law professors and lawyers.”
–Krystina Gustafson
Zachary Bennett
Public relations
professor makes
e-learning easy
New media
is old shoe for
new advertising
professor
N
o assembly required for
one of the College’s latest investments in new
media. Assistant Prof. Troy
Elias comes complete with
advertising and digital communication
knowhow.
The newest addition to the advertising
faculty, who holds a bachelor’s degree in
computer science from Claflin University
and graduate degrees in strategic communication from The Ohio State University,
was drawn to the College’s strong advercontinued on page 8
Steve Johnon
N
ew Associate Prof. Moon
Lee, Ph.D. 2001, posts all of
her course materials online
and has created a Web site
allowing students to provide
feedback anonymously. So it’s only appropriate
that she teaches a graduate seminar titled
“Public Relations in the Digital Age.”
By allowing her students to introduce materials and their research interests through UF’s
E-Learning Web site, Lee hopes to “morph the
course into something we all contribute to in
making the learning process more in-depth and
collaborative,” she said.
As a new faculty member in the Department
of Public Relations, Lee plans to build on the
teaching style she used at Washington State
University, where she spent eight years.
“I consider teaching a continuous learning
process,” she said. “Therefore, I will continue
to put my full effort toward evolving the best
teaching methods suitable for different individuals and environments.”
Lee brings the same tireless work ethic to
her new job, said Tien-Tsung Lee, who worked
with Lee at WSU’s Edward R. Murrow School
of Communication.
“She is the most dedicated teacher I have
ever seen,” said Tien-Tsung, who teaches
strategic communication at the University
of Kansas. “She spent many hours grading
student assignments, and her comments were
often longer than what students wrote.”
Lee’s WSU students created campaigns
for public, arts and health institutions, said
Meg Janssen, who, as a student, worked with
an anti-violence organization, Alternatives to
Violence of the Palouse.
“I have an 85-page campaign plan that
my group and I created from scratch,” Janssen
said.
Though the course took up anywhere
from 20 to 40 hours a week outside of the
classroom, gaining real-life experience made
it worthwhile, Janssen said.
“You felt you were going in to work,” she
said, “developing the campaign with team
members and consulting your boss about the
decisions being made.”
Lee’s research spans fields of human cognition and psychology, human communication, human and computer interaction and new
communication technologies. Specifically,
she has investigated “how individuals’ learning outcomes are influenced by different types
of computer text formats,” she said.
From her findings, she developed a new
type of hypertext to help communicate messages more effectively. Commonly known as
a link, hypertext references other text through
a highlighted word that a reader can immediately access. Lee’s hybrid, “expanding hypertext,” displays additional information inserted
into the same page as the link, making it
easier for readers to access the link’s material
without feeling disoriented and clicking away
from the original Web site.
“Finding the best public relations campaign messages and strategies through scientific research is one of the fundamental principles of effective public relations,” Lee said.
“I prefer real-world research as a principal
method of inspiring my students and myself
toward learning objectives.”
Lee’s emphasis on health communication will help build on existing strengths in
the public relations department, Chair Spiro
Kiousis said. It will help attain grants and
other sources of funded research.
“She has an exceptional record,” he said,
“in research, teaching and service.”
—Sara Watson
communigator
FALL 2009
7
frontlines
College presents most research papers at
premier convention for the fourth year in a row
By Sara Watson
F
or four consecutive years,
faculty members and graduate students from the College
presented the highest number
of refereed papers at a premier
academic convention.
With 53 papers and nine awards and
honors, they excelled again at the annual
Association for Education in Journalism and
Mass Communication (AEJMC) convention,
which took place in August in Boston.
The University of Missouri at Columbia
placed second this year with 39 papers.
About 3,000 journalism and communication faculty members and graduate students
from academic institutions around the world
attended the convention.
UF’s performance at AEJMC is impressive because of the convention’s competitive
nature, said Prof. Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, the
College’s associate dean for research and
AEJMC’s previous division chair in media
newhires
communigator
mittees choose papers and winners before the
convention. The theme this year was, “How
to Survive and Thrive in Journalism and Mass
Communications.”
“Our performance is consistent,” ChanOlmsted said. “It’s not just the faculty; it’s
the students. We have excellent, excellent
students.”
For instance, doctoral student Ji Young
Kim teamed up with Associate Prof. JuanCarlos Molleda to produce the first-placewinning study, “A Quantitative Analysis of
Governments’ Use of Interactive Media in
International Public Relations.” They examined 118 government Web sites around the
world, evaluating each in terms of political
and socioeconomic variables.
“The consistent level of success is a tribute to our exceptional faculty and graduate
students conducting cutting-edge research in
public relations and mass communication,”
Kiousis said. “The College’s emphasis on
research and scholarship in the graduate program, and in recruiting and retaining top
continued from page 7
tising program and new media emphasis,
he said.
“He’s got a lot of energy and passion for
teaching,” said Prof. John Sutherland, chair
of the Department of Advertising. “He also
brings with him current knowledge about
digital communication and social networking
and how it affects society and culture.”
Elias researches ways individuals influence one another in new media environments such as social networking Web sites.
Specifically, he studies the presence of race
and ethnicity in these environments and how
they can affect Internet advertising.
“My goal is to understand how minorities
communicate with each other,” Elias said,
“and how, as advertisers, we can communicate messages to them more effectively.”
His research shows that people are highly
adapted to living in a group context, and that
communication and behavioral patterns tend
to be heavily dictated by the perceived norms
8
management. Papers go through a rigorous
refereeing process.
“The point of the conference is to distribute and share knowledge. We learn something
and we bring it back,” she said. “It’s not just
scholarly information – it’s sharing practical,
industry-oriented information.”
The College’s Department of Public
Relations did particularly well, earning top
awards and presenting more papers than any
department in the country, said Associate
Prof. Spiro Kiousis, the department’s chair.
It also garnered the top three student research
awards.
“It’s important,” Kiousis said, “because
it’s one of the only forums that bring together
educators, scholars, professionals and students.”
Besides research-paper presentations, the
convention included workshops on teaching
and public service, a professional development session, social gatherings, and speeches
by broadcaster Carol Simpson and medical
reporter Dr. Mallika Marshall. AEJMC com-
FALL 2009
and customs of people’s group members.
Elias will teach Introduction toAdvertising
Design and Graphics as well as Copywriting
and Visualization. Later, he hopes to begin a
social influence class.
Elias began teaching in 2005 as a graduate assistant at OSU and became an independent instructor while working on his doctorate. Some of the classes he taught include
introduction to communication technology,
persuasive communication and visual communication design.
“There is something about communicating with students and watching students
grasp concepts,” he said. “It’s a good feeling
to know I’ve helped someone.”
He is laidback in the classroom and
accessible outside of it, said Megan Moore,
his former visual communication student at
OSU. Elias, 30, inspires her to work hard
so she can accomplish as much as he has at
his age.
“He’s a great role model because he’s
young and already has his Ph.D.,” Moore
said. “I mean, we could be him. It’s great
motivation.”
Elias aims to motivate his students to
be lifelong learners, he said. He encourages
students to think about the personal and realworld relevance of his courses.
“He has a strong desire to teach his
students and teach them things that matter,” said Myiah Hively, a Ph.D. candidate
at Ohio State. “Students are in his office all
the time.”
Elias helped Moore figure out what path
to take after graduation, she said. She plans to
use her degree in communication to enter the
public sector of the public relations industry.
“He told me, ‘You need to do what is best
for you,’ and I will never forget that,” Moore
said. “Most people go after the money, but he
encouraged me to go after my passion.”
—Sarah A. Henderson
Doctoral student Ji Young Kim
teamed up with Associate
Prof. Juan-Carlos Molleda to
produce a first-place-winning
study at the annual Association
for Education in Journalism
and Mass Communication
(AEJMC) convention, which
took place in August in Boston.
Steve Johnon
research faculty, has contributed to our ongoing
success.”
A school’s success at AEJMC enhances its
international reputation, said Keith Sanders of
the University of Missouri, who has attended 42
AEJMC conferences and served as a research
division chair.
“It’s a good measure of the quality of the
program,” he said.
Missouri consistently ranks high at the conference, owing its success to a culture that
expects students to submit research papers to
AEJMC, Sanders said.
A graduate-oriented mindset contributes to
UF’s success, too. Faculty members encourage
all graduate students to submit to AEJMC as a
way to gain practice and experience in academia,
Chan-Olmsted said.
“They’ll become more marketable if they’ve
published,” Chan-Olmsted said. “It’s a good indicator if they’ll be a good teacher-scholar.”
The students understand the importance of
attending the AEJMC conference, said Guy
Golan, PR 1995, Ph.D. 2003, an assistant professor at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.
“The importance of presenting research at
AEJMC was made clear to us from the first
semester of my doctoral studies,” Golan said.
Golan, who has presented a paper at AEJMC
every year for the past decade, runs into many
fellow alumni who uphold the College’s strong
research traditions, he said.
Besides public relations, UF had a strong
showing at the convention in law and policy,
visual communication and newspaper divisions.
Some faculty members submit to different
conferences. Many advertising faculty members,
for instance, attend the American Academy of
Advertising (AAA) conference. However, doctoral student Kenneth Kim received the top
student paper in AEJMC’s advertising division
for his work on the HPV vaccine.
Some people forget that much of a professor’s work involves research, Chan-Olmsted said.
Conducting cutting-edge research and presenting
it at conferences such as AEJMC keeps professors sharp.
“We are teacher-scholars. You’ve got to be
a good scholar to be a good teacher,” she said.
“You can never be a good teacher if you stay with
what you knew 20 years ago. It’s part of your job
to gain new knowledge, do original research and
present it to your students.” ;
communigator
FALL 2009
9
frontlines
Journalism, communication students become
involved after broadcast stations’ first open house
By LaTesha Campbell
M
any University of
Florida advertising,
journalism and public relations students
knew the College
of Journalism and
Communications’ broadcast stations are
there but had no idea how to become
involved.
To some, the stations seemed exclusive or intimidating. At least that’s what
journalism junior Kathryn Stolarz thought
before the UF television and radio stations
recently held their first open house for all
the College’s students.
The open house tour broke down the
barriers for Stolarz and made her want to
pursue her broadcast-news interest, she
said. She attended a meeting the following
week to volunteer at WUFT-TV and hopes
to work her way up to anchor.
“I learned that the television studio
offers a very friendly and welcoming envi10
communigator
FALL 2009
ronment,” Stolarz said. “They are very
willing to train you in whatever your interest might be.”
The stations, which recently restructured into the Division of Multimedia
Properties, held the open house to encourage more student participation, said Rob
Carr, chair of the open house committee
and the College’s director of engineering
and IT.
“There were a lot of students who came
in who did not know where the stations
were, and how they are affiliated with the
College,” he said. “Having more students
become a part of the stations is a really
good thing. We have all the opportunity
right here that you could have anywhere
with the different media properties.”
About 300 students attended the open
house. In the past, most student volunteers
were telecommunication majors. This year,
the committee emphasized participation
from students in other disciplines.
The open house made the stations
seem more accessible, said Ben Stearns,
Steve Johnon
Tuned in
Journalism master’s student Ben Stearns
works at WUFT-FM after attending the
stations’ first open house.
a second-year journalism master’s student.
After receiving an e-mail about the event,
he attended to look for opportunities to
build his portfolio. During the tour, he
met Donna Green-Townsend, WUFT-FM
executive producer, who encouraged him
to add multimedia elements to his thesis
project.
“It’s made me more open to more
electronic modes,” Stearns said. He started
volunteering at WUFT-FM the following
week.
The stations plan to hold the open
house annually or semi-annually.
Telecommunication junior Candace
Tossas began volunteering at WUFT-FM
immediately after the open house. She
filled out an application and trained the
same day. For three hours a week, she
writes stories for broadcasting and records
sound bites.
“Dean [John] Wright wants students
to take an active role in the stations,”
Carr said. “When the students leave this
College, we want them to be able to step
out and be ahead of their counterparts.” ;
class act
Reporting
guru Foley
becomes
assistant
dean (really)
By Rachel Martin
M
Mike Foley: “It’s one of those
intense learning curves.”
that his St. Petersburg Times door sign read,
“Executive Editor (Really).”
After taking many wise cracks at his public relations students in his Reporting lectures,
Foley is learning their demanding curriculum,
as well as the advertising and telecommunication curriculums.
“It’s one of those intense learning curves,”
Foley said, noting that he relies on the recommendations and support of the office’s two advisers: Karen Cody, MAMC 1999, coordinator of academic programs, and Sandra Storr,
program assistant.
Working in Student Services can be challenging at times, especially during the “onslaught of advance registration,” Roosenraad
said. But the rewarding part of the job is helping students when they think their problem is
the end of the world.
Of advance registration, Foley said,
“There are more problems than there are students.” The strangest question he received
came from a student who wanted to know if
Steve Johnon
aster Lecturer Mike
Foley, JM 1970,
MAMC 2004, has
been as busy as his
Reporting students
since he became assistant dean of student services in the spring.
Foley, a Hugh Cunningham Professor
in Journalism Excellence and former executive editor of the St. Petersburg Times, took
over for Jon Roosenraad, who retired as assistant dean of Student Services in 2007 but
continued filling the role on a part-time basis
in 2008.
“I have awfully big shoes to fill, literally
and figuratively,” Foley said, noting he wishes
he had Roosenraad’s institutional knowledge
and knew when to “bend the rules.”
Foley’s experience and ability to develop strong relationships with students make
him the right person for the job, Dean John
Wright said.
“Mike has an uncanny and a kind of extraordinary ability to maintain the highest of
standards,” Wright said.
Besides advising students, Foley’s office maintains student records, handles appeals and transfer admissions, consults the
dean about the curriculum and deals with
problems students may face – from wanting
to take a difficult required course at a community college to trying to fit in a semester
overseas. Along with these duties, Foley
keeps a full teaching load of Reporting lectures and labs.
Showing his “assistant dean” nametag,
Foley noted he’s still learning the intricacies
of the new position.
“I want to add ‘really’ in parenthesis, but
I think I’d get in trouble,” Foley said, noting
she could meet her graduation requirements
by the end of summer so she could drive a
wiener mobile.
Foley views the position as temporary,
knowing that Wright wants an assistant
dean who could do more statistical analysis
for enrollment management.
“I’m not a numbers guy,” Foley said.
Foley’s students, however, hope he stays
until they graduate.
“The biggest thing about Foley is he always talks about how much he loves being
a teacher,” said Kim Wilmath, JM 2009,
an intern at the St. Petersburg Times and a
former lab assistant for Foley.
After taking Foley’s Reporting class,
Wilmath only went to him for help. She had
no idea who her appointed adviser was, she
said.
“It’s the students we care about,” Wright
said. “Mike Foley being down there [in Student Services] will make the student experience in the College better.” ;
communigator
FALL 2009
11
frontlines
Alum participates in first
underwater restoration
G
By Nathan Deen
ene Page, JM 1989,
a motion-picture still
photographer, recently
joined four other divers
in what’s described as the
world’s first underwater
cave restoration. They entered the depths
of crystal-clear Cow Spring in Luraville to
clean up vandalized clay banks.
“These are beautiful, natural formations
that have taken a long time to form,” said
Page, who lives nearby in Micanopy. “You
wouldn’t want someone to run their fingers
through a pristine clay bank. It’s like spraying graffiti on the Grand Canyon.”
The photos Page took of the Cow Spring
banks restoration ran in such publications
and Web sites as the journal of the National
Speleological Society-Cave Diving Section
(NSS-CDS), The Gainesville Sun, Scuba
News and Dive Rite.
“[Page] was invaluable, not only for
documentation but as a safety diver,” said
Michael Angelo Gagliardi, a Chicago art-
communigator
emergency. Carrying extra scuba gear made
the task difficult because they had to pass
through two extremely narrow restrictions,
said Page, who held his equipment in front
of him to squeeze through.
The water current also proved to be a
challenge. Gagliardi used a rope near the
bank to stabilize himself, while Page hung
back and shot photos.
Shooting underwater freed him, Page
said. “When you’re underwater, you’re
playing with different laws of gravity. It’s
like you can fly through the air … you can
go up, down, all around.”
The Speleological Society called the
restoration the world’s first. It also gave the
divers awards of recognition.
Page began cave diving in 2004 after
he became a certified diver. Many of the
deaths involved with cave diving happen
because of inexperience, he said, so he
wanted to make sure he received the proper
training.
“After all,” he said, “your life is on the
line. You don’t get many second chances.” ;
Gene Page
Michael Angelo
Gagliardi leads the
restoration of Cow
Spring, diving 80 feet
deep and 700 feet
inside the cave.
12
ist who led the restoration. “His work as a
photographer was outstanding.”
The divers removed the carvings of the
letters “D.I.C.” and “P.Y.,” which were discovered in 2007 and 2008, respectively.
Page hopes his photographs help discourage other acts of vandalism.
“People can’t understand how unique
the banks are until they are seen up close,”
said Page, who has worked on such movies as “Monster,” “Piranha 3-D” and “The
Final Destination.”
Gagliardi assessed the damage and collected samples of the bank in 2008. He
matched them with clay he made out of
store-bought ceramics, he said. Finding the
right combination made restoring the cave
possible — he just needed to put together
the right team.
The restoration took three days. The
team members dove 80 feet down and 700
feet inside the cave. They used the “rule of
thirds” — reserving one-third of the breathing gas for the trip into the cave, one-third
for the trip out and one-third in case of
FALL 2009
frontlines
Lisa Duke: “It
unfolds chapter
by chapter.”
Zachary Bennett
Textbook
example
Advertising professor, alum co-write
one of first free, online textbooks
T
By Alison Kitchens
here’s finally something
college students will appreciate more than free food –
free textbooks.
Advertising Associate
Prof. Lisa Duke and two
co-authors, including Duke’s former student
Amit Nizan, ADV 2003, wrote one of the first
textbooks published online by Nyack, N.Y.based Flat World Knowledge.
“Launch! Advertising and Promotion in
Real Time” is the first open-source textbook
for advertising and marketing classes, Duke
said. It generates revenue through the sale of
supplemental material such as downloads,
notes, sample tests, podcasts, black-and-white
copies, color copies and audio books, among
other options.
“Our basic proposition is the professor
can pick the book and the student can pick the
best format and pricing for them,” said Eric
Frank, Flat World founder and chief marketing officer.
The content of “Launch!” would be useful
in a wide range of introductory business, marketing and advertising courses, Duke noted.
“It unfolds chapter by chapter,” she said,
“across a campaign timeline for msnbc.
com’s first branding efforts created by the
New York agency Shepardson, Stern and
Kaminsky.”
The agency gave the authors access to
its creative work, internal process, clients and
employees, allowing them to tell the campaign’s inside story, Duke said.
Before she joined the College faculty
in 1999, Duke spent 10 years at advertising agency Long Haymes Carr/Lintas in
Winston-Salem, N.C. co-author Michael R.
Solomon, professor of marketing and director
of the Institute for Lifestyle Research at Saint
Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, and Flat
World approached her about assisting with the
advertising text.
Nizan, a marketing consultant in New
York City, worked as the SS+K account executive for the msnbc.com campaign around
which the book is centered. She kept the book
content up to date with current advertising
practices, she said.
“I wish I would have had books like it
when I was a student,” she said, “especially
for advertising, because so much of what
you learn in class can be applied in the real
world.”
Advertising senior Tiffany Langley
spends $300-$400 on textbooks a semester.
She occasionally forgoes buying textbooks to
avoid the costs, she said.
“I always suffer when tests come around
because I don’t have the books,” she said. “It
will be nice to be able to use them without having to take the money out of my own pocket.”
Flat World released “Launch!” and eight
other books earlier this year. It had beta tested “Launch!,” along with three other books,
including “Principles of Microeconomics” by
Libby Rittenberg and Timothy Tregarthen, in
classrooms around the country, Frank said.
When professors adapt the book for a
course, they have the option of editing the text,
down to the sentence level. They also have the
ability to switch to new editions on their time
schedule. Older editions will still be available
after new ones are introduced, Frank noted.
“Although I don’t think new technologies herald the end of the hard copy book,”
Duke said, “I do think the textbook industry
will have to adjust significantly in the near
future.”
Some textbook vendors were skeptical
of this change. Kenneth Roberts, president of
Orange and Blue Textbooks in Gainesville,
argued that most information found in textbooks is already online and the point of
printed textbooks is to save students time
searching for that info.
But the transition to online textbooks is
inevitable, Duke said.
“The educational text publishing industry
is undergoing staggering change and many
traditional business models and practices are
quickly losing relevance,” she said. “The model
for our book is premised on the idea that college course material can wield wider influence
and be of greatest public benefit as it becomes
easily and inexpensively available.” ;
communigator
FALL 2009
13
frontlines
Radio talk-show host reveals all
P
By Yvonne Ayala McClellan
“The Paul and Young Ron Morning Show”
aul Castronovo, TEL 1984, launched in 1989 at Miami’s former WSHE
shares intimate moments 103.5-FM, now WMIB’s 103.5-FM. In the
and events from his life early years, the program director allotted the
on a daily basis with hun- duo a minute of comedy in between music
dreds of thousands of South sets. They broke the rule several times, and
soon took their program to 94.9 Zeta, eventuFloridians.
As co-host of the syndicated “Paul and ally leaving it for Big 105.9 FM.
In 2010, they’re celebrating their 20th
Young Ron Show” on Big 105.9-FM, WKGR
98.7-FM and other stations, Castronovo anniversary (www.paulandyoungron.com).
“What I think is behind the success of
has revealed his relationships and hardships
that show is that these guys have grown up
through laughter and tears.
“When you’re a radio personality, if with their audience,” said Glenn Garvin, a
you’re going to be successful,” said Harry Miami Herald staff writer who covers radio
Guscott, WRUF-AM/FM’s program director, and television programming. “They were rock
“you put your life out there for everybody to jocks, as we called them in those days, playing
records and as the show got older
embrace.”
they played less music and the
Broadcasting his wife’s
jokes became more important.”
battle with breast cancer
The crew’s willingness to disin 2005 proved his most
close details about their lives and
difficult on-air experience,
dating habits on the air is part of
Castronovo said.
the attraction.
“It was very difficult
In the early years of their marto try to put on a happy
riage, Castronovo’s revelations creface and entertain people
ated some tension at home.
knowing everything would
“There’s a huge learning curve
change,” said Castronovo’s
-Paul Castronovo
even through a marriage when
wife, Gina, who’s now in
you’re married to someone who is
remission. “Because of my
a broadcaster,” Gina said. “There’s
story, some women sought
going
to be things that they say when
treatment and got treatment
they’re
on the air that get under your
early. There were actually
skin.”
women who scheduled
Castronovo has a longstanding joke
mammograms that day.”
with listeners about needing an ATM
Guscott gave Castronovo
in his house because his wife spends
his first radio job at the
so much money, he said. After finding
College’s Rock 104 station.
a wad of cash in his house, Castronovo
“Paul had a lot of talent
joked
on the air, “I think my wife is hidand a lot of times would try
ing
money
from me.” Later that day, Gina
to push the envelope,” Guscott
called the show and shared how she was
said. “He was looking for his
saving up to buy him new fishing gear for
style, his technique and it served
their anniversary.
him well later in commercial radio.”
Feeling comfortable with who you’re lisAfter graduation, Castronovo
tening to is a big part of The Paul and Young
fast tracked through several
Ron Show’s draw, Guscott said.
radio shows before teamOver the years, Castronovo and
ing up with Ron Brewer.
“My partner
Ron and I
don’t really
talk in the
morning.”
14
communigator
FALL 2009
Paul Castronovo,TEL
1984, co-host of the Paul
and Young Ron Show, with
Chef Emeril Lagasse.
Brewer have polished their banter, blending
a smart-alecky style with edgy humor. They
talk about football, fishing, entertainment and
everyday life.
On a recent show, Castronovo baited
Brewer about giving his 11-year-old son a
credit card with a $1,500-limit.
“Is there anything you’ve ever said no
to?” Castronovo said.
“Plenty of the things that happen [on
the show] are just us making fun of each
other, my partner Ron’s drinking or me eating
too much,” Castronovo said. “We bust each
other’s chops all the time.”
A typical day starts around 4 a.m., giving
them enough time to get dressed, drive to the
station, recap the evening’s news and entertainment, and discuss any new developments
in the crew’s social lives.
“My partner Ron and I don’t really talk in
the morning,” Castronovo says. “He sits next to
me, but we just kind of grunt at each other.”
Although Castronovo and Brewer’s comedy is a big draw for listeners, Castronovo
also features top-billing celebrities such as
Kevin James, Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp.
He’s had the chance to share lines from The
Godfather with Robert Duvall and interview
Hillary Clinton.
“Every day, there’s something different,” Castronovo said. “You get to interview ridiculous people, famous people, and
you get to make fun of your buddies, and
other people – and get paid handsomely for
it. It’s ridiculous.” ;
The 21st Century News Laboratory is one of three components
of the new, cutting-edge Center for Media Innovation + Research
By Amanda Del Duca and Katherine Villacis
Jason Henry
communigator
FALL 2009
27
28
communigator
FALL 2009
Center for Media Innovation + Research, a
centerpiece of Dean John Wright’s vision.
The center features three components: the
21st Century News Laboratory, which opens
this spring; the Digital Lab for Strategic
Communications, which will open later in
2010; and a digital communications thinktank and research consortium, which the
College is currently putting together.
The center will propel the College to the
forefront of the digital age, Wright said.
Journalists and communications professionals no longer work in just print, radio, TV
or the Web. They operate across all platforms,
Jason Henry
ic Micolucci plans to be a one-man band:
a reporter who writes the story, shoots the
video, takes the photos, does the stand-ups,
edits the footage and posts it all online. The
telecommunication senior has been working
toward this goal since his freshman year at
UF in 2006.
“I originally wanted to major in print
and broadcast,” he said, “but you can’t
double major in the College, so I had to
pick one and learn as much as I could on
my own.”
The College shares Micolucci’s goal. To
help achieve it, the College is building the
David Carlson and Dean
John Wright examine the
center’s high-tech floor
before it was carpeted.
often simultaneously, said Wright and David
Carlson, the center’s executive director.
“We can’t continue to graduate students
who haven’t been cross-pollinated,” Carlson
said. “By cross-pollination I mean that each
student should know and understand how stories are generated, assigned, reported, edited
and disseminated on all the major platforms,
not just in print or broadcast or online.”
The 21st Century
News Laboratory
Starting this spring, students will have the
opportunity to develop multimedia skills in
the state-of-the-art, convergent newsroom on
Weimer Hall’s ground floor.
Picture a newsroom in which journalism and telecommunication students team
up to cover a story. One student writes text
while another posts photos to an online gallery. One student delivers live video while
another narrates a voice-over from a mobile
sound-booth. Inside the lab, they work with
a high-definition video camera, a green
screen and an interview set. A video wall
made up of nine 46-inch HD LCD monitors projects news programs and student
footage.
To foster collaboration, students face
each other at five pentagonal workstations,
mostly using their own laptop computers. The tables, crafted from cherry wood,
conceal wiring that connects students to the
College’s new, powerful, shared-storage
network, as well as the Internet.
The wires run through the table pedestals, then beneath the high-tech raised
floor, which is covered by a multicolored
carpet with strokes of orange and blue.
Carlson chose it, he said, because the
pattern reminds him of a printed circuit
board.
communigator
FALL 2009
29
of teamwork that’s necessary in business.
“That’s one way it might work.”
The faculty has final say over the curriculum, he noted.
The students would combine their talents to tell long-form stories. They would
push the digital envelope and experiment
with new forms of journalistic storytelling.
Then, faculty members and graduate students could study the effectiveness of the
new storytelling techniques to find out if
they’re “more effective than the old ways,
or just different,” Carlson said.
This kind of research is currently lacking, he said. “Lots of journalism organizations are trying lots of new things but the
only measures being made are, ‘How many
people does it attract?’ and ‘How long do
they stay?’ We want to find out more.”
The Digital Lab for
Strategic Communications
The center’s second component is a
strategic communications lab that will provide a collaborative work environment for
advertising and public relations students
and faculty. It, too, will be stocked with
high-tech equipment, allowing students
and faculty members to work across all
Steve Johnon
Adjacent to the newsroom is a conference room with a cherry wood table to
match the workstations. The room provides space for groups of 12 students
and faculty to meet and share projects
on a 52-inch, high-definition monitor.
Acoustically treated glass makes the entire
space open and visible from outside.
The new network will allow students
to store and share space-gobbling video
files on a large server. Today, students save
their projects on external hard drives that
they buy and carry around.
“How could we be ahead of the curve
with a 1990s infrastructure?” Wright said.
Carlson, who’s also the Cox/Palm
Beach Post Professor of New Media
Journalism, would like to see students
in capstone courses compete through an
application process for spots on a 21st
Century News Laboratory team.
“I think it would be exciting if we
could take two students from each of the
capstones and put them into teams and
then send those teams out to work on
stories to be told in depth on multiple
platforms,” he said. “That would expose
students to how journalists work in various
media and also help them to learn the kind
The center will feature the
look, feel and equipment of
a cutting-edge newsroom.
Doctoral candidate Dave Stanton, JM
2002, MAMC 2005, directs and records a
session of the Journalism Now Podcast.
communigator
FALL 2009
Zachary Bennett
30
P
&
Doctoral candidate creates first
content part of center’s Web site
By Kehsi Iman Wilson
h.D. candidate Dave Stanton,
JM 2002, MAMC 2005, has
created the first content component of the Center for Media
Innovation + Research’s Web site (http://
cmir.jou.ufl.edu/newsroom/podcast).
Every Thursday at 4 p.m., Stanton
orchestrates the Journalism Now
Podcast, an hour-long conference call
with industry experts about the state of
journalism. Topics have included “Tips
for Young Journalists,” “Cultivating News
Communities” and “Transparency and
Objectivity.”
“I got together a range of people,
some editors, some storytellers, and
everyone talked about what they were
doing specific to their niche,” Stanton
said. “I’m more of the moderator. The
more people involved with the call, the
more I try to pull out.”
The project features seven “talkers,”
all of whom work in digital journalism,
he said. Stanton met most of them
through Twitter. They include:
• Ellyn Angelotti, interactivity editor of
Poynter Online and adjunct faculty
member at the Poynter Institute in
St. Petersburg.
• Mark Hartnett, online innovations
editor at The Palm Beach Post.
• Steve Outing, founder of the
Enthusiast Group and former senior
editor at Poynter.
• Stephanie Rosenblatt, JM 2007,
multimedia developer at The Miami
Herald.
• Matthew Waite, news technologist
for the St. Petersburg Times and
principal developer of PolitiFact.com,
the first programming project to win
a Pulitzer Prize.
• Paige West, Director of Interactive
continued on page 32
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FALL 2009
31
Wright, whose vision for the
College includes the center,
tears down the wall, literally
and figuratively.
Projects at msnbc.com and founding producer at NewsU.
• Derek Willis, member of The New York
Times Interactive News Technology
group.
“I saw a gap,” Stanton said. “I saw lots
of blogs talking about digital journalism, but
there’s something different about hearing
voices as opposed to the editorial format of
a blog post.”
The podcast strikes a balance between
professionals who’ve had a great deal of
experience in traditional journalism and those
who’ve grown up in the digital world, said
Angelotti, who’s worked with the CarnegieKnight Initiative for the Future of Journalism,
National Public Radio and Journalism that
Matters.
Discussions have centered on engaging
the community (Episode 9), utilizing experts
from other fields (Episode 18) and forming
relationships with companies in other industries (Episode 8).
“We’re not just talking about geeky stuff,”
Angelotti said. “We’re talking about journalism in a very practical sense, dealing with
32
communigator
FALL 2009
issues that hit close to home for a large number of people.”
Steve Outing, who worked for such publications as the San Francisco Chronicle and
the Boulder Daily Camera before moving to
the Internet, aims to help create new journalistic business models.
“It’s nice to have a conversation with
people who are thinking about the future of
journalism,” Outing said.
In “Filling the Void,” (Episode 5), Outing,
Angelotti and Stanton discussed the closing of
the Rocky Mountain News and the possible
photos by Edward Izquierdo
Carlson shows
blueprints for
the center.
media platforms using evolving software and
Web applications, Carlson said.
“Students will still have a strong specific knowledge base,” public relations Chair
Spiro Kiousis said. “The lab will allow
them to build on it and prepare for other
challenges.”
Beyond the idea that students will team
up to develop multiplatform campaigns,
plans for the lab are “still fluid,” Kiousis
said.
A faculty task force is working on how
both labs will be incorporated into the curriculum, Carlson said. The College also
plans to form two advisory committees
made up of professionals from around the
country to help steer the center.
closing of the Chronicle:
“San Francisco is now essentially a onenewspaper town,” Outing said during the
podcast. “There is a possibility that San
Francisco could become the first big city
without a major newspaper.”
The three agreed that it would be
difficult to replace the in-depth coverage
the Chronicle and other major newspapers provide with content from citizenreporters and bloggers.
On the discussion of the sudden
closing of the News, Angelotti cited her
experience working at an E.W. Scripps
Company newspaper.
“I remember five years ago, Rich Boehne
[the company’s president and CEO] coming
in and saying, ‘For newspapers to survive
in the way that they are now, we’re going to
have to change print publications drastically,”
Angelotti recalled.
Introducing new voices into the conversation is a priority, Outing said.
“We’ve bounced around ideas and sometimes brought in a special guest,” he said. “I’d
love to get some new voices in.” ;
think tank and
research consortium
The center’s research will extend to
all areas of the globe. Wright envisions a
consortium of faculty and students from
the College and other programs across
campus and around the world, collaborating on digital communications research
projects.
“The digital revolution impacts everyone and most every aspect of life,” Wright
said, “and UF is uniquely positioned to be a
world leader in research designed to help us
better understand this impact. Faculty and
graduate students in the College already
engage in collaborative research with leading research faulty in the Colleges of
Medicine, Engineering, Dentistry, Health
and Human Performance and Liberal Arts
and Sciences, to name a few.”
The faculty also partner with researchers across the nation and around the world.
Under the guidance of Associate Dean
for Research Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, the
consortium will allow UF to take a leadership role in generating and disseminating new knowledge about digital communications. The goal is to help people in
every profession and in all walks of life
understand and cope with the breathtaking
changes in communication.
The research activity is one of the
most exciting aspects of the center, Wright
said. One way to test the effectiveness of
the students’ campaigns would be to create ads or other strategic messages on
different platforms and test which of them
performs best.
Faculty and graduate researchers will
also study messages from the mainstream
media on a variety of topics, such as political communications and health care.
When all three phases are completed
and in place, the center will provide the ultimate learning and research environment.
For Micolucci and students like him,
having a new facility in which to hone
their 21st century skills sure is a good
start.
“I can’t wait,” Micolucci said. “I’m
ready.” ;
$25K donors to Center
immortalized
T
he first 80 contributors who
donate $25,000 or more to
the College’s new Center for
Media Innovation + Research
will see their names permanently placed on a prominent plaque
outside the center on Weimer Hall’s ground
floor.
“Technology is going to be a driving
force in the news business,” said Gary L.
Watson, MAMC 1970, former president
of Gannett Company’s Newspaper Division
and one of the program’s first $25,000
contributors. “It’s a great tool and it’s
important young professionals understand
how technology is used to better reach their
consumers.”
Other donors to the center include
Ramsey Hasan, TEL 1992, who owns
Security Innovation Solutions in Davie;
Ron Sachs, JM 1972, president of Ron
Sachs Communications in Tallahassee;
and Kristi Krueger, TEL 1986, an anchor
at Channel 10 in Miami, and her husband,
Todd Templin, TEL 1984, executive vice
president of Boardroom Communications
in Plantation.
In this contribution program, the
College aims to raise $2 million through
80 gifts of $25,000, said Laforis Knowles,
PR 2002, director of development and
alumni affairs. Each donor has the option
to pay the pledged amount gradually over
five years.
The College plans to endow the $2
million to perpetually and equally support the center’s two divisions: the 21st
Century News Laboratory and the Digital
Laboratory for Strategic Communications,
Knowles said. The pooled endowment will
allow the College to apply for a 50-percent
match from the state.
The program is part of UF’s Florida
Tomorrow capital campaign, which aims
to raise $1.5 billion in private funds by
2012.
“A center like this,” Watson said, “will
help students gain understanding and confidence in new media.”
–Sarah A. Henderson
communigator
FALL 2009
33
Strong
Start
College Photographer of the Year
spending semester at National Geographic
By RITA CHERNYAK
34
communigator
FALL 2009
Hussin took this photo of then Democratic VicePresidential Nominee Joe Biden at Invesco Field
at Mile High in August.
I
John Freeman
As winner of the Photo Marketing
Association convention’s first student
video contest,Tim Hussin received a
free trip to the event in Las Vegas.
t was among the trees and tents of
the Ichetucknee State Park that Tim
Hussin, JM 2008, got the call last
fall: After a six-day deliberation, a
panel of four judges chose him as the
63rd College Photographer of the Year
(CPOY).
“I kept pacing around talking to people,”
Hussin recalled. “I was really shocked.”
The judges viewed 13,313 still images
and 169 multimedia projects, submitted
by 566 college students from 121 colleges
and universities around the world. Hussin’s
portfolio stood out through its well-themed,
diverse images and varied use of camera
angles, said Steve Rice of the Star Tribune,
a CPOY judge.
“Tim had very strong images all
through,” Rice said. “We didn’t know who
these people were, but the really strong
images kind of stay in your brain.”
Besides winning the gold in the competition’s portfolio category, which earned him
the title of this year’s CPOY, Hussin’s individual submissions ranked in the top three
in several categories: gold in multimediaindividual still image/audio story or essay,
silver in multimedia-individual video/mixed
media story or essay and bronze in domestic
picture story.
As this year’s winner, Hussin is spending 14 weeks this semester as a paid intern
at National Geographic in Washington,
D.C. In his first weeks, he won approval
for his story idea and went overseas for six
weeks to produce it. The details, including
the location, are confidential.
This past summer, he interned at
MediaStorm, a top multimedia outlet.
“They specialize in producing social
documentary projects from around the
world,” Hussin said. “It was a great opportunity to hone my production and multimedia storytelling skills.”
communigator
FALL 2009
35
Hussin took this photo of Timothy Burrell,
9, Josh Burrell, 12, and Kaleb Merchant,
8, playing outside a vacant church in Salt
Lake City.
Hussin spent most of his time at
MediaStorm editing multimedia pieces on
Final Cut Pro.
“I learned a lot about storytelling,” he
said, “and constructing a cohesive, flowing
narrative.”
Maximizing his internships
Hussin interned at The Monroe Evening
News in Michigan in 2007. He worked for
The Independent Florida Alligator and The
Gainesville Sun throughout his years in
Gainesville. In 2008, he spent the spring
semester interning at the Deseret News in
Salt Lake City and the summer shooting for
the Rocky Mountain News in Denver.
He spent much of his time off shooting
stories.
“Doing the extra bit is important,” he
said.
He shot “Starting Over,” which follows a
family recovering from a house fire, on his own
time while interning at Deseret News.
“In the end, I made friends with them,
and they liked me,” he said. “You develop
a relationship and that’s how they allow
you to capture those moments that they
normally wouldn’t let people see.”
In the CPOY competition, “Starting
Over” received the silver in the individual
36
communigator
FALL 2009
video or mixed media photo story or essay
category.
When Hussin was preparing his CPOY
submission, he had many options from
which to choose. With input from his UF
professors, brother and Ohio University
photographers whom he met at internships,
Hussin narrowed down his best work. After
about four weeks of eliminating and editing, he entered 120 photographs in 15 of the
competition’s 16 categories.
Judges viewed the submissions at the
University of Missouri, which administers
the competition with Nikon.
The group of judges for this year’s competition included a National Geographic
freelancer, a Washingtonpost.com multimedia producer, a Minneapolis Star Tribune
photographer/videographer and a Still
Productions co-owner.
CPOY has become increasingly competitive over the years, noted photojournalism Associate Prof. John Freeman.
Winning in Vegas
Freeman entered Hussin’s videos into the
Photo Marketing Association’s annual convention’s first student video contest. Hussin
won an all-expense-paid, three-day trip to
the event in Las Vegas – for both of them.
“But Tim’s prize came with a catch,”
Freeman said. “He had to also produce a
video about the convention to be shown
at the farewell breakfast, where more than
500 representatives from companies such
as Canon, Nikon, Sony, HP and others were
on hand.”
Hussin’s video (http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=McORu2T4V1c) included
scenes of the vendors in the trade show but
focused on an 83-year-old man who had
attended the convention on and off for 50
years.
Hussin spent the entire night before the
8 a.m. breakfast editing the video, which
the organization is using on its Web site
to promote the February convention in
California.
“Tim took a very journalistic approach
to the assignment,” Freeman said, “and it
was a big hit.”
Hussin participated in Freeman’s Berlin
course and Prof. John Kaplan’s Florida
FlyIns. He also assisted Freeman in his
photojournalism classes.
“I just wanted to have him around, so
people could absorb some of his skill and
feeling and the subtlety of how he operates,”
Freeman said. “I’m trying to get his influence
out there on the other students.” ;
alumniangle
Charting a new course in a Muslim school
By David Abramson, PR 1979
B
eing covered from head to toe
with talcum powder doesn’t
begin to protect me from
Bangkok’s early morning heat.
I’m talking Swamp-football-practice kind
of heat.
Three decades after graduating UF and
five years after working as a public relations
practitioner in the U.S., I teach second graders from Egypt, Belgium, Sri Lanka, India,
Saudi Arabia and Turkey. My students have
the advantage of attending Thailand’s only
Muslim international school, Pan-Asia.
My adaptations to Thai culture include
never pointing at anyone, gesturing with
my feet, raising my hands over my head or
touching people’s heads. Why? The feet are
the lowest and least respected body part and
the head the highest and most respected.
Students in Thailand are often shy and
speak quietly, afraid of losing face by giving the wrong answer. I frequently redouble
my efforts to be patient, understanding and
silent while waiting for an answer.
In my five years in Thailand, insurgents
have killed more than 3,300 people. They
target Buddhists and Muslims seen as collaborating with the government, innocent
people and, go figure, teachers. The attacks
are intended to frighten Buddhists into leaving the country’s only Muslim-dominated
region.
Thailand’s three southern districts were
part of free Malay less than 50 years ago.
Malay remains the dominant language, yet
all public schools teach soley in Thai.
Only 1.7 percent of the Muslim population hold a bachelor’s degree, while 9.7
percent of Buddhists hold an undergraduate
degree.
The military response has included
extra-judiciary killings and loading 78 prisoners on a bus to suffocate in 120-degree
heat. Islamic students at the Madras can
learn hatred and retribution, but we never
teach that at my school.
David Abramson: “My second graders are
blasted with the Massachusetts curriculm
from A to Z.”
My second graders are blasted with
the Massachusetts curriculum from A to Z,
plus Thai and Arabic language and culture.
We spring Western ideas and practices
like project-based learning, high-speed
networking and American football. Some
students are on scholarship. During the
past two years, we’ve sent former Iraqi
refugees to new homes in New Zealand
and Australia. Pan Asia’s more than 50 teachers, who
represent 26 countries, try to get students
to approach problems in a step-by-step
fashion. Students accustomed to “readin’,
rightin’ and rithmatic” are also responsible
for reducing, recyling and reusing paper.
My class is responsible for a schoolwide recycling program with reused
boxes wrapped with reclaimed student
class work from around campus. These
boxes feature a recycling logo and savethe-Earth messages in Thai, Arabic and
English. Collections have averaged 35
pounds a week for the 360-student school.
What have I learned in two years teaching at Pan Asia? Our school’s teachers
and students are taught to be tolerant,
accept each other’s faith and respect their
differences. We go on team-building exercises that include faculty, management and
staff. During school assembly, Chairman
Husni Mohammed talks about love and
respect for our parents and teachers. Parents
know their kids rarely, if ever, receive that
message from video games, TV or the
Internet.
Maybe when our hearts are filled
with happiness we can overcome obstacles. Conditioned by our planet’s violence and fierce competition for resources, we’ve made some poor judgments. A generalist Gator public relations education
and 23 years in corporate high-tech PR has
proved a good prep for this assignment. My
second-grade “clients” have achieved great
things. I hope one day we’ll read of their
accomplishments. Inshallah. ;
David Abramson, a former member
of the UF Public Relations Advisory
Council, worked at GE, Digital Equipment
Corporation and 3Com. He was named
one of high-tech’s top public relations
executives by PR Week magazine in 2000.
communigator
FALL 2009
37
developingstory
Tomorrow is here
By Laforis Knowles, PR 2002
T
he UF Florida Tomorrow campaign is in its final three years
and there’s still a great deal of
work to be done. Dean John
Wright has exciting plans for the College
wrightstuff
communigator
ing with our alumni and friends to reconnect them with the College and share
our many new and exciting goals. One
of the most notable efforts is the creation
and implementation of the Center for
Media Innovation + Research, which now
includes our state-of-the-art 21st Century
News Laboratory. We’re also working
hard on enhancing our programs in health
communication.
During the upcoming year, Dean Wright
and I will travel around the nation and hope
to visit as many alumni as possible. To meet
while we’re in your area, or if you have any
questions regarding fundraising opportunities or other ways you or your company
can assist the College in its mission, please
contact me at 352-846-2411 or LKnowles@
jou.ufl.edu. ;
continued from page 2
Laboratory will open spring semester. As
you will read in this edition of the communigator, this ahead-of-the-curve newsroom
will allow our journalism and telecommunication students to utilize emerging technologies, software and Web applications to tell
stories in exciting, eclectic ways.
We’ve begun planning for our digital
strategic communications laboratory to provide students in advertising and public relations the same cutting-edge and beyond
educational experience.
The center’s digital communications
research consortium will significantly stimulate intellectual inquiry. It will take advantage
of new and existing collaborations among
faculty and graduate students in engineering,
medicine, political science and other disciplines across campus and around the world.
We’re also transforming our broadcasting properties. In collaboration with station
personnel, alumni and outside media entities and professionals, we’re restructuring
and positioning the stations to be leaders in
38
as we strive to be the nation’s top journalism and communications program knowing
that we cannot rely on state funding to get
us there.
Although this economy presents difficulties and challenges, there are many
ways to participate in the campaign. Several
ways to give include cash contributions,
gifts of appreciated securities and gifts
of real estate. Some donors choose to
make their campaign commitment through
planned gifts such as bequests, life insurance policies, charitable remainder trusts
and gift annuities. No matter the method,
contributions that benefit students, faculty
and academic and research programs are
vital to ensuring our success.
The most enjoyable aspect of my job
is traveling throughout the country meet-
FALL 2009
digital media communications in the 21st
Century. I’ll tell you more about this in my
next column.
How, in the face of an economic crisis
and massive budget cuts, have we managed
to maintain so much momentum? There are
many reasons. Our College is built on a
strong heritage. We have outstanding faculty, staff and students. And there’s another
critical reason: you. The budget reductions’
negative impact would compound exponentially if not for contributions from our alumni
and friends. Our gift fund and endowments
provide vital resources that allow us to
uphold the highest educational and research
standards. Many of you also give of your
valuable time, working with faculty and
students. We greatly appreciate everything
you do.
One of the most rewarding aspects of
being dean over the past three years has
been meeting and interacting with many of
you. It’s astounding how so many of our
alumni are making significant differences in
the lives of those around them and in their
professions.
This academic year, I’ll travel throughout Florida and other places, including New
York, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C.,
and California. I hope to have the opportunity to say hello in person to many of you. If
you’re on Facebook or Twitter, please look
out for my travel updates and activities.
In this unpredictable world, we’re preparing our students to be nimble and efficient professionals and academicians who
are ready to tackle complex challenges on a
daily, sometimes hourly basis. It’s no wonder
so many of them will become industry leaders in coming decades.
At the same time, we’re giving our
faculty members the platform and room to
conduct groundbreaking research. Instead
of succumbing to current financial pressures, we’re using this trying period to grow
and develop as educators and researchers.
Imagine what we will do when the storm
clouds clear. ;
boknows?
Time to cope with
another kind of inflation
By Boaz Dvir, JM 1988, MAMC 2008
n the 1980s, I spent three years at UF.
This decade, I’ve been here six years.
Yet I feel that my undergrad years
lasted longer.
At first, I thought that time appeared
to be accelerating because I was getting
older. Then I noticed that my students were
complaining about semesters zipping by at
increased speed. We’d talk about the flight
of time and I’d say something like, “Soon
enough, it’ll be 2010,” and they’d nod vertically and horizontally (i.e., in agreement and
disbelief).
This was in 2004-5.
Well, guess what? It’s here. In fact, 2010
has gotten here so fast, we never got around
to naming the 21st century’s first decade.
It may be too late now.
Soon, it will be even later. 2020? By then,
with the benefit of hindsight, it will surely
become obvious: We’ve been suffering from
time inflation.
Just like dollars and cents, today’s years
and minutes are worth less than yesterday’s.
An old hour or week lasted longer. Therefore,
it had a higher value.
Just like dollars and
cents, today’s years
and minutes are worth
less than yesterday’s.
I don’t know what’s causing this time
inflation and why time is accelerating. It
could be because of our fast-changing technology or our achievement-orientated mindset or our obsession with the future. What I
do know is that we have a problem.
To deal with it, I suggest we start adjusting time for inflation, just like we do with
our currency.
When we adjust for time inflation, we
may realize that we’re not living that much
longer, after all. Danish and other medical
Boaz Dvir:Time moves slower in places
like Zacapa, Guatemala.
researchers believe that more than half of
newborns in the West will live to celebrate
their 100th birthdays. But their centuries may
only equate to 80 years or 75 years when
adjusted for time inflation.
To use a monetary analogy: In the old
days, $100,000 was a fortune. Today, it’s a
401k account that may or may not hold up
to inflation by the time you retire. In the
old days, reaching the age of 100 called for
national media coverage. Today, this combination of good living, good genes and good
luck merits a story in the local newspaper. In
the fast-approaching future, it’ll draw little
public attention.
While we’re adjusting time for inflation,
we should also create an international time
exchange. On a time-unit converter, a minute
in Zacapa, Guatemala, where I led a group
of students last year as part of Prof. John
Kaplan’s Fly-Ins course, would be worth
more than a New York or even a Gainesville
minute.
One week there would probably equal
about a month here. The days are longer
in Central America, most likely because
Guatemalans and Nicaraguans are more present, in time and space.
We, on the other hand, are all over the
place.
To further complicate matters, our relationship with time continuously changes.
Take newspaper reporters. They used to race
to meet daily deadlines. In recent years,
they’ve started to work with real-time deadlines, consistently posting stories and updates
on the Web. Now, they no longer even have
deadlines: They constantly report information through all sorts of media, including
Twitter and Facebook.
At this point, it seems like we’ve maxed
out their time and couldn’t possibly come up
with yet a fourth type of modus operandi. But
I wouldn’t bet a Guatemalan quetzal on it.
In light of all of this, should we create
some sort of a Federal Time Reserve to put
the brakes on time inflation? I leave that up to
Nobel Prize-seeking scientists, philosophers
and politicians to figure out.
My goal is to regain ’80s pace during my
10th year at UF.
Or at least ’90s.
Wish me luck. ;
communigator
Spring 2008
39
Non-profit
Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No.
4390
Jacksonville, FL
P.O. Box 118400
Gainesville, FL 32611-8400
Calling
All Gators!
You may have recently received
a call on behalf of the College of
Journalism and Communications.
Some other UF students and I
are calling alumni to ask for your
investment in helping your College
reach new heights! Please consider
making a gift toward continued
excellence for the College of
Journalism and Communications.
Thanks and Go Gators!
Steve Johnson
Journalism senior Rhana Gitten