college of journalism & mass communications · 4 mary kay quinlanlincoln native brings newsroom...

COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM & MASS COMMUNICATIONS

ALUMNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2004

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA–LINCOLN

C O N T E N T S VO1. 14 • NO. 1

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln does not discriminate based on gender, age, disability, race, color, religion, marital status, veteran’sstatus, national or ethnic origin or sexual orientation.

CoverThe Cuba documentary, “Cuba: Illogical Temple,” produced by broadcasting stu-dents Lindsey Kealy and David Pittock, was the first entry from the University ofNebraska to be selected as a finalist in the Student Academy Awards competition.40 Documentary places third in the national competitionCover photo courtesy AMPAS: Academy governor and Academy Award nomineeArthur Dong (left) presented the bronze medal in the documentary category toLindsey Kealy and David Pittock of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for their film"Cuba: Illogical Temple." Kealy and Pittock received the $2,000 third-place awardJune 13 in Los Angeles.

CoJMC3 From the dean Students, faculty receive training to be media profes-

sionalsNew faculty4 Mary Kay Quinlan Lincoln native brings newsroom experience to the

classroom6 Jerry Sass learns journalism enriches the soul7 Susan Gage Second generation journalist moves to the classroomMedia spotlight8 Journalism schools must teach ethics

10 Report: 17th annual teen survey finds America’s teens read newspapers13 Russian media: Democratic press is nonexistent14 Commencement address: ‘A time to weep’Alumni spotlight16 Farrar family Advertising is a family affair18 Kent Warneke wins Frank Partsch award19 Brandon Meier rockets to Houston20 Keith Carter FBI veteran remembers alma mater22 Shelley Smith and ESPN22 Print journalist embraces broadcast journalism23 Barbara Richardson is working on the railroadJ Days24 Seline Memorial Lecturer

Cheryl Butler recalls past, gives advice26 Robert Reeder manages advertising for Hallmark Card Inc.27 Richard Bates Cable television pioneer honored28 John Koopman California journalist gets close-up view of history29 Richard Chapin Business grad gives back to the broadcasting industry30 J Days week in photosJ News & Notes32 Faculty notes 33 Fifth graders are the youngest students at CoJMC34 Alumni notes36 Alum becomes a distinguished citizenCollege notes20 Donors make the difference38 Norris students finish yearbook at CoJMC39 Business writing program finds new home in CoJMCStudent notes40 Hearst contest8 Three CoJMC students earn trip to awards program finals

42 Student notes42 American Forensics Association competition8 Broadcasting major Juanita Page makes history in the contest

43 SPJ Region 7 Mark of Excellence competition8 Journalism students bring home a raft of awards

43 Thompson Scholarship winners8 News-ed students are the first recipients of the new award to study

abroad43 Nebraska ADDYs8 Evian Bottled Water campaign wins three golds

40 Student Oscars

13 Russian media

24 J Days celebration

33 J News & Notes

summer 2004 J Alumni News 33

F r o m t h e Dean

Students, faculty aremedia professionals

By W I L L N O R T O N J R .

Avisit toAndersen Hall

today is not likely tobe that much differentfrom a visit to the Jschool when it was inAvery, Nebraska,Burnett or Universityhall.

Visitors to our col-lege when school is insession always com-ment on the interac-tion between studentsand faculty. They aresurprised by the opendoors of faculty offices and the facul-ty who are working one-on-one withstudents in classroom, labs and facultyoffices.

Full-time faculty teach the vastmajority of our classes, and all ourlabs are taught by people who havehad or currently are in solid mediacareers.

We tell visitors that preparingquality graduates for media profes-sions is our primary goal. Instructionin writing, editing and graphics/visu-als is our emphasis.

We are a meat-and-potatoes col-lege. Our focus is on the basics. Eachprofessional course has a four- or five-hour lab and involves an incredibleamount of one-on-one instruction bytop professionals.

For decades this college has hadintense instruction in grammar,spelling and AP Style. Now we areimposing a college-wide test on gram-mar that is a prerequisite to anycourse above the 100-level. We call it

the “GrammarSlammer.”

The faculty mem-bers in this collegebelieve that the markof an educated per-son is the ability towrite well and tospeak well.Instruction in writingwas a part of thearea that the ancientGreeks called rheto-ric. Along withgrammar and logic,

it was part of the trivium, in the origi-nal liberal arts curriculum.

In this college, integration ofteaching, service and scholarship arevital. Because our focus is on prepar-ing students for media professions, themajority of our scholarly activities areprofession oriented. Teaching andservice are defined by our scholarship.

Thus, while our students arepreparing for media work, they alsoare becoming educated persons,accomplished in writing, editing andvisuals and prepared to assume rolesas productive citizens in our society.

The view of this faculty, this col-lege and the university administrationis that scholarship is too narrowlydefined if it is considered to be onlyempirical research for juried journals.

We follow the CarnegieFoundation’s broadly defined view ofscholarship. Our promotion andtenure document reflects this perspec-tive, and our faculty have respondedto it.

Faculty members wrote at least

ALUMNI MAGAZINE SUMMER2004

J Alumni News is a biannual publication of the College of

Journalism and Mass Communicationsat NU, in cooperation with the College

of Journalism Alumni Association.

DeanWill Norton Jr.

EditorCharlyne Berens

Art directorMarilyn Hahn

PhotographerJosh Fiedler

Journalism Alumni AssociationBoard of Directors

PresidentBrian Noonan, Lincoln

Second vice presidentMarilyn Hahn, Lincoln

Secretary/treasurerJane Gustafson, Lincoln

National board representativeThom Kastrup, Lincoln

Board membersRhonda Gerard

Barry KrihaDonna KushKristi Routh

Dara TroutmanKevin Warneke

Ashley Washburn

Past presidentPeggy Rupprecht

Student representativePatricia Vannoy

College representativeRick Alloway

Foundation representativeAmber Antholtz

Letters to the editor should be sent to:J Alumni News

College of Journalism and Mass Communications

147 Andersen HallP.O. Box 880443

Lincoln, Neb., 68588-0443Phone

402-472-3041 FAX

402-472-8597E-mail

[email protected]

College Web site:http://journalism.unl.edu/

Daily Nebraskan Web site:http://www.unl.edu/DailyNeb/

F r o m t h e Dean

44 J Alumni News summer 2004

nine books during the six years betweenaccreditation visits. One faculty personconsistently does law journal articles, andother faculty regularly present conventionpapers. Four faculty are completing manu-scripts for book publishers, and two othersare dealing with publishers about bookmanuscripts.

As one of our faculty commentedrecently, “This college has never been soactively involved in scholarship as it isnow.”

Our scholarship is improving each year.We are celebrating scholarship because webelieve the classroom is not a vibrant andeffective environment if faculty are not apart of the big conversation in the areas inwhich they teach.

We believe that scholarship cannot bedisengaged from professional issues if aprogram is preparing students for work inthe media. Indeed, those schools whosefocus is not on preparing graduates forcareers might as well be in the social sci-ences or humanities.

The School of Journalism at theUniversity of Nebraska changed directorsin 1956 when the incumbent tried to makethe school primarily a theoretical and tradi-tional mass communications research pro-gram. He had forgotten that, in addition tobeing a member of the AmericanAssociation of Universities, this is a landgrant institution.

Members of professional organizationsin Nebraska wanted a program that wouldproduce the best media professionals. Thus,William Hall was hired from TexasChristian University. He immediately hireda young city editor from the LincolnJournal named R. Neale Copple. Hall andCopple recruited top media professionals,and they set the tone for the current faculty.

We believe in professional education,and our faculty are effectively producinggraduates of whom the taxpayers ofNebraska can be proud.

Furthermore, members of professionalassociations throughout the nation knowfrom which schools good, young profes-sionals graduate.

And they know one of those schools isNebraska. ❑

By ADRIAN SANCHEZJ Alumni News staff

Mary Kay Quinlan’sjournalism career took

her from Lincoln toWashington, D.C. But successdid not go to her head, and theLincoln native returned.

Quinlan taught beginningand advanced reporting as anadjunct professor at the Collegeof Journalism and MassCommunications for five yearsbefore being hired as a perma-nent part-time lecturer in fall2003.

Quinlan’s journalism careerbegan as managing editor of theLincoln Southeast high schoolnewspaper, The Clarion.

Don Ferguson, the principalof Geduldig and Ferguson Inc.,a New York-based public rela-tions firm, and Quinlan’s highschool journalism teacher,quickly recognized Quinlan’swriting talent.

“She was a superb writerand really understood the use ofthe English language,” Fergusonsaid. Ferguson said he expectedQuinlan to continue to be suc-cessful in everything she did.

Quinlan helped put togetherinformation for one of the firsteditions of the high school jour-nalism textbook, JournalismToday! But that would not bethe last textbook she wouldhelp produce.

After high school, Quinlanknew exactly where she wantedto go and what she wanted todo.

She knew the University ofNebraska was one of the bestjournalism schools in the coun-try, she said.

Quinlan received her bache-lor’s degree from UNL in 1972and was encouraged by heradviser to go straight to gradu-ate school. With this adviceQuinlan spent the followingyear earning a master’s degreein journalism at the Universityof Maryland.

From Maryland, Quinlanwas hired to cover a suburbanschool district for the RochesterDemocrat and Chronicle.

A year later, at the age of 24,Quinlan received the opportuni-ty of a lifetime.

Quinlan said when TheOmaha World-Herald offeredher a position as a Washingtoncorrespondent, “I all but threwdown the phone and said, ‘I’llbe there tomorrow!’”

“There were, and are, manypeople who spend 20 yearsworking themselves into aWashington bureau position,”she said, “I knew I was lucky.”

During the early and mid-1970s, women reporters werefew and far between, Quinlansaid.

“A lot of times I’d be theonly woman in a room. Not justthe only woman reporter butthe only woman period,” shesaid.

“What struck me as much asthe fact that I was the onlywoman was really the fact that Iwas also the youngest person inthe room.”

Quinlan said members ofCongress were more skeptical ofher age than her gender. But herbureau chief, Darwin “Ole”Olofson, helped Quinlan estab-lish credibility. He treated her asa professional and expectedother people to treat her thesame way, she said.

Lincoln native brings newsexperience to classroom

“[‘Ole’] was committed to mybeing successful,” Quinlan said.

Some reporters may consider aposition in Washington the pinnacleof their career. But Quinlan contin-ued to pursue new opportunities.

After a decade of working forThe Omaha World-Herald, Quinlanbecame a regional reporter for sever-al small Gannett papers throughoutthe Midwest, including Nebraska, aspart of the Gannett News ServiceWashington Bureau.

In 1986, she became the firstwoman president of the NationalPress Club.

In the early 1980s, Quinlanreturned to the University ofMaryland to earn her doctorate inAmerican studies.

In the process, Quinlan took anoral history class, which introducedher to what became an ongoing inter-est.

Quinlan’s instructor, MarthaRoss, who was also president of theOral History Association, requiredQuinlan and the rest of her studentsto join OHA, an organization forpeople interested in gathering andpreserving historical informationabout events and ways of life throughspoken words.

Quinlan said she was intrigued bythe differences and similarities ofmethods used by oral historians andreporters.

In 1994, after she and her familyhad moved back to Lincoln, Quinlanbecame editor of the OHA newslet-ter and later conducted oral historyworkshops with Barbara Sommer.

Quinlan met Sommer, an adjunctprofessor at the UNL history depart-ment, through mutual friends, andthey developed a relationship basedon their shared interest in oral histo-ry.

Quinlan said she and Sommerwrote The Oral History Manual,which has been adopted as a text-book for oral history classes aroundthe country.

Sommer said working withQuinlan was a pleasant experience.

“She’s highly professional, highly

ethical” and is a gifted teacher,Sommer said.

During the spring semester,Quinlan team-taught an oral historyclass at UNL with Sommer. It wasthe first time an oral history classhad been offered at any level in thestate, Quinlan said.

Quinlan also works as a part-time lecturer at the journalism col-lege. She is an instructor for a begin-ning news writing class and team

teaches the advanced reporting class.“She has a clear idea of what

good journalism is. She’s been able tocommunicate that particularly toyoung journalists,” said DeannaSands, Omaha World-Herald manag-ing editor, former college classmateand long-time friend.

“She’s been able to tie all of thatexperience together and bring it intothe classroom,” Sands said.

❑


n e w faculty

Photo by Luis Peon-Casanova

MARY KAY QUINLAN

Quinlan has “been able to tie all of that experiencetogether and bring it into the classroom.”

— Deanna SandsOmaha World-Herald managing editor


By JESSICA STUTZMANJ Alumni News staff

“The white rabbit put on hisspectacles. ‘Where should

I begin, please, your majesty?’ heasked.

“‘Begin at the beginning,’ theking said, very gravely, ‘and go on tillyou come to the end; then stop.’”

The quote from “Alice Throughthe Looking Glass” hangs in JerrySass’s office amid finger paintingsand family pictures.

“I like the simplicity of telling astory that way,” Sass explained. “Youhave to have your heroes.”

Jerry Sass is one of the new facesin the journalism college. SinceJanuary, he has been teaching editing,coming to UNL from The Oregonianwhere he worked for the previousnine years as the copy desk chief.

Sass began his undergraduatestudies at the University of Rochester,double-majoring in theater andEnglish.

“I liked to write and read, andthat was the only major I could thinkto pursue,” said Sass.

It was through his father that Sassbegan an unpaid internship at theIdaho Statesman after having weath-ered just one journalism class. Oneweek and one story later, the paperdecided to pay Sass and publish hisarticle on the front page.

“It was a dull holiday weekend,”Sass recalled, laughing.

After that, Sass spent the summerreporting and loved it. He transferredto the University of Oregon as a sen-ior and graduated with a degree inEnglish. He then attended theUniversity of Kansas and earned amaster’s degree in journalism.

Sass returned to the IdahoStatesman as a reporter. He says itwasn’t until four or five years later

that he thought about editing as apossibility for himself.

“I thought, ‘The editors whowork here are not too bright, and Icould not possibly be any worse,’”said Sass.

Shortly thereafter, Sass was theacting sports editor on the paper. Itwas then that he began to fullyappreciate the quality and value ofhis education.

“I found that I was really good atmaking decisions about things Ithought I knew very little about. Itwas all because of my education,” hesaid.

That was when Jerry Sass realizedthat he wanted to teach someday.Turns out, someday arrived some 10years earlier than Sass planned.

Almost a year ago, Sass wasworking as the copy desk chief forThe Oregonian. As chief he was incharge of 53 editors in multiple sec-tions of The Oregonian. He was alsoresponsible for recruiting and train-ing and for all editing standards.

When editing teacher DarylFrazell was about to retire fromUNL, Dean Will Norton e-mailedSass, asking him to apply for theposition. Norton kept after him untilSass agreed to consider the position.

“I had never seen Sass until hewalked into our building for hisinterview,” Norton said. “Whileinterviewing him we began to realizewhat great insight he has. He speaksalmost philosophically.”

Sass didn’t just jump at thechance to teach, though.

“Right up until I said yes to thejob, I was in the mindset that itwouldn’t do any harm to look at itand that I could walk away at any-time without feeling badly,” Sasssaid. “But everything just kept turn-ing up right.”

Sass and his wife, Susan Gage,who also joined the UNL faculty as a

lecturer in the news-editorial depart-ment, moved from Oregon to Lincolnin December with their 3-year-oldson.

“It was kind of crazy to leave(Oregon), but so far, so good,” saidSass.

So far, he said he is adjusting tothe new environment fairly well andis enjoying his new position.

“The thing I thought would bethe best, is,” he said, “and that is thestudents. The students are just amaz-ing.

“We’ll get sidetracked in classtalking about issues here and in theworld. It’s so important to do that.Otherwise we would just be graduat-ing automatons.

“You need to have context toenrich your life. This career (journal-ism) is one in which you can do that.You can do something that enrichesyour soul.” ❑

n e w faculty

Sass finds journalismnourishes the soul

Photo by Josh Fiedler

Jerry Sass, Susan Gage and their son,Sam, enjoy life at the park.

By ADRIAN SANCHEZJ Alumni News staff

As a former city editor of theIowa City Press-Citizen and

copy editor at The Oregonian, SusanGage is not accustomed to preparingexams for reporters, but she is gettingthe hang of it.

Her transition from editor toteacher seemed to be a natural one.Gage, who began as a lecturer at theCollege of Journalism and MassCommunications in January, previouslyassisted reporters in developing theirskills in the newsroom and is nowdoing the same in the classroom,although through a different method.

“It’s a different dynamic than sortof the editor-reporter teaching role in anewsroom, where it’s more one-on-one,” Gage said.

In The Oregonian newsroom, Gagehelped improve the paper’s crime andsports coverage.

During her six years as crime teamleader, she helped focus the newspaper’sresources on more in-depth reporting,rather than simply reporting on crimes,allowing readers to understand howcrimes affect them, she said.

Later, as deputy sports editor, Gagebrought an increased news sensibility tothe department, emphasizing enterpriseand investigative stories, she said.

Everything Gage touched turned outbetter, said Peter Bhatia, executive edi-tor of The Oregonian.

“She is an excellent teacher whomade the people who worked for herbetter reporters,” he said.

As a second generation journalist,Gage’s “touch” may result from beingraised in a newspaper family.

Her father, Ralph Gage, the currentchief operating officer of the LawrenceJournal-World, worked in newsroomsall her life, she said.

Susanne Shaw, a journalism profes-sor and adviser at the University ofKansas, where Gage earned her bache-lor’s degree, also assisted Gage in pur-suing her goals. “Being around herpiqued my interest in the field,” Gagesaid.

Shaw said Gage was committed tojournalism. “She had a passion fornews,” Shaw said.

Bhatia was also very influential inher career, Gage said, “by making surethat I had challenges in front of me atall times.”

By shifting from newsroom one-on-one discussions with experiencedreporters to teaching beginningreporters in classrooms, Gage can affectlarger numbers of reporters earlier intheir careers, said her husband, JerrySass, an associate professor at theCollege of Journalism and MassCommunications.

As she assists with NewsNet-Nebraska, the college’s online publica-tion, and teaches a basic reporting andnews writing class, Gage challenges herstudents.

She sets the same standard for herstudent reporters as she did for profes-sional reporters, with the understand-ing that they haven’t had a lot of writ-ing experience, Sass said.

Along with helping students, Gagesaw teaching as an opportunity to takea step back from the newsroom settingand figure out what she wanted to donext, she said.

“I might fall in love with teachingand decide that is what I really want todo,” Gage said.

She still has things to accomplishand may get drawn back to the news-room, she said.

But for the time being, “I like theflexibility of an academic schedulebecause I get to spend more time withmy son (Sam) and my husband.”

Shaw said Nebraska is fortunate tohave Gage working with young people.“She can be a very positive role model,”Shaw said. ❑


Second generation journalist goesfrom newsroom to classroom


Jerry Ceppos chief newsexecutive of Knight Ridder,retired in April as head of theAccrediting Council onEducation in Journalism andMass Communications, a posi-tion he had filled for six years.He delivered these partingremarks to the council mem-bers at their meeting on theHarvard University campusApril 30.

Almost a year ago to the day, Itold the council, meeting in San

Jose, that I was troubled by the ethicscases that kept coming up. In fact, Isaid, only that week there was a rumorof something happening at The NewYork Times. A day later, The Timesran the famous four pages of reportingthat sprang from its investigation ofJayson Blair.

Since then, one year ago, the fol-lowing newspapers have been taintedby plagiarism. Before I read theirnames — and several college papersare among them — remember that thislist undoubtedly is incomplete becauseit came from a quick Internet searchand because these are only the caseswhere editors told readers about pla-giarism and because these are all pla-giarism cases, not other ethical viola-tions. With those warnings, here’s thelist — since Jayson Blair:

One: USA Today, obviously.Two: The Milwaukee Journal-

Sentinel.Three: The Hartford Courant.Four: The Bozeman Chronicle.Five: The Boulder Daily Camera.Six: The New York Times, where a

reporter lifted one paragraph.Seven: The Chicago Tribune.Eight: The Sedalia Democrat in

Missouri.Nine: The Macon Telegraph.Ten: The Daily Kansan, at the

University of Kansas.

Eleven: The Tiger,at Clemson University.

Twelve: TheCavalier Daily, at theUniversity of Virginia.

Thirteen: TheOklahoma Daily, at theUniversity ofOklahoma.

Why is this list anyless shameful than thatother list with whichyou’re familiar: Tyco,Worldcom, Enron,

Arthur Andersen, ComputerAssociates?

If any outsider poked his or herhead in this room, the first questionobviously would be, “What are youdoing about this epidemic of ethicalproblems in journalism?”

In fact, I’ll bet that our list will betwice as long a year from now. My guttells me that every newsroom employsplagiarists, or at least staff memberswho don’t understand what plagiarismis. Incidentally, an Ohio State professorwho wrote a piece for the ColumbusDispatch said that he hadn’t actuallyplagiarized because you can copy up to150 words without penalty. My guess isthat our newsrooms, and probably thiscouncil, are full of people with varyinginterpretations of what plagiarism is.Shouldn’t we at least engage the dis-cussion in every school of journalism?

I’m also certain that our news-rooms are full of people who don’tbegin to understand readers’ expecta-tions on fairness and accuracy, whichare at least as important to the ethicalconversation as plagiarism. More onthose subjects in a minute.

In a way, the public already is pok-ing its head in but hasn’t realized thatours is one of the groups that shouldbe interrogated. In the WashingtonPost, Howard Kurtz quoted a reportreleased in March by the Project forExcellence in Journalism.

The report said: “Americans think

journalists are sloppier, less profession-al, less caring, more biased, less honestabout their mistakes and generallymore harmful to democracy than theydid in the 1980s.”

Kurtz then noted that 67 percent ofthose asked believe news organizationstry to cover up their mistakes. Thenumber was 13 percent in the ’80s.

Is there any question that theAccrediting Council should own apiece of this huge issue?

We did strengthen our languageslightly when we rewrote the stan-dards, and I fully agreed to the lan-guage we adopted. But neither beforenor after the rewrite have I heard thecouncil discuss ethics and fairnessinstruction for more than a moment, ifthat. I now realize that the change was-n’t significant enough.

No, I don’t want to be prescriptive.But our failings in ethics and fairnessare as serious as our earlier failings ondiversity, and we found a way to beginto address that problem. That solutionwasn’t perfect, but our profession is ina much stronger situation than if wehad ignored diversity because of a fearof being prescriptive, because wecouldn’t get our arms around the issue.

Another obstacle is that ethical andmoral demands and histories are per-haps slightly different for journalism,advertising and public relations, all ofwhich this council covers. But my guessis that ethical worries are great for allthree groups. We can overcome thisobstacle, too.

Kim Walsh-Childers of theUniversity of Florida began to put herfinger on the problem when she sharedthis candid thought with KellyMcBride of the Poynter Institute:

“One thing I’ve been wondering,not surprisingly, is how journalismeducators are contributing to thisproblem and, more to the point, whatif anything we can do to help. I haven’tspent much time in my ethics classestalking about plagiarizing and fabrica-

m e d i a spotlight

J schools must emphasize, teachfairness, credibility, public trust

tion because those issues just seemedlike no-brainers. We try to talk abouthow to make decisions about whencontroversial techniques such as decep-tion or using confidential sourcesmight be acceptable; given that plagia-rizing and fabrication are never accept-able, there didn’t seem to be much todiscuss on those issues. But maybethose are just the symptoms and there’san underlying disease that does need tobe discussed: That’s what I’m inclinedto think, although I can’t put my fingeron what I think the disease is called.”

In my book, the disease is calledconfusion about what’s ethical, lack ofknowledge of the consequences ofunethical behavior, misunderstandingof journalism’s constitutional role anda different definition of fairness fromthat of the public.

I’m not trying to put all the burdenon our schools. Clearly our professionshaven’t done a good job of reinforcingwhatever ethics instruction takes placebefore graduation.

But school is the place to begin. AsPam Luecke, a member of theAccrediting Committee and a professorat Washington and Lee Universitywrote on the Poynter site: “College stu-dents are at a highly impressionableage and their professors are, occasion-ally, among those who can make animpression. While students mightarrive on campus with wildly differentviews of the world and morality, eachstill has the capacity to learn and togrow. We’ve all seen it happen; formany of us, that’s why we teach.”

Pam went on to suggest helpingstudents “grapple with increasinglymurky concepts such as authorship,sourcing and intellectual property.”

I’d go further, or maybe I’d go afew steps back, before dealing withthose sophisticated concepts. I’dinclude in ethics instruction what I callreal-time ethics, or the study of fair-ness and accuracy.

Why not ask students to analyzethe corrections published in the studentnewspaper or the local newspaper sothey can understand how mistakeshappen?

Why not drum into students thatwe should publish more corrections,not fewer?

Why not ask students to debatewhether it’s appropriate to read a com-plex story to sources before publica-tion?

Why not ask students to studywhen to name suspects, victims, juve-niles-even when to publish unsubstanti-ated accusations in civil lawsuits?

Why not ask students to listen to apanel of newsmakers talking aboutwhat it’s like to, as the saying goes,have journalism done to you?

Why not ask student reporters andeditors to ’fess up to their mostembarrassing errors — and what theylearned from them?

Why not ask students to write adeep story on a campus issue, theninvite the sources in to say whether thestory is framed correctly, whether allsides are represented, whether namesand dates are correct, whether thecomplexities are appropriately gray ortoo distinctly black and white?

Why not ask students to critiquethe student newspaper or the localnewspaper for fairness?

Why not ask students to developunorthodox ways in which newspaperscan explain themselves to readers?

And why not ballyhoo on journal-ism-school home pages and course cat-alogues the importance of, and ourpride in, ethics instruction? That couldbe one way of raising the profile of asubject that sometimes seems to take a

back seat to convergence and newslet-ter publishing.

Yes, I know that there is lots of fineethics instruction in schools of journal-ism and mass communications. But tothe member of the public who pokedhis head in here, that’s a little likeMajor League Baseball saying thatrules are in place preventing the use ofsteroids.

No, I don’t have a solution, and I’mdelighted that it’s no longer my job tograpple with one. But I do believe thatwe could develop a set of outcomesthat we hope for from ethics and fair-ness instruction, a procedure thatwouldn’t be prescriptive. Perhaps weeven should publish a guide to meetingnew standards on ethics education, aswe did on diversity last year; it was fullof ideas, not requirements.

Six years ago, as he was leaving thecouncil presidency, Bob Giles said thatthe public wants “to know if studentsare learning about fairness, about cred-ibility, about trust as fundamental val-ues in journalism.”

Also six years ago, The AmericanEditor, the publication of theAmerican Society of NewspaperEditors, ran a stark black cover withthe word “Mortification” in big redletters, about the scandals of 1998.

We have it within our power tomake sure that we’re not debating thissame subject six years from now. ❑

ABOUTJERRY CEPPOS

Career: chief newsexecutive of KnightRidder, which pub-lishes 31 daily news-papers, including theSan Jose MercuryNews, PhiladelphiaInquirer, DetroitFree Press andMiami Herald. Hespent 27 years atthe Mercury Newsand the Herald andwas executive editorof the Mercury

News for four yearsbefore taking hiscurrent job.

Service: past presidentof the AssociatedPress ManagingEditors; served twoterms as presidentof the CaliforniaSociety ofNewspaper Editors;immediate pastpresident,Accrediting Councilon Education inJournalism and MassCommunications

Awards: Gerald M.Sass Award forDistinguishedService to Journalismand MassCommunications,2002; Ethics inJournalism Award,presented by Societyof ProfessionalJournalists, 1997;Torch of LibertyAward, presented bythe Anti-DefamationLeague, 1997

Education: 1969 grad-uate, University ofMaryland ❑

m e d i a spotlight



By NICHOLAS LEMANNDean, Columbia UniversityGraduate School of Journalism

Originally published in USAWEEKEND Magazine, this report is reprinted with permission.

News flash: America’s teensread newspapers!

Our exclusive USA WEEKENDsurvey of 65,000 students deliverssome good news on newspapers: Notonly do kids read them, but they findthem relevant and reliable. Now, ifthey’d just turn off the TV …

A world where the average highschool student eagerly devoured thedaily newspaper would be a betterworld than the one we inhabit now.

One of the many revelations thatcome with being a parent ofteenagers is that it’s possible for aperson to be really smart and percep-tive without knowing, say, who holdsthe office of Secretary of State.

Now, a USA WEEKEND surveyof more than 65,000 Americanteenagers delivers some interestingnews: Newspapers have established asubstantial beachhead in today’s teenculture.

According to the magazine’slarge, if unscientific, survey, a majori-ty of teenagers have a newspaperdelivered to their homes and at leastsee it. The best way to characterizetheir attitude — and this is exactlythe result one would obtain from anunscientific survey of my own home— is that they believe in newspapersin theory and expect really to readthem one day, but in practice they dipin and out of the more accessible sec-tions. That’s promising.

Newspapers belong to a large cat-egory in teenagers’ lives, which mightalso include true love, voluntary par-

ticipation in organized religion, con-sumption of most forms of non-pop-ular culture, enthusiastic travel todestinations other than theme parks,civic activity and careful life plan-ning: things to be resisted in theshort run but not so much as to takethem out of range for the long run.

On some unadmitted level,teenagers like it when their parentsarrange matters so that such itemsare in their line of sight — becausethen they can resist. Teenagers have asubliminal understanding that thesebuilding blocks of adulthood andgood citizenship will benefit themlater, and that allows them to make ahealthy show of ignoring them now.

Still, newspapers do manage toengage teenagers, the survey resultsshow. Journalists like to speak ofnewspapers in a soaring rhetoric ofpublic service. When we do that,we’re not being insincere — journal-ism is a profession mainly populatedby people who entered it for idealisticreasons. But the truth is that newspa-pers are more complicated institu-tions than we sometimes like to leton.

One of a newspaper’s functions isto entertain, and the USA WEEK-END survey indicates — and I canconfirm from personal experience —that teens’ most-read part of thenewspaper is the comics. Newspapersalso report extensively on entertain-ment, including movies and sports,and those are both high on the list ofteenagers’ favorite parts of the news-paper. At the other end of the spec-trum, portions of newspapers aredevoted to pure, unmediated facts,like the stock tables.

Newspapers are community bul-letin boards, advertising vehicles,social crusaders, fortunetellers, polit-ical actors and pillars of their com-munities, among other things.

Newspapers physically embodythese complexities. They are big andbulky, and the ink comes off on yourfingers. Visually they are an unlikelymix of columns of type, dramaticpictures of the great events of theworld, swirling weather maps, puz-zles, luscious photographs of models(usually, but not always, in the adver-tisements), charts, cartoons andtables of numbers.

The Internet, as a medium, is infi-nitely capacious, but it presents youwith one fairly specific screenful at atime. Television permits you toswitch around endlessly, but at everyviewing moment you’re stuck in theposition of a passive recipient of apresentation.

Newspapers express the variety ofthe communities they serve: Theyhave neighborhoods, and many var-ied points of access, and a reader hastotal control over the interaction,including the ability to skip, skim,select, read backward, tear out andreuse.

That wondrous variety in readers’interactions with the newspaper givesrise to qualified optimism about therelationship between newspapers andAmerica’s teens. For most people, thedoorway into newspapers is not theeditorial page or the long, ambitiousinvestigative series — the parts jour-nalists are proudest of. It’s the glanceat the front page, the classified ad fora used car or the contest. As long asthere is a relationship, that’s a prom-ising start. To get into the habit ofchecking the headlines and theweather forecast and the movie list-ings is to start a lifelong relationshipthat deepens as it progresses.

Teenagers, to judge by the survey,are not entirely different from adultsin their approach to newspapers.They read instrumentally, looking formaterial that is personally useful to

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Building blocks of good citizenshipAmerican teen survey reports newspaper readership is a promising start

them: sections explicitly aboutteenagers or high schools, movie list-ings, fashion stories, horoscopes.

As they get older, their attentionmight shift to the help-wanted adsand the community news. But one canspend a lifetime interacting prettyhappily with newspapers without everregarding them as a source of muchmore than what is personally relevant.

Many people read newspapersthat way for as long as they readnewspapers. And many people read newspapers just to see the captivatingdrama of life unfold. Well-known fig-ures win and lose sporting events.Ordinary people have extraordinarythings happen to them: adventures,misfortunes and triumphs. Teenagers,of course, have their own dramas tofollow, involving young celebrities orathletes, and newspapers provide it:Entertainment (for girls) and sportsnews (for boys) are high on the list ofwhat they read in the paper. Andwhen something truly epochal hap-pens, a Sept. 11 or a war in Iraq, theyoften will fill in the news flash fromtelevision by reading the more com-plete account in the newspaper.

It is a social miracle that out ofnewspapers’ often messy and unlovelyprocess of engaging with the public

comes the nobility of a free society. Itis a similar social miracle that out ofthe rough clay of teenage culturecomes — well, it’s too much to claimnobility for adult culture, but it is atleast stable and generally aimed at thehigher good. In journalism, newspa-pers look the most like a free society,because they can do more things atonce than other forms. The variedand detailed mass produces some-thing great.

In that way, the paper is a fairminiature version of society enteringthe homes of most American teen-agers every day. The way in which thenewspaper gradually draws them inover the years resembles the way thelife of the nation does, too. ❏

Last fall, more than 65,000 students in grades 6-12 took USAWEEKEND’s 17th annual teen surveyin the magazine, at our Web site orthrough our survey partner Youth-NOISE.com. Highlights from theunscientific survey are reported here.For complete results, go to usaweek-end.com.

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Teens & Newspaperssurvey results

This year, more than 65,000teenagers took our survey on Teens &Newspapers, in the magazine or atusaweekend.com. Here’s what theytold us:

Where do you get most of your news?

TV 48%Newspaper 18%Word of mouth 14%Online 19%Radio 17%Magazines 14%

How relevant is the newspaper toyour life?

Very relevant 18%Somewhat relevant 53%Not very relevant 23%Not relevant at all 16%

How important do you think newspa-pers are for an informed citizenry anddemocracy?

Very important 57%Somewhat important 38%Not very important 14%Not important at all 11%

Do you think newspapers willbecome obsolete because of othermedia (e.g., TV, Internet)?

Yes 24%No 50%Don’t know 26%

How often do you read your localnewspaper online?

Daily 17%A few times a week 20%Once a week 20%Never 53%

Do you think you’ll read the news-paper when you are an adult?

Yes 79%No 14%Don’t know 17%

Is a newspaper delivered to yourhome?

Yes 70%No 30%

How many days a week do youread the newspaper?

Never 15%A few days (1 to 3 days) 47%Most days (4 to 6 days) 22%Every day 16%

What part of the newspaper doyou usually read first? (top 3)

Front page 36%Comics 19%Sports 15%

SURVEY | go to page 12

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Percentage of teens who read the following parts of a newspaper:

Comics 69%Front page 67%Movie reviews/listings 61%Sports 51%Entertainment/Style 50%Local/state news 46%Teen section 43%Games and puzzles 43%Horoscope 38%TV reviews/listings 34%National news 33%International news 33%Advertising 28%Automotive/cars 26%Classified advertising 23%Computers/technology 19%Business/stocks 10%

Asked of those who read a newspa-per at least once a week: When youread the newspaper, how many min-utes a day, on average, do you spendreading it?

Less than 10 minutes 13%10 to 19 minutes 37%20 to 29 minutes 18%A half-hour to an hour 30%More than an hour 12%

Percentage of teens who would liketo see more of the following in theirlocal paper:

News by and for teens 52%Entertainment/celebrities 30%Weekend activities 29%Fashion 28%Editorials/opinion 27%Volunteer activities 26%Sports 24%Local news 21%Career 17%International news 16%Environmental news 14%National news 13%Travel 12%Advertising 16% I like it the way it is 12%

—————

For each of the following descrip-tions, which medium do you think itapplies to most?

Most accurate:Newspapers 52%Magazines 14%Radio 14%Internet 10%TV 30%

Most fair:Newspapers 44%Magazines 19%Radio 14%Internet 11%TV 22%

Most entertaining:Newspapers 14%Magazines 22%Radio 11%Internet 10%TV 53%

Easiest to use:Newspapers 14%Magazines 15%Radio 11%Internet 24%TV 46%

Most informative:Newspapers 50%Magazines 15%Radio 14%Internet 18%TV 23%

————-

Where are you most likely to turn formore information in each of the fol-lowing situations?

A concert you want to attend:Newspaper 22%TV 16%Internet 52%Radio 20%None 10%

The finale of your favorite TV show:Newspaper 13%TV 72%Internet 11%Radio 11%None 13%

An issue affecting your school:Newspaper 55%TV 18%Internet 13%Radio 13%None 21%

The presidential campaign:Newspaper 31%TV 49%Internet 18%Radio 13%None 19%

—————

About the students who took the survey

SexMale 39%Female 61%

RaceWhite 75%Black 19%Hispanic 16%Multiracial 14%Asian 13%Other 13%

SURVEY | from page 11


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By BRIAN G. CARLSON

Brian Carlson graduated from the J school in 2000. He was a governmentreporter at the Lincoln Journal Star andthen spent the 2003-04 academic yearstudying in Russia on a Rotary scholarship.

For a textbook example of howdemocracy doesn’t work without an

aggressive, independent media, spend sometime in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

I just returned from one year inMoscow, where I was a Rotary FoundationAmbassadorial Scholar. I studied at theMoscow State Institute for InternationalRelations, the premier training institutionfor Russia’s diplomats.

It was a perfect time to be in Russia. Iworked as an election observer for thecountry’s parliamentary elections inDecember and the presidential election inMarch. Putin’s allies won an overwhelmingmajority in the parliament, and Putin wasre-elected with more than 70 percent of thevote.

The other observers and I heard tales ofvote manipulation and heavy-handed tac-tics by the Kremlin to ensure favorableresults. We saw several violations of elec-tion law that lent credence to those allega-tions.

But the results were probably more orless accurate, and Russia’s transition todemocracy faces obstacles that arise wellbefore voters go to the polls. One of themain problems is bias and lack of inde-pendence in the media.

For most of my stay in Russia, I livedwith a host family: an 83-year-old woman,Zoya, and her son and daughter-in-law.Like many Russians, Zoya watches hours oftelevision each night, and I often joined her.

We regularly watched the 9 o’clocknews program “Vremya,” (Time) on theChannel 1 network. The show lasted halfan hour, and the hero was Vladimir Putin.

Putin was invariably portrayed as awise, courageous ruler shrewdly advancingRussia’s interests on the world stage. Heusually appeared in three or four segments,lasting up to five minutes each. Instead ofshort sound bites, the former KGB agentspoke for several minutes at a time, unin-terrupted, with hardly any rebuttal fromopponents. Many observers say Russian TV

news has come to resemble oldSoviet news programs.

The problem is that all ofRussia’s major news networksare owned by the state. NTVused to be an independent sta-tion, but its ownership andbest journalists have beenpushed out.

Newspapers are generallybetter but are sometimesbeholden to their owners’political views. Print journal-ists daring to cross powerfulbusinessmen or governmentofficials have been beaten orkilled. Some journalists havetaken bribes in return forfavorable coverage (or no coverage) of cer-tain people or companies.

The recent headlines have been full ofsetbacks for the media in Russia:

—Leonid Parfyonov was fired as hostof NTV’s popular program “Namedni.”He had criticized the network’s refusal toair an interview with a Chechen womanwhose husband had been killed by Russianagents.

—The same network fired SavikShuster, host of the “Svoboda Slova”(Freedom of Speech) program, for airing acritical look at recent Duma legislation.

—Paul Klebnikov, editor of the Russianedition of Forbes, was shot and killed whileleaving work. His magazine had recentlypublished a list of Russia’s 100 richest men,angering many of those named who hadtried to keep their ill-gotten wealth secret.

It is probably not surprising thatRussia’s transition to democracy and free-market capitalism has been bumpy. Thecountry has endured centuries of authori-tarian rule and has no democratic tradi-tions upon which to draw.

Yet there is reason to worry if the con-siderable progress Russia has made sincethe collapse of communism has hit a wall— or if the country has perhaps begun toregress.

The Kremlin has launched a legalassault on Yukos, the country’s second-largest oil company, and its former chair-man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Manyobservers see the prosecution as politicallymotivated, perhaps in response toKhodorkovsky’s political ambitions or hisdesire to sell Yukos to a Western oil compa-

ny.Such measures are popular with the

Russian public, especially the many peoplewho suffered during the 1990s while a smallgroup of “oligarchs” like Khodorkovskybecame fabulously rich using less than ethi-cal means. Under Putin, the country hasachieved greater stability and economicgrowth.

Putin appears willing to support con-tinued economic liberalization, but he isnot as supportive of political freedoms suchas freedom of the press and freedom ofspeech. Concentrations of executive powerare always dangerous. State-owned TV hasno doubt helped Putin consolidate thatpower.

I observed the presidential election inKaliningrad, a Russian enclave on the BalticSea. Afterwards, I was interviewed by stateradio.

The reporter asked for my generalimpressions of the election and Russiandemocracy. Citing a recent critical columnin the Russian press by Colin Powell, I men-tioned media bias, the lack of effectivechecks on executive power and the lack ofgenuine political competition. I said thatjust because Russia has elections, that doesnot mean the country has become a liberaldemocracy.

The reporter just laughed, as if to say,“I don’t think that will go on the air.”

No one can predict how long it willtake for Russia to establish a more open,democratic society. But to this Americanobserver, it is clear that building free, inde-pendent media is a necessary step to gettingthere. ❑

Liberalization policiesnot extended to press

Brian Carlson poses for a picture along the MoscowRiver.

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Ted Sorensen, Lincoln native andretired public servant, delivered thisaddress at the New School Universitycommencement in New York City inMay. Sorensen was the 2003 J Daysspeaker and recipient of theJournalism Alumni Association’saward for outstanding service to theprofession. The speech is reprintedby permission.

This is not a speech. Two weeksago I set aside the speech I

prepared. This is a cry from theheart, a lamentation for the loss ofthis country’s goodness and thereforeits greatness.

Future historians studying thedecline and fall of America will markthis as the time the tide began to turn— toward a mean-spirited medioc-rity in place of a noble beacon.

For me the final blow wasAmerican guards laughing over thenaked, helpless bodies of abusedprisoners in Iraq. “There is a time tolaugh,” the Bible tells us, “and a timeto weep.” Today I weep for the coun-try I love, the country I proudlyserved, the country to which my fourgrandparents sailed over a centuryago with hopes for a new land ofpeace and freedom. I cannot remainsilent when that country is in thedeepest trouble of my lifetime.

I am not talking only about theprison abuse scandal — that stenchwill someday subside. Nor am Ireferring only to the Iraq war — that,too, will pass — nor to any onepolitical leader or party. This is notime for politics as usual, in which noone responsible admits responsibility,no one genuinely apologizes, no oneresigns and everyone else is blamed.

The damage done to this countryby its own misconduct in the last fewmonths and years, to its very heartand soul, is far greater and longer

lasting than any damage that any ter-rorist could possibly inflict upon us.

The stain on our credibility, ourreputation for decency and integrity,will not quickly wash away.

Last week, a family friend of anaccused American guard in Iraq recit-ed the atrocities inflicted by our ene-mies on Americans, and asked:“Must we be held to a different stan-dard?” My answer is yes. Not onlybecause others expect it. We musthold ourselves to a different stan-dard. Not only because Goddemands it, but because it serves oursecurity.

Our greatest strength has longbeen not merely our military mightbut our moral authority. Our surestprotection against assault fromabroad has been not all our guards,gates and guns or even our twooceans but our essential goodness asa people. Our richest asset has beennot our material wealth but our val-ues.

We were world leaders once, help-ing found the United Nations, theMarshall Plan, NATO, and programslike Food for Peace, internationalhuman rights and international envi-ronmental standards. The worldadmired not only the bravery of ourMarine Corps but also the idealismof our Peace Corps.

Our word was as good as ourgold. At the start of the CubanMissile Crisis, former Secretary ofState Dean Acheson, PresidentKennedy’s special envoy to briefFrench President de Gaulle, offered todocument our case by having theactual pictures of Soviet nuclear mis-siles Cuba brought in. “No,”shrugged the usually difficult deGaulle: “The word of the Presidentof the United States is good enoughfor me.”

Eight months later, PresidentKennedy could say at American

University: “The worldknows that America willnever start a war. This gen-eration of Americans hashad enough of war and hate… we want to build a world

of peace where the weak are secureand the strong are just.”

Our founding fathers believedthis country could be a beacon oflight to the world, a model of demo-cratic and humanitarian progress. Wewere. We prevailed in the Cold Warbecause we inspired millions strug-gling for freedom in far corners ofthe Soviet empire. I have been incountries where children and avenueswere named for Lincoln, Jefferson,Franklin Roosevelt and John F.Kennedy. We were respected, notreviled, because we respected man’saspirations for peace and justice.This was the country to which for-eign leaders sent not only their goodsto be sold but their sons and daugh-ters to be educated. In the 1930s,when Jewish and other scholars weredriven out of Europe, their preferreddestination — even for those on thefar left — was not the Communistcitadel in Moscow but the NewSchool here in New York.

What has happened to our coun-try? We have been in wars before,without resorting to sexual humilia-tion as torture, without blocking theRed Cross, without insulting anddeceiving our allies and the U.N.,without betraying our traditional val-ues, without imitating our adver-saries, without blackening our namearound the world.

Last year when asked on shortnotice to speak to a European audi-ence, and inquiring what topic Ishould address, the chairman said:“Tell us about the good America, theAmerica when Kennedy was in theWhite House.”

“It is still a good America,” Ireplied. “The American people stillbelieve in peace, human rights andjustice; they are still a generous, fair-minded, open-minded people.

Today some political figures

A time to weep


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argue that merely to report, muchless to protest, the crimes againsthumanity committed by a few of ourown inadequately trained forces inthe fog of war, is to aid the enemy orexcuse its atrocities. But Americansknow that such self-censorship doesnot enhance our security. Attempts tojustify or defend our illegal acts asnothing more than pranks or noworse than the crimes of our enemiesonly further muddies our moralimage. Thirty years ago, America’s

war in Vietnam became a hopelessmilitary quagmire; today our war inIraq has become a senseless moralswamp.

No military victory can endureunless the victor occupies the highmoral ground. Surely America, theland of the free, could not lose thehigh moral ground invading Iraq, acountry ruled by terror, torture andtyranny — but we did.

Instead of isolating SaddamHussein — politically, economically,

diplomatically, much as we succeededin isolating Khadafy, Marcos,Mobutu and a host of other dictatorsover the years — we have isolatedourselves. We are increasingly alonein a dangerous world in which mil-lions who once respected us now hateus.

Not only Muslims. Every interna-tional survey shows our global stand-ing at an all-time low. Even ourtransatlantic alliance has not yetrecovered from its worst crisis in his-tory. Our friends in Western Europewere willing to accept Uncle Sam asclass president but not as class bullyonce he forgot JFK’s advice that“civility is not a sign of weakness.”

All this is rationalized as part ofthe war on terror. But abusing pris-oners in Iraq, denying detainees theirlegal rights in Guantanamo — evenAmerican citizens — misleading theworld at large about Saddam’s readystockpiles of mass destruction andinvolvement with al Qaeda at 9-11did not advance by one millimeterour efforts to end the threat ofanother terrorist attack upon us. Onthe contrary, our conduct invites andincites new attacks and new recruitsto attack us.

The decline in our reputationadds to the decline in our security.We keep losing old friends and mak-ing new enemies — not a formulafor success. We have not yet roundedup Osama bin Laden or most of theal Qaeda and Taliban leaders or theanthrax mailer.

“The world is large,” wrote JohnBoyle O’Reilly, in one of PresidentKennedy’s favorite poems, “when itsweary leagues two loving heartsdivide, but the world is small whenyour enemy is loose on the otherside.” Today our enemies are stillloose on the other side of the world,and we are still vulnerable to attack.

True, we have not lost either warwe chose or lost too much of ourwealth. But we have lost somethingworse — our good name for truthand justice. To paraphraseShakespeare: “He who steals our

CoJMC archive photo by Adam Trout

TED SORENSEN

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nation’s purse, steals trash. ’Twasours, ’tis his, and has been slave tothousands. But he that filches ourgood name … makes us poorindeed.”

No American wants us to lose awar. Among our enemies are thosewho, if they could, would funda-mentally change our way of life,restricting our freedom of religionby exalting one faith over others,ignoring international law and theopinions of mankind and tramplingon the rights of those who are dif-ferent, deprived or disliked. To theextent that our nation voluntarilytreads those same paths in thename of security, the terrorists winand we are the losers.

We are no longer the world’sleaders on matters of internationallaw and peace. After we stoppedlistening to others, they stopped lis-tening to us. A nation without cred-ibility and moral authority cannotlead, because no one will follow.

Paradoxically, the chargesagainst us in the court of worldopinion are contradictory. We aredeemed by many to be dangerouslyaggressive, a threat to world peace.You may regard that as ridiculouslyunwarranted, no matter how ofteninternational surveys show thatattitude to be spreading. Butremember the old axiom: “No mat-ter how good you feel, if fourfriends tell you you’re drunk, youbetter lie down.”

Yet we are also charged not somuch with intervention as indiffer-ence — indifference toward the suf-fering of millions of our fellowinhabitants of this planet who donot enjoy the freedom, the opportu-nity, the health and wealth andsecurity that we enjoy; indifferenceto the countless deaths of childrenand other civilians in unnecessarywars, countless because we usuallydo not bother to count them; indif-ference to the centuries of humilia-tion endured previously in silenceby the Arab and Islamic worlds.

The good news, to relieve allthis gloom, is that a democracy is

inherently self-correcting. Here, thepeople are sovereign. Inept politicalleaders can be replaced. Foolishpolicies can be changed. Disastrousmistakes can be reversed.

When, in 1941, the Japanese AirForce was able to inflict widespreaddeath and destruction on our navaland air forces in Hawaii becausethey were not on alert, those mili-tary officials most responsible forignoring advance intelligence weresummarily dismissed.

When, in the late 1940s, wefaced a global Cold War againstanother system of ideologicalfanatics certain that their authori-tarian values would eventually rulethe world, we prevailed in time. Weprevailed because we exercisedpatience as well as vigilance, self-restraint as well as self-defense, andreached out to moderates and mod-ernists, to democrats and dissi-dents, within that closed system.We can do that again. We can reachout to moderates and modernists inIslam, proud of its long traditionsof dialogue, learning, charity andpeace.

Some among us scoff that thewar on Jihadist terror is a warbetween civilization and chaos. Butthey forget that there were Islamicuniversities and observatories longbefore we had railroads.

So do not despair. In this coun-try, the people are sovereign. If wecan but tear the blindfold of self-deception from our eyes and loosenthe gag of self-denial from ourvoices, we can restore our countryto greatness. In particular, you —the Class of 2004 — have the wis-dom and energy to do it. Startsoon.

In the words of the ancientHebrews: “The day is short, andthe work is great, and the laborersare sluggish, but the reward ismuch, and the Master is urgent.”

❑

By HILARY KINDSCHUHJ Alumni News staff

When Abbie Farrar decided shewanted to study advertising at

the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,she did not have to look far for inspira-tion.

After all, her father, Doug, a UNLgraduate, was in the business.

Her two older sisters, Katie andAmy, also studied advertising at UNL.

“They all have totally different per-spectives on things,” said Abbie Farrar,a sophomore advertising major who isinterested in the graphic design aspectof the trade. “Basically, all of us want-ed different aspects of the job.

“We used to joke when we wereyounger about how we would all havean advertising firm and that each oneof us would be able to do a differentpart of it.”

Doug Farrar remembers the joke aswell.

“We’ve always said we’ll have theFarrar, Farrar, Farrar and Farrar(firm),” he said. “It would be interest-ing to see how that dynamic wouldwork together, how that sisterly lovewould work.”

Although he graduated with ateaching degree, Doug Farrar becameinvolved with advertising and market-ing when he took a job at Lincoln’sPost and Nickel in 1970.

Farrar learned something aboutadvertising by dealing with the nationalbrands sold at the men’s and women’sclothing store.

“It wasn’t like it was cold turkey,”he said.

In 1997, he joined Bailey Lauerman,a strategic communications firm inLincoln.

Advertising is a Farrarfamily affair

Advertising is interesting, DougFarrar said, because it’s everywhere.Whenever his daughters saw ads onTV while they were growing up, theirfather would ask them questionsabout it, such as who made the adand who was the target of the ad.

“I think for 20 years the girls hadbeen bombarded by advertising,” hesaid.

Katie Farrar, a 2001 UNL gradu-ate, said she remembered peoplefrom Bailey Lauerman coming to cri-tique campaigns for some of heradvertising classes.

Katie, who currently works at arestaurant in Boston, said she enjoyspinpointing a target market. She alsolikes the fast-paced feel of advertis-ing.

“It seems like it’s always chang-ing,” she said. “There’s always some-thing new to learn.”

She said it is interesting to talkwith her younger sisters about theiradvertising classes and professors.

Amy Farrar, a senior advertisingmajor, said that while she was still inhigh school she became interested inadvertising by looking at Katie’swork. She remembers her older sistertalking about a campaigns class atone point.

“That sounded interesting to mebecause I wanted to write, and Ithought that copywriting would befun,” she said.

Also, she said, her father influ-enced her decision because “he likedwhat he did.”

Doug Farrar is still doing adver-tising and strategic communications,working for the National Arbor DayFoundation. As director of ArborDay Farm, he is in charge of market-ing and advertising for the various

businesses at the Nebraska Cityfarm.

Advertising is a people-orientedfield, Amy said, and that aspectinfluenced all three sisters in choos-ing the major.

“You’re working with differentgroups of people all the time,” shesaid. “You’re not going to be sittingat a desk, crunching numbers.”

Amy enjoys talking shop with herdad and sisters, she said.

“We all just learn from eachother,” she said.

Abbie Farrar said her favoritepart of her family’s involvement withadvertising was that her sisters anddad were good sounding boards onwhom she could test ideas, “to seewhat they’ve done, and then thinkabout what I can do.

“And then when they tell me theylike something that I’ve done, I know,with the work that they’ve done, thatI really, really enjoy …

“I think I might be up to that cal-iber again.”

❑


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Oscar Robertson (third from right) and leaders of Lincoln’s black community attend the premier of “Something ToCheer About” at The Ross Theater in Lincoln on Feb. 29. Robertson was in Lincoln to help Albert Maxey raisefunds for the JoAnn Maxey Memorial Scholarship. Albert Maxey, JoAnn’s husband, and Robertson were teammateson the Crispus Attucks high school championship basketball team in Indiana. A reception following the film washeld at the Van Brunt Visitors Center. The CoJMC assisted in coordinating the benefit.

“I think for 20 years the girls had been bombarded

by advertising.” — Doug Farrar

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Frank Partsch, retirededitorial page editor ofThe Omaha World-Herald, presented an editorial writing awardnamed for him during theNebraska PressAssociation’s conventionin Lincoln last April. KentWarneke, editor of theNorfolk Daily News and a 1982 UNL journalismalumnus, received theaward.

Warneke said later thatthe award was especiallymeaningful to him becausehe had worked withPartsch early in his careerand appreciated the highstandards Partsch set.

Partsch’s remarks arereprinted here.

In the opinion-writing business wesometimes define an item by

describing what it is not. Let me trythis method in talking about theaward we are presenting tonight.

It is not an annual award. It isnot a writing award. Nor is it aprized for being a grand old editorialwriter who managed to stay in thebusiness for a good long time andwin many friends.

Now certainly we admire goodwriting. And we admire a lifetime ofdedication to newspapering. But thepeople who developed this awardwanted the honor to be specific andtargeted — in a word: leadership.Their hope was that, every so often,a piece of work — whether it be oneeditorial or a lifetime’s output —would stand out as clearly delivering“clear thinking and skillful, persua-sive and constructive writing thatimpacts the community” — in otherwords, an exercise of editorial leader-ship.

How long is “every so often?”

Well, lastyear, in thefirst year ofthe award,we were verypleased whenthe work ofGene Morriscame to ourattention.There was nodoubt in ourminds, oramong theoutside con-sultants whohad a handin the selec-tion. Gene’swork had adirect andpositiveimpact on theMcCook

community in a variety of ways. This year, we are again blessed.

This is year number two, and wealready have winner number two. Heis an editor in a community plungedinto crisis: an explosion of violencefollowed by a long, tense period inwhich the moral fiber of the commu-nity was put to the test. In bothinstances, our 2004 winner providedthe leadership that his communitysorely needed.

Well, I can’t be mysterious anylonger and still do the story justice.A tragedy such as the one that struckthe U.S. Bank in Norfolk on Sept. 26,2002, would have taxed the abilitiesof any editor. Five people dead in aburst of gunfire during a botchedbank robbery. Then came an addi-tional tragedy: the suicide of a lawenforcement officer, stricken withguilt because he thought the crimewas preventable. These events set thestage for a potentially incendiaryclash of cultures; the accused killerswere members of a minority group ina traditionally white Nebraska com-

munity.Those of us who have written edi-

torials in a crisis know the pressures.Some people are angry because theeditorial writer doesn’t immediatelycall for frontier justice. Othersbecome victims’ advocates. Theydemand exasperated tributes to theinnocent dead. In recent years, wehave seen a 9-11 syndrome in whichthe force of political correctness side-step all other considerations andaccuse society of harboring preju-diced thoughts against the perpetra-tors. And still others believe that itreflects badly on a community towrite about such things at all.

Fortunately for the people ofNorfolk, they had the Norfolk DailyNews to deal with such issues.

From its first of many editorials,the Daily News spoke with the calmvoice of reason. It never ranted forrevenge. Nor did it sheepishly engagein the kinds of ethnic self-doubt thatwe saw so often in the national pressafter 9-11. The Daily News gave noquarter to the perpetrators of thecrime. But it elevated to a high prior-ity the need to keep open the chan-nels of communication between eth-nic groups.

In its first editorial comment afterthe killings, the Daily News called onits readers to comfort the survivors,support law enforcement officers andwork to support the death penalty. Italso called for prayers for racialunderstanding.

“There is work to be done,” theeditorial said. “We owe that much tothose who died.”

The editor of the Daily News, inlooking back at those tense earlydays, recently wrote: “I made thedecision that we would address butnot dwell on the ethnic backgroundsof the suspects. This was a crime ofviolence, but there were no indica-tions race or ethnicity was a motivat-ing factor. Our editorials includedstatements that were obvious but

A voice that knows its power, values

KENT WARNEKE



needed to be said nonetheless, urgingagainst stereotyping a racial or eth-nic minority group because ofactions of a few.”

Among the other things, he said,“I sought out and published lettersfrom representatives of the Hispaniccommunity that acknowledged thesorrow and shock being felt by allNorfolkans, not just … Caucasians.”

The Daily News didn’t stop withthat. When the opportunity arose,the newspaper applied and wasaccepted as a host of an AssociatedPress Managing Editors credibilityroundtable. This led to a session withHispanic readers who provided manyconstructive suggestions about howthe newspaper could serve their com-munity. The newspaper kept all read-ers informed of those steps via withthe editorial page.

Other editorials explained theprolonged process by which the sus-pects were tried and convicted. Thisput the newspaper in the difficultposition, wrote the editor later, of“having to explain why these expens-es and delays are allowable while alsosharing the sentiments felt by manyreaders.” Throughout this period, thetone was calm, measured andinformative while never yielding thesense of outrage that characterizes agood editorial. And, yes, the newspa-per’s goal has been realized. Racialunderstanding in Norfolk, Nebraska,has not been one of the casualties ofthe Sept. 26 crimes

This obviously is an editorialvoice that knows it power, knows itscommunity and has a clear sense ofits newspaper’s tradition and values.We will be going to Norfolk in a fewdays to make a formal presentationof this award, and a $10, 000 prize,during a gathering of our honoree’sfriends and community leaders. Buttonight, we’d like to have him standand accept the applause of his news-paper peers.

Ladies and gentleman, I give youKent Warneke of the Norfolk DailyNews.

❑

By LAURA SCHREIERJ Alumni News staff

The fact that Brandon Meier hasa prominent job in Houston,

the third largest media market in theUnited States, is impressive.

That he started out in NorthPlatte’s KNOP-TV, one of the smallestnews affiliates in the nation, makes iteven more so.

That he is 26 years old perhapscaps it all off.

But in this case, youth doesn’tequal inexperience.

“People have been kind of stuck onmy age here. I tell people, ‘The day Iturned 16 I went to work in the NorthPlatte news affiliate, and the day I quitthere I went to work forHuskerVision,’” Meier said.

Meier, who graduated from UNLwith a bachelor’s degree in broadcast-ing and a master’s in marketing in2002, worked extensively forHuskerVision, the video productionarm of the university’s athletic depart-ment.

About six months after gradua-tion, Meier was offered a position asproduction manager for the HoustonRockets’ Toyota Center.

He manages editing and produc-tion of video used at Houston Rocketsbasketball games, large concerts in thecenter or even smaller programs likemotivational seminars. Much of whathe does is reminiscent of his old job atHuskerVision.

“I learned a lot of the editing sideand some of the managerial side (fromHuskerVision),” Meier said. “Thatkind of got me ready for this posi-tion.”

Meier said he worked at theHuskerVision sports production sta-tion for a little more than seven years,usually for 50 or 60 hours a week. Butnow, instead of being a student or paidintern, Meier is in charge of $2 millionworth of video equipment and $7 mil-lion in screens.

And more than the scale is differ-ent, Meier said.

At HuskerVision, the workers wereprimarily students who learned a littleof everything concerning equipmentand production. In his new job, hesaid, producers tended to be more spe-cialized.

“At Nebraska, you learn abouteverything. I knew about every pieceof equipment,” he said. In Houston,he said he was trying to instill thatmethod of learning broadly ratherthan filling niche positions. Manyemployees were set in their ways, hesaid, which was making it a toughthing to do.

Meier said his experience atHuskerVision, including working withother students and professional engi-neers, was what helped him commandsome respect among employees,despite his age.

“Right away, they saw my creden-tials were good and that I’d got the jobfor a reason,” he said.

Shot Kleen, director of operationsfor HuskerVision, said Meier hadstood out as a hard worker who waseager to learn.

“Brandon was one of those guyswho was always looking for things todo,” Kleen said.

It was unusual that anyone asyoung as Meier would start out atsuch a high position, he said, butMeier’s personality and educationmade him a good fit for his currentjob.

“He’s a unique person in that he’sgot a lot of drive, a lot of ambition,”Kleen said. “Even as a younger kid —you wouldn’t expect a younger personto do that kind of work.”

Meier said the move fromNebraska and HuskerVision toHouston and the Toyota Center wasdifficult at first. Adjusting to a livingin a larger city and dealing with thedifferent scale of the job wasn’t easy,but he is getting the hang of it.

“I’m definitely still new, but gettinginto that comfort zone.” ❑

Meier rockets to Houston

Can he remember any specificcases? Any details?

Carter politely declines. Hewon’t disclose to anyone — noteven his wife, Mildred, to whomhe’s been married for 64 years —the exact nature of his work withthe FBI.

Sometimes, those questions stillnag Mildred Carter.

“I had no idea what to expect,”the retired teacher says. “We’d justbeen married, and then this … Ijust knew it was going to be differ-ent.

“But, sure, I wondered fromtime to time what he was doing andwhere exactly he really was.”

What Keith Carter will discloseis that from the moment he finishedhis FBI duties, he couldn’t shake thefeeling that he owed NU a debt.That’s why Carter has designated amajor gift from his estate to benefitthe J school.

“I don’t know a lick about jour-nalism,” Mildred Carter says.“What I do know is how much theschool meant to him. He wanted tohonor that in some way.”

Keith Carter says he owes anysuccesses he’s had to his NU educa-tion.

Indeed, it’s been a life full ofsuccesses.

After earning his degree, Carterleft behind his part-time job inPalisade for the Nebraska Farmer, afarming and education magazine.He was a statewide reporter andassistant editor there for three yearsbefore leaving for the FBI.

And after the FBI, Carterworked at Ak-Sar-Ben for eightyears, then moved on to the GreaterOmaha Chamber of Commerce,where, as manager, he supervised astaff of 50 for nearly 20 years.

While all that was happening,the couple raised two children, a



By MELISSA LEEJ Alumni News staff

The college sweethearts hadn’tbeen married even one year

when the call came that day in 1941.It was the FBI, looking for a Mr.

Keith Carter.“We need someone with journal-

ism skills,” they told him. “Can youverify the information on your appli-cation?”

Yes, Carter replied. Yes, he was a1938 University of Nebraska journal-ism graduate. Yes, he’d spent his highschool years freelancing for thePalisade Press, his hometown news-paper. Yes, he had the experience.

Sure, he’d pack up, head toChicago and join the FBI.

“Well, gosh, I didn’t know whatto think,” Carter remembers nowfrom his Omaha home. “War cloudswere gathering at the time … I filledout (my application) not ever think-ing I would actually be called.”

But he was in his 20s. He wasgame for anything.

And that was how, in 1941, theyoung Carter became a special agentfor the U.S. government’s top inves-tigative agency.

He spent six years with the FBI,floating between Washington, D.C.,and Chicago on various assignments.He uncovered robbery cases, extor-tion and workplace crimes — what-ever he was told. He carried a gun.He felt important.

But Carter, now 90, says he could-n’t have done it without the skillsNU’s journalism professors hadarmed him with.

“That training prepared me foranything,” he says, slowly and quiet-ly. “My work in the FBI requiredgreat consciousness of everything,meticulous reporting, careful writing,careful preparation of everything.

“That’s what I learned atNebraska.”

Journalism grad’s gift benefits J schoolFBI veteran says NU education was behind his success

Donors makethe differenceBy TORU FUJIOKAJ Alumni News staff

Studying hard may be the key togetting through college, but

paying tuition is another necessity.As tuition has risen, the supportfrom donors is making a differencein journalism students’ lives.

“The scholarships can’t cover alltuition, but it does help students,”said Will Norton, dean of theCollege of Journalism and MassCommunications at the Universityof Nebraska-Lincoln. “We appreci-ate donors” and the difference they

make in students’ lives, the deansaid. Students should be grateful forthe help the donors provide, headded.

The dean said the donationshelp improve the school becausethe more support it can offer to stu-dents, the better students it willattract.

The college gives each scholar-ship recipient the name and addressof the donor who made his or herscholarship possible. Students writethe donors to thank them for theirgift and to tell the donor how thescholarship will help them getthrough school and into the profes-sion. That lets donors realize theyare part of the student’s life, Nortonsaid.

Kent Warneke, editor and vicepresident of the Norfolk DailyNews, gives to the Lee Warneke



Scholarship. As a graduate of UNL’sJ school, he understands how help-ful a scholarship is, he said. Havingbeen a recipient himself, Warnekesaid he feels that supporting stu-dents is not only a pleasure but alsoan obligation.

“Yes, it makes a big difference inmy school life,” said Amber Brozek,a junior news editorial major fromLincoln, about her Lincoln JournalStar scholarship. She said it’s diffi-cult for her parents to put herthrough school because she also hasan older brother and sister andthree younger sisters.

She said all her tuition is paid bygrants and loans. “I could not havebeen able to afford my tuition with-out scholarships.”

Brozek said, “It made me cry”when she learned she had receiveda scholarship. “I felt like I achieved

something big,” she said.Dakarai Aarons, a junior news-

editorial major from Springdale,Md., said his scholarships, includingJerry and Karla Huse News-EditorialStudent Support, also made a bigdifference in his ability to getthrough school, especially as thecosts of school have risen.

As an out-of-state student, hehas to cover more tuition than localstudents. “My scholarships haveallowed me to be free for a broadercollege experience than I would if Ihad to work to pay my tuition,”Aarons said.

An example, he said, was anopportunity to be a part of thedepth reporting class that traveledto Cuba. Although he had to takefewer courses than usual in order todevote time to the project, he didnot have to worry about the higher

expenses of taking a bunch of class-es at once the next semester tocatch up.

The scholarships made it possi-ble for Aarons to expand his experi-ence outside of classes as well. Hesaid, “I have taken on leadershippositions in a number of campusorganizations in the last three yearsthat have allowed me to make alasting impact on this campus.”

Donations for scholarships haveincreased drastically in the last 10years. In 2003, the total endowedamount was $119,905, 10 timesmore than it was in 1990. Thescholarships were distributed to 108students in the 2003 academic year.The college office expects evenmore students will receive scholar-ships in 2004-2005 with increasesin the number of donations andscholarships. ❑

daughter who works as a regis-tered nurse in Omaha and a sonwho’s an electrician in Salt LakeCity, Utah.

Carter retired in 1979, and thecouple decided to make their per-manent roots in Omaha. Both areglad they’ve ended up back inNebraska.

“We like the people,” KeithCarter says. “We like the climate.It’s comfortable living here.”

Retirement has been a surpris-ing change of pace for Carter.Now, he spends his days golfing or doing watercolors.

“I love to play golf. I do thatthree or four days a week,” hesays. “And I’m a Sunday painter.Other than that … well, I guessthat’s about it.”

He laughs when asked whetherhe has any words of wisdom fortoday’s journalism students.

“No, no, no, I don’t have anyspecial advice,” he says. “All I cansay is it’s always been a challenge.I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

❑

Ron Hull (right), special adviser to Nebraska Educational Telecommunications,and Fox vice president of entertaintment Scott Hamilton meet with broadcastjournalism students in April. The college regularly sponsors speakers, panel discus-sions and conferences on timely topics at Andersen Hall.

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By VINCE KUPPIGJ Alumni News staff

Michael Jordan. MagicJohnson. Kobe Bryant.

Keyshawn Johnson. RasheedWallace, Shaquille O’Neal.

And the list of high profile ath-letes Shelley Smith has interviewedgoes on and on.

Smith, who attended the Schoolof Journalism at UNL from 1976 to1981, is a sports reporter for ESPN.

She has covered just about every-thing for ESPN, including theOlympics and the O.J. Simpson trial.

That variety is what keeps Smithgoing.

“You name it, I’ve probably cov-ered it,” says Smith, 45. “That’swhat’s so great about the job. Younever get bored. You never get beatendown by one sport.”

In the fall, Smith is a regular onESPN’s College GameDay, coveringcollege football.

“(GameDay) is really, really fun,”she says. “I love college football.”

Smith jokes that the one prerequi-site for her daughter, who’s startingcollege in the fall, was that she go toa school with a football team —“otherwise it’s not a real school.”Smith’s daughter will be playing soc-cer for the University of Oregon.

Smith also covers the NBA play-offs for ESPN. She spent much of thisspring going back and forth from theKobe Bryant trial to Los AngelesLakers games.

“I think I’m the only one coveringthe Lakers in the playoffs and thetrial,” says Smith, who lives in LosAngeles. “I see (Bryant) on bothcourts.”

Among Smith’s favorites to inter-view are retired basketball star MagicJohnson, Dallas Cowboys widereceiver Keyshawn Johnson and NBACommissioner David Stern.

And then there are the specialone-time interviews like those withfired football coaches Rick Neuheiseland Mike Price.

“I love the big get,” she says. “Ilove the interviews that everybodyelse is trying to get that we land,which is the best feeling in theworld.”

Smith didn’t grow up wanting tobe a reporter. Until she took her firstnews writing class, Smith says, shedidn’t have much of an interest inbeing a reporter.

Smith also worked at the DailyNebraskan while she was in school,combining her newfound love forreporting and writing with her life-time passion for sports. Records indi-cate Smith was the first womansports editor at the DN.

“College is a great trainingground for what I do now,” Smithsays. “We covered everything. We hada lot of fun, but we treated every-thing seriously. We covered the athlet-ic department seriously.

“I really got all my good experi-ence from journalism school andmainly from working for the DailyNebraskan.”

Nebraska Athletic Director StevePederson first met Smith about 25

years ago when he was an intern inthe NU sports information depart-ment and Smith was at the studentnewspaper. She left quite an impres-sion on the future athletic director.

“There are junctures in your lifewhere you meet people and you justknow that they’re going to do some-thing special,” Pederson says. “Youjust knew she was going to do great.She just stood out.

“She’s had an incredible career.”Don Bryant also remembers

Smith. The former Husker sportsinformation director, now athleticdirector-emeritus, remembers aprominent story Smith wrote abouthow NU’s new press box didn’t havea women’s restroom.

Smith calls that her most famousstory at the DN.

Says Bryant: “She was right. Sowe added one.”

Like Pederson, Bryant knewSmith was going somewhere.

“She had talent,” Bryant remem-bers. “She was a good writer and hadinvestigative reporting skills. She hada future.”

Having to deal with things likemissing bathrooms wasn’t unusualfor Smith. When she was at the DN,women weren’t allowed into men’s

Militant print journalist embraces televisionShelley Smith’s career path runs from the Daily Nebraskan to ESPN

“We were print (majors),

and we were militant.

We thought we were

the only real journalists.”— Shelley Smith

ESPN sports reporter



locker rooms to conduct interviewsafter football games. Instead, Smith gotone-on-one interviews with the athletes.

“It was different, but I enjoyed theexclusivity I got,” she says. “It wasn’tright; it wasn’t fair; it wasn’t equal. ButI got great treatment.”

Since then, Smith says she’s seenboth advantages and disadvantages tobeing a woman in a profession tradi-tionally dominated by men.

“A lot of athletes talk differently toyou because you are female — some-times it’s better, sometimes it’s worse,”Smith says. “But now nobody eventhinks twice about seeing a female inthe locker room.”

Smith went to work for theAssociated Press right out of college.She moved on to the Stars and Stripes inTokyo before returning to the states fora job with the San Francisco Examiner.From 1989 to 1997, Smith worked forSports Illustrated, her last job in printjournalism.

Even though Smith no longer worksfor a print publication, she’s still writ-ing. She writes her own scripts andoccasionally writes for ESPN TheMagazine and on the Internet.

Smith also has written three books,most recently You Play to Win theGame, a motivational book she co-wrote with New York Jets CoachHerman Edwards.

Now more than two decades out ofcollege, Smith said she enjoys being onthe big screen more than writing stories— something she never could haveimagined when majoring in print jour-nalism.

“We were print (majors), and wewere militant. We thought we were theonly real journalists,” Smith recalls.“We used to say the broadcast majorsbelong in the drama department andadvertising should be in the businessschool.”

But now she’s a convert to broadcastjournalism.

“I like the immediacy of television,”she said. “I like that we reach 10 millionpeople. When you do something reallyspecial, there are a lot of people whoselives you touch.” ❑

By SARA GIBONEYJ Alumni News staff

Hmmm … let’s see. Adegree in journalism. A

career in public transportation.No obvious connection there.

But Barbara Richardson, vicepresident of marketing andsales for Amtrak, the nation’spassenger rail service, is one ofmany journalism grads whohave parlayed their journalismskills into successful careers inwhat look like unrelated fields.

“The good thing about adegree in journalism is that youcan take it with you to any kindof career,” Richardson said.

Richardson said marketing is similar to work in journalismbecause it is important in bothfields to know who the targetaudience is and to know howto communicate effectively.

“My education in Lincolnwas important because it didhelp prepare me for a job inbusiness,” Richardson said.

At Amtrak, Richardson hashelped set ticket revenuerecords and ridership records.Despite a downturn in travel in2003, Amtrak served 24 millionpassengers.

Richardson graduated fromNU in 1982 with degrees injournalism and political science.

“Getting my degree in jour-nalism provided me with asolid, well-rounded education,”Richardson said. “It helped meto learn how to write and com-municate effectively.”

After graduation,Richardson moved to New YorkCity and worked as director ofpublic information for theTriborough Bridge and TunnelAuthority.

“I really enjoyed the factthat I was doing somethingthat people rely on every day,”Richardson said. “There is anexcitement around providing aservice that people dependon.”

Richardson later worked asdirector of communications forthe New Jersey Department ofTransportation and director ofthe Office of Public Affairs forthe Federal Railroad Adminis-tration before joining Amtrak in1994 as director of communi-cations for the NortheastCorridor Business Unit.

Richardson said she’s beenat her current position for fiveyears and works on passengerticket revenue, pricing, capacitymanagement and corporateand customer relations.

While she was at the uni-versity, Richardson was a mem-ber of the Innocents Society,worked at the Daily Nebraskan,worked as a legislative assistantat the capitol and had a sum-mer internship at The OmahaWorld-Herald.

Richardson said she takespride in her job because trans-portation plays such an impor-tant role in the American econ-omy.

❑

Richardson has beenworking on the railroad


J Days

By AMBER BROZEKJ Alumni News staff

Cheryl Butler says things at theJ school today are quite differ-

ent from her journalism college days.Butler, a University of Nebraska

alumna, reflected on “the good olddays” and how journalism haschanged over the years at the Collegeof Journalism and MassCommunications’ annual J DaysHonors Convocation.

The Washington Post staffer washonored for her service to journalismby being selected as the SelineMemorial Lecturer at the April 15event. She was also named journalistof the year by the UNL chapter ofKappa Tau Alpha, the journalismhonorary society.

“I’m from the ‘old school,’ butyou don’t need me to tell you that,”Butler said as she started her speechto the audience of alumni, facultyand students. “You can look at meand tell that I’m of ‘a certain age.’”

Butler said she was talking aboutan era when her classes, taught byprofessors who are now only seen onthe college’s Wall of Honor, weredevoted to hand-setting metal typefor headlines, using Speed Graphiccameras, typing stories on sheets ofnewsprint and editing stories by liter-ally cutting chunks of copy and past-ing them into position.

“One thing was certain — welearned to appreciate firsthand thedifficulties early journalists had toendure.

“Don’t mention spelling errors. Aname misspelled was an automatic‘F’,” Butler said. “And if I rememberright, you had to write an obituaryfor every mistake to make up those‘F’s.’”

Now, she said, journalism stu-dents write and edit stories on com-

puters, use special computer pro-grams for fast designs and graphicsand shoot photos on digital cameras.“And everything is so much cleaner!”Butler said.

Butler has been in journalism formore than 40 years. She graduatedfrom what was then the “school ofjournalism” in 1967 with a bachelor’sdegree in news-editorial journalism.After college, she worked on thecopy desk for what was the LincolnEvening Journal until April 1972. Shemoved to the copy desk of the St.Paul Dispatch, where she workeduntil 1980.

The following year, Butler took ajob with the Washington Post as anassistant news editor. Later, she waspromoted to deputy news editor, aposition she held until June 2002when she became a recruiter for thePost.

As a recruiter, Butler helped hireboth full-time professionals and

interns. She also worked with highschool students in the District ofColumbia area, helping them findcolleges and internships.

“What I enjoyed most was seeingtheir careers grow,” Butler said. “AndI was always shy when I worked oncopy desk. The position really helpedme open up.

“It brought out qualities I didn’tknow I had,” she said. “I’ve grown alot. Anytime I faced a new task, I didthe best I could.

“I wanted to stretch my wings. Iwanted to use those good tools toease the way for new students com-ing into the newsroom.”

Butler eased graduation jitters forstudents by offering some tips onqualities employers are looking for injournalism students. Her list includ-ed: a strong foundation in the funda-mentals, talent, enthusiasm and adesire to keep learning.

“There’s absolutely no way thatyou can know everything now.There’s room for improvement andgrowth every day, with every storyyou write or edit,” Butler said.

‘Make room for improvementand growth with every story’

Butler said employers are looking for a “strong

foundation in the fundamentals, talent, enthusiasm and

students with a desire to keep learning.”

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J Days

Dakarai Aarons, a junior news-editorial student, first met Butler in2000 through the Post’s YoungJournalists Development Project,which helps minority students innewspaper journalism.

Since their first meeting, Butlerhas become a mentor to him, Aaronssaid.

“She helped me decide on visitingNebraska to attend school here,” hesaid. “She has always been helpfulwith career advice.

“When I write stories, I canalways send them to her, and she tellsme how to make things better andwhat I need to work on.”

Aarons said Butler is “always agood source of advice for any stu-dent.”

“She has an energy and passionfor journalism,” he said. “I don’tthink she’ll be able to sit at home forlong.

“As long as she is alive, she willbe making some impact in the worldof journalism.”

Butler retired from her Postrecruiting position at the end ofApril. She said she planned on doingsome traveling before settling downand working on some home improve-ment projects.

Aarons said Butler was a goodexample of what journalism studentscan achieve after graduating fromNebraska.

“It’s showing people that it is pos-sible to rise to the top after gradua-tion,” he said. “It’s not just the slo-gan the college tries to promote.She’s proof.”

Butler left the audience with somelast advice: “Pay attention to details.”

“If you don’t pay attention todetails you’re going to make mistakesas well. And whatever you do, don’tmake the same mistake twice.

“You want to keep growing.”❑

Photo courtesy The Washington Posts

❏ Cheryl Butler was given the Will Owen Jones Kappa Tau Alpha chapter award before the honors convocation on April 15.❏ Opposite page: Junior news-ed student Dakarai Aarons, at the J Days honor convocation, is an intern at The Washington Post.

J Days


By JENNIFER ROTHJ Alumni News staff

When Robert Reeder wasgrowing up, his impression

of an advertising person was DarrinStephens on the television show“Bewitched.” Darrin was a talentedadvertising executive, and Reederremembers being interested in havingthe same career.

Reeder, a Lincoln native, is nowthe manager of advertising atHallmark Cards Inc. in Kansas City.He manages the national brandadvertising for the greetings and giftsbusiness units as well as nationaladvertising for the Hallmark GoldCrown Stores, a network of 4,200independent retailers.

The Journalism AlumniAssociation honored Reeder as the2004 outstanding advertising alumnusat this year’s J Days ceremonies.

Reeder has had some adventuressince his days watching “Bewitched.”

When he started college, hethought he might major in pre-law,but after some “soul searching, Ilooked at what was interesting.” Hedecided he liked the idea that adver-

tising was multi-dimensional andswitched to the journalism college atUNL by the end of his freshman year.He earned his degree in 1986.

His first job after graduation wasin the communications department atthe university’s Alumni Association.

Andrea Cranford, director ofcommunications for the alumni asso-ciation, said Reeder was her internwhile he was in school. Once he grad-uated, she hired him as her assistantdirector. “He was all around creativeand showed a lot of initiative,”Cranford said. As an advertising per-son, he has “first rate qualities,” shesaid.

Reeder spent one year at thealumni association.

“I was still in the college modeand wasn’t exactly sure what I want-

ed to do,” Reeder said.The next four years he called “the

dark years.” He said it was “prettyhard to break into an ad agency.”Initially, he thought he wanted to beon the creative side of the advertisingbusiness, but eventually he decided topursue account management.

Reeder spent one year in LosAngeles doing research and inter-views and creating contacts with peo-

ple in the advertising business. Hethen moved back to the Midwest toKansas City. It was while working atThe Register, a magazine for theAmerican Simmental Association,that he made a final decision to workwith account services.

“I decided I needed a master’sdegree to position myself where Iwanted to be,” Reeder said.

It was a “pretty intense” year forReeder, but he earned a master ofscience in advertising from the MedillSchool of Journalism at Northwest-ern University in Evanston, Ill., in1991.

His first job at an advertisingagency was with Valentine-RadfordAdvertising in Kansas City. Hallmark,later to become his employer, was oneof his accounts.

He also worked for Applebee’sNeighborhood Grill and Bar for fiveyears. At Applebee’s, Reeder consult-ed on the company’s media planningand worked on the creative develop-ment for advertising campaigns.

Reeder began his career atHallmark by working with a promo-tion group that was launchingHallmark’s “Fresh Ink” cards, target-ed towards women age 18 to 34.

His boss now is the man to whomReeder first sent a letter and resumeback in 1986 after college graduation.

Outside of advertising, Reederstays busy with volunteer work andhis hobbies. He has volunteered onfund-raising projects for the GoodSamaritan Project in Kansas City andthe Kansas City Free Health Clinic.For the past 13 years, he has taughtaerobics at a fitness club. It started asa way to make extra money, but nowhe does it for enjoyment and fun.

Reeder also participates annuallyin summer productions at ShawneeMission Community Theatre in thePark. While at UNL, he was a Scarletand Cream singer, and theater hasalways been an interest for him.

“If you have a passion, you needto feed it,” Reeder said. ❑

Advertising is Reeder’s passion

Robert Reeder (right) receives the Journalism Alumni Association’s outstandingadvertising alumnus award from Brian Noonan, journalism alumni board president.

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J Days


By JENNIFER ROTHJ Alumni News staff

Being part of the telecommuni-cations industry has made time

fly for Dick Bates.“I’ve seen more changes in the

last five years than I had in the last20 years,” said Bates, the operationsmanager for Time Warner Cable.

Bates has been working with thecable industry since 1968 and wasrecognized by the journalism col-lege’s alumni association as thisyear’s distinguished broadcastingalumnus.

Bates came to the University ofNebraska in 1965. While he was inschool, he began working for theLincoln Telephone and TelegraphCompany. As the company intro-duced cable television, one of Bates’jobs was to run black and white car-toons and movies on the local origi-nation channel. It wasn’t exactlystimulating work.

“You can only see ‘Felix the Cat’and ‘Speed Racer’ so many times,”Bates said.

After graduating with a degreein broadcast journalism and Englishin 1971, he planned to teach butfound he was more interested in theopportunities available in the cableTV industry.

The local cable company,Cablevision, hired him to run its pro-duction unit and later made him pro-gram director. In 1981, he was pro-moted to be manager of outlying sys-tems, responsible for 13 cable systemsin southeast Nebraska. In 1987 hewas promoted to Lincoln manager.

While he was running the localproduction unit in the 1970s, Bateshired Rick Alloway, now an assistantprofessor in broadcasting at UNL.Alloway said Bates gave people achance; he hired a lot of people whodidn’t really have much backgroundin the field.

“He was a very fair boss. He goton you if you made a mistake, but hewas quick to compliment you aswell,” Alloway said.

When Time Warner purchasedLincoln’s cable system in 1995, thecompany kept Bates as the opera-tions manager. He continues to dothat job and also manages systems inFremont, Columbus, David City,Seward and Crete for Time Warner,the second largest cable provider inthe United State.

The cable industry is a “reallyexciting industry with a lot of oppor-tunities,” Bates said.

In 33 years his career has comefull circle, Bates said. He started outworking for a telephone company,and now Time Warner, the cablecompany, will start offering digitaltelephone service through its cablesystem this summer.

Bates has seen technology trans-

formed during his career. “Thingsthat used to be unheard of are nowsecond nature,” Bates said.

“This is just the tip of the ice-berg as to what is coming. It’salready out there where you will beable to order a pizza through thecable TV you are watching.”

Mary Bates, his wife of 25 years,said business and family come firstfor her husband. “He is very dedicat-ed,” she said.

But just because Bates managesoperations for a high-tech companythat doesn’t mean he’s a technicalwizard himself. In fact, his wifelaughed in agreement when he said ifhe can’t figure out how to run thelatest remote control or new comput-er program, he’ll give it to his 14-year-old son, Alan, and he’ll figure itout.

“He’s been doing that kind ofstuff since he was born,” Bates says.

The Bates also have an 18-year-old son, Adam, and a 38-year-olddaughter, Dee Ann.

Bates said he hopes to be in thecable business for the next 20 years.“It’s going to be unbelievable — thetype of electronic choices available inthe future,” Bates said. ❑

Local cable TV executivewitness totechnologicaltransformation

Richard Bates (right) poses with assistant professor Rick Alloway at the alumni awardof excellence lunch April 16. Bates was recognized as this year’s outstanding broad-casting alumnus by the journalism college’s alumni association.

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anta


J Days

By MICHAEL BRUNTZJ Alumni News staff

He knew he would see some-thing.

That was the thought that keptSan Francisco Chronicle writer andUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln grad-uate John Koopman trudging towardBaghdad with the third battalion,fourth Marine regiment during theUnited States’ invasion of Iraq.

Koopman was one of the manyjournalists who jumped at the chanceto be embedded with troops in Iraq.It was the lure of the unknown thatmade sleeping in the dirt and dodg-ing bullets between deadlines worth-while.

“We had an opportunity to dosomething that you knew was goingto be historic, and you jump at thechance in spite of the dangers,”Koopman said. “I had no idea whatwould happen. There was a goodchance I’d see something.”

The 1984 UNL graduate and 2004news-editorial J-Days honoreerecounted his experiences as anembedded reporter while in LincolnApril 15.

Koopman’s Marine regiment wasone of the groups leading the chargeto Baghdad. He said the Marinesencountered resistance on their wayto the city, especially outside thetown of Al Kut. Iraqi forces fortifieda palm grove and ambushedKoopman’s group and engaged theAmericans in a lengthy gun battle.

Koopman was standing beside thedriver of his Humvee but backedaway to get a better view of the skir-mish. When Koopman turnedaround, the driver had been shot. Hedied later that day.

The close encounter gaveKoopman a new perspective. “Itreminded me of the little things in

life,” Koopmansaid.

The straight-forward Koopmanhas always beenknown for hisability to fit in,said UNL journal-ism professor BudPagel. Koopmanarrived on UNL’scampus in 1981after spendingnearly four yearsin the Marines.Despite the factthat he was mar-ried, Koopmanworked at theDaily Nebraskanand quickly estab-lished a name for him-self with his tal-ent — and hisself-deprecatingsense of humor.

“This isn’t anew experiencefor him,” Pagelsaid ofKoopman’s warexperiences.“John has alwaysbeen the type ofperson whoadjusted to a situ-ation well.”

Koopman was-n’t a total strangerto being a jour-nalist during awar. He twicewent toAfghanistan forThe OmahaWorld-Heraldduring the Sovietinvasion of themid 1980s toreport on a multi-

Photo by Susan RantaJohn Koopman received the Journalism Alumni Association’s2004 outstanding news-editorial alumnus award.

Grad’s talents serve him well in Iraq

“What you learn to enjoy

about journalism is being

a witness to history.”— John Koopman

San Francisco Chronicle writer


J Days

million dollar grant UNO professorTom Goutierre won to provide educa-tional opportunities to Afghan refugeesin Pakistan. During his second visit tothe country, Koopman and his groupwere crossing the border when theywere caught and detained by Pathantribesmen and jailed for three days.Only a bribe secured their freedom.

“I believe I’m the only World-Heraldreporter ever to list ‘bribes’ on anexpense account,” Koopman said.

That familiarity with the unexpectedserved Koopman well last year as theMarines got closer to Baghdad.

The Marine regiment was fighting togain control of a river crossing whenIraqi troops began firing mortar shellsat the Americans. A shell hit a vehiclebehind Koopman, spraying him withhot engine oil.

He said his respect for the Marinessolidified during the second skirmish.

“They had to suck it up and do theirjobs,” Koopman said. “Their buddieswere dead. Guys are wounded andscreaming and the colonel is comingaround saying they’re going back in 15minutes. I don’t know how they did it,but 15 minutes later they’re runningacross the bridge uncovered.”

Koopman said the Marines encoun-tered little resistance as they approachedthe center of Baghdad. Troops cameinto a traffic circle in the middle of thecity where hundreds of citizens gatheredwith hammers and anything else theycould find to topple the statue ofSaddam Hussein.

Koopman watched as the jubilantIraqis beat the statue’s massive concretebase with hammers and shoes in a pur-poseful and symbolic affront to the top-pled regime and its former leader.

He said the sense of joy and reliefwas tangible that day in Baghdad. Iraqisused Koopman’s satellite phone to callfrazzled relatives in foreign countries,and heavy machinery was called in tofinish off the gigantic effigy.

The breadth of historic moments ishard to grasp when they’re viewed inperson.

When the images decorated the frontpages of newspapers around the globe,

Koopman said he finally realized whathe’d seen in person.

“That’s when I got the sense of thisas a historic moment,” Koopman said.“I said to myself, ‘You just watched his-tory being made.’”

Once the occupation began,Koopman said the situation becamestatic. He left Iraq nearly two weeksafter the Marines arrived in Baghdadand began the American occupation.

Despite seeing some of the worstthat war had to offer, he said he wasn’tchanged much by what he saw. He saidhe learned to compartmentalize theimages in a corner of his brain. He saidhe expected the worst, but luckily theworst never took place.

“I looked at it as this is what I haveto do for my job, and thank God it’sover,” Koopman said.

His experiences turned into a27,000-word series for the San FranciscoChroni-cle. The series is becoming abook that Koopman is writing aboutthe war.

He said he hopes to write a “partmemoir, part historical war descrip-tion,” while mixing in discussions aboutthe embedding process.

Koopman said his four years in theMarines, although he did not serve incombat, helped him do a better job ofreporting.

“Having served in the Marines, I was better able to talk to Marines, to live intheir environment and to more easilydistance myself from them,” Koopmansaid. “Some reporters were too in aweof soldiers and Marines. I had been oneand so didn’t think they were alwayssuch supermen. Not that I didn’t respectthem. It was more of a healthy, honestrespect, though.”

He said his experience covering thewar reminded him of why he got intojournalism.

“What you learn to enjoy aboutjournalism is being a witness to histo-ry,” Koopman said. “Those are the ele-ments that make the job worthwhile.”

❑

Yogibearsgift forJ schoolBy AMBER BROZEKJ Alumni News staff

Dick Chapin compareshimself to Yogi Bear

when he describes his long,adventurous career in the fieldof broadcasting.

The 81-year-old has dedi-cated 51 years to the industryhe loves.

This year Chapin gave$125,000 to the College ofJournalism and MassCommunications at theUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was also honoredby the Journalism AlumniAssociation for outstandingservice to the profession.

With $25,000 of the Chapingift, the college provided twodisplay cases for broadcastequipment, to be placed in theJ.C. Seacrest Lecture Hall. Theremainder of the gift will beplaced in an endowed fund toprovide scholarships for broad-casting students who are inter-ested in the business side ofbroadcasting.

“I just wanted to give backto the industry that helpedme,” Chapin said.

Chapin graduated fromUNL in 1947 and was appoint-ed secretary of the chamber ofcommerce in Atlantic, Iowa.

But after several years hereturned to Lincoln to serve asconvention manger for the

Lincoln Chamber of Commerce andwas later named the assistant generalmanager of the chamber.

Then in 1953, Chapin took a jobwith radio station KFOR as anaccount executive. The next year hebecame the general manager.

Seventeen years later, in 1970,Chapin became president of StuartEnterprises, which owned radio sta-tions, outdoor advertising and aninsurance company and had severalestate holdings.

In 1985, Stuart Enterprises wassold to DKM BroadcastingCorporation of Atlanta, but Chapinremained president, running the 10Stuart stations.

He left DKM, though, two yearslater to open a branch office for R.C.Crisler and Co., a Cincinnati mediabrokerage firm. Later, he establishedhimself in the brokerage business, inwhich he is still involved.

Now semi-retired, Chapin oper-ates Chapin Enterprises, a Lincoln-based media brokerage firm, andowns five radio stations.

Chapin said two high points of hiscareer stand out in his memory.

He was the first person to chairboth the National Association ofBroadcasters, a job he held twice, andthe Radio Advertising Bureau.

And in 1974, the NationalAssociation of Broadcasters gaveChapin the Distinguished ServiceAward, the nation’s highest broad-casting award.

Roger Dodson, senior vice presi-dent for training for the RadioAdvertising Bureau, started workingfor Chapin at Stuart Enterprises whenhe was a sophomore college studentat UNL.

“He has written the frameworkfor many people in the business,”Dodson said. “In his case, he is anicon for the broadcasting field in theentire United States.”

Chapin set the standard of excel-lence and is an advocate for the busi-ness side of broadcasting, he said.

“When you talk of opportunities,it does not matter who you are, butwhat you are,” Dodson said. AndChapin, he said, helps students suc-ceed “in the greatest industry for free-dom of expression.”

“He provides a vehicle for studentswho want to get into the industry,”Dodson said.

Rick Alloway, a UNL broadcastingprofessor, said Chapin was a long-time supporter of broadcasting edu-cation. His donation to the collegeand the student scholarship is justanother indication of how muchChapin “believes in education.”

Alloway also worked for Chapinat Stuart Enterprises. He said Chapinwas a tough, demanding boss, whoset high standards for employees.

“But for a young person, like I wasthen, it’s the right kind of influence,”he said. “(Chapin) only accepted thebest, but he was always fair.

“Lincoln is fortunate to have hisability and we are pleased to gainthrough his experience, and his gift tothe college.”

Larry Walklin, broadcasting pro-fessor, said Chapin deserves recogni-tion because of his service to the uni-versity and the broadcasting businessfield.

“He is a broadcasting pioneer.” ❑

J Days photo album


A NETWORKING LUNCH AT

THE NEBRASKA UNION WAS

WELL-ATTENDED ON

APRIL 14.

HENRY CORDES,OMAHA WORLDHERALD REPORTER(BELOW LEFT)RECEIVES THOMAS C. SORENSENAWARD FOR DISTINGUISHEDNEBRASKA JOURNALISM.


J Days

Photo by Marilyn Hahn

INTERIM ASSISTANT DEAN MICHAEL GOFF

IS PICTURED WITH RICHARD YOUNG,

RECIPIENT OF 2004 DEAN’S AWARD


SARAH WOOTTON AND SARAHHERMSMEIER POSE FOR A PICTUREAFTER THE HONORS CONVOCA-TION. HERMSMEIER WAS SELECTEDFOR THE OUTSTANDING STUDENT SERVICE AWARD. WOOTTON IS A STUDENT ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER. BOTH ARE ADVERTIS-ING MAJORS.

Photo by SusanRanta

MICHAEL

GOFF AND BUD

PAGEL POSE

FOR A PHOTO

WITH OLIVE

COPPLE, WIDOW

OF FORMER

DEAN NEALE

COPPLE. GOFF

AND PAGEL ARE

ON THE J

SCHOOL FACULTY.


J Days

This is a great honor for a business administrationgrad with no journalismbackground.

I’ve spent 50 years inthe broadcast business

and have

had a fairly good career.Now I have a chance tolook back and see howmuch more I could havedone if I had taken moreclasses that are

currently offered in thejournalism school.

Life is a long, difficultand expensive journey.Getting a good education is a half-fare coupon.

I tell every young per-son I come in contact withto take all the speech, writ-ing and English classes heor she can because I sin-cerely believe one of ourbiggest problems on anylevel in business and gov-ernment today is our inabil-ity to communicate.

Besides owning severalradio stations, I broker sta-tions, and as a radio broker,I’m always negotiatingbetween the buyer and theseller. Quite often, theyhave become almost hostilein their conversations withme as the negotiator. Theseare the times I wish I hadbetter communication skills.

Communication comesinto play every day in thecontract negotiationsbetween parties: in your

trying to hire someone you really want, in selling youproduct so your client reallywants it.

That is why I greatlyadmire the University ofNebraska journalism collegeand the job it is doing. I’vegotten to know Dean WillNorton quite well in thelast couple of years. He isenergetic, personable and isthe reason the college isdoing so well. I’m glad hedid not dump us for thoseKansas Jayhawks.

I could ramble on aboutfreedom of the press andhow I think many radioowners have abused theirresponsibilities, but fornow, I want every personto have the freedom tospeak as he or she sees fit.But I am also a member ofsociety. I understand thatwhat we say and how wesay it must be tempered bywhere and when we say it.

This award means agreat deal to me. Please

accept my heartfeltthanks.

❑

Dick Chapin (right) talked about the importance ofcommunication when he accepted his award for Service tothe Profession. He is pictured with Brian Noonan, journal-ism alumni board president.

Phot

o by

Sus

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anta

Photo by Marilyn Hahn

Photo by Susan Ranta

‘Communication is key’

DEAN NORTON (LEFT) AND CRAIG

ECKERT, CHAIRMAN OF THE NEBRASKA

BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION, PRES-

ENT THE BROADCASTING PIONEER

AWARD TO MAX BROWN, RETIRED GEN-

ERAL MANAGER OF KRVN LEXINGTON.

ERIC BROWN (RIGHT) ACCEPTED THE

AWARD ON HIS FATHER’S BEHALF.


f a c u l t y notes

ADVERTISING

Frauke Hachtmann and GovindaTidball, a graduate student, wrote apaper that was accepted for presenta-tion at the Toronto convention of theAssociation for Education inJournalism and MassCommunication. The title is “RacialRepresentation and Role Depiction inMagazine Advertisements: A ContentAnalysis.”

Sloane Signal and Hachtmannproposed and organized a panel forthe AEJMC convention. Titled“Communicating with Multiculturaland Global Audiences withoutCreating Stereotypes,” the panel willfeature a discussion of the currentstate of multiculturalism and global-ization in advertising and civic jour-nalism. They will showcase differentdomestic and global ad campaigns(including student work), pointingout blunt stereotypes as well as mes-sages that were well communicated.Finally, they will examine ways toavoid stereotypes in future campaignsand how to become more sensitive,while communicating effectively andefficiently.

Phyllis Larsen wrote a chapter forthe third edition of the book,Learning To Teach, that was pub-lished in October 2003. She also hadtwo articles accepted for the comingEncyclopedia of Public Relationsfrom Sage Publications. Larsen con-tinues to serve as the faculty adviserto UNL’s Public Relations StudentSociety of America and coordinatestheir student/professional mentoringprogram. She also serves as the vol-unteer PR director forLincoln/Lancaster County Habitatfor Humanity and worked with Prof.Thomas Spann and his students tocreate a promotional video for theorganization.

Associate Dean Linda Shipley hasmoved from the undergraduate to thegraduate program. As chair of theGraduate Committee for the college,she will coordinate the campus anddistance education graduate pro-

grams. Shipley continues to serve onthe advisory boards for Journalismand Mass CommunicationsQuarterly and Newspaper ResearchJournal. She is the representative ofthe American Academy ofAdvertising on the AccreditingCouncil for Education in Journalismand Mass Communications. She wasa member of the accrediting site visitteam at West Virginia University inOctober and attended the accreditingcouncil meeting in Boston in May.

BROADCASTING

Rick Alloway was the moderator fora panel discussion on the Civil RightsAct of 1964 as part of Martin LutherKing week activities in January. Hereceived the UNL Parents AssociationAward for service to students for the12th year and was nominated for theuniversity’s outstanding adviser ofthe year award. He appears regularlyas media consultant on KentPavelka’s morning radio show onKKAR, Omaha. He was a guestspeaker on media at the HughO’Brien Youth Leadership StateConference on the UNL campus June11 and produced public service radiospots for the American Red Crossfollowing tornado that destroyed thetown of Hallam and neighboringareas in May.

Laurie Thomas Lee spoke on apanel at the Broadcast EducationAssociation annual convention in LasVegas in April. Her presentation wason “The Patriot Act and Privacy.”She also served as moderator for a

panel session on “CableTelecommunications IndustryResearch” at the National CableTelecommunications AcademicSeminar in Chicago.

Jerry Renaud attended theBroadcast Educators Associationconvention and the NationalAssociation of Broadcasters conven-tion, both in Las Vegas in April.Along with news-editorial studentDakarai Aarons, he gave a presenta-tion at the national NAFSA conven-

tion in Baltimore in May concerningthe Cuba project. He continued workon a documentary looking at sixyears in the life of buffalo ranchersand what the future holds for raisingbuffalo.

The Cuba documentary, forwhich Renaud and Joe Starita wereco-executive producers, was shownon 98 public television stations onMay 2. It received national studentdocumentary of the year honors atthe Broadcast Educators Associationconvention in April and placed thirdin the documentary category of theStudent Academy Awards. (See storyon page 40.)

Larry Walklin wrote a successfulproposal for funds to provide addi-tional information about the gradu-ate program. His spring semesterclass was part of the video for astory about university costs thataired on the Peter Jennings ABC TV

The students were a littleyounger, but the principles

were the same when broadcastingprofessor Tom Spann worked withfifth graders from Elliott ElementarySchool last winter.

Elliott has used a three-year Artsin Education grant to help its stu-dents become media literate. Thisyear’s program focused on develop-ing large projects for the CelebrateLincoln Festival on April 30 andMay 1.

The children created their ownCD, beginning by writing poetryand turning the poetry into musiclyrics, then used a computer pro-gram to create the music.

Then Spann got involved, help-ing the students create the videosand record their voices. The processtook place in Andersen Hall inMarch. ❑

Media literacystarts early


f a c u l t y notes

News program. Walklin produced aninstructional video presentation forthe Internet by Professor KatherineWalter, chair of preservation and spe-cial collections at the UniversityLibrary, on the Nebraska NewspaperProject. He also wrote two articlesfor the Nebraska BroadcastersAssociation publication, MODULA-TOR.

NEWS-EDITORIAL

John Bender is the lead author ofthe eight edition of Reporting for theMedia, which will be published thissummer and will be available for fallcourses. The new edition includescontributions from several UNLalumni. Jeff Zeleny and Erin Schulteboth contributed stories about theirexperiences on Sept. 11, 2001. Zelenycovered the attack on the Pentagonfor the Chicago Tribune, and Schulte

worked at The Wall Street Journalonline and print editions, coveringthe attacks. Matthew Hansen of theLincoln Journal Star contributed hisprofile of Dick Cavett for the chapteron feature writing. Other UNL alumswho helped are Melanie MenschSidwell, Dane Stickney, VeronicaDaehn Stickney and Gwen Tietgen.

Charlyne Berens was on academicleave during spring semester andbegan research on a book about thepolitical career of Nebraska Sen.Chuck Hagel. She spoke to theNebraska Press Women at thegroup’s spring meeting in May andwas co-director, with Jerry Sass, ofthe Dow Jones Newspaper Fundinternship residency at UNL duringthe last two weeks of May.

Luis Peon-Casanova hosted theNebraska News PhotographersAssociation contest in March and theNebraska High School

Photographers Association workshopin May. He worked with studentJessica Hoffman to get a $2,000UCARE scholarship for a project inconjunction with the astronomydepartment. He completed a 30-minute documentary and four publicservice announcements for nationaldistribution on literacy for Spanish-speaking people.

Joe Starita is preparing a depthreporting project that will take 11students to Paris in early September.The hand-picked group of studentswill examine the current state ofFranco-American relations. The proj-ect includes print, broadcasting andadvertising students who will pro-duce both a full-color magazine andvideo documentary of the project.He also is researching a book on thelife and death of Ponca ChiefStanding Bear. ❑

Phot

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arily

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2003

Alexis Fisher, Philadelphia, Pa., is aproducer for NBC 10 in BalaCynwyd, Pa.

Lindsey Gill, Lincoln, is an asso-ciate producer at KM3 News inOmaha.

Tyler Grassmeyer, Washington,D.C., is on the Washington staff ofNebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel.Previously, Grassmeyer was specialassistant to the director and congres-sional liaison for the White HouseCommission on Remembrance.

Andrea Heisinger, Lewiston,Idaho, is a reporter for the LewistonMorning Tribune.

Brooke Johnson produces gamehighlights for ESPN’s “Sportscenter,”“Baseball Tonight” and “NBA FastBreak.” She started in March as aproduction assistant at ESPN’s homeoffice in Bristol, Conn. She choosesand packages the highlights that runon the ESPN shows.

Allison Marks, Atlanta, Ga., is asales assistant at Katz Media inAtlanta.

Carrie Myers, Lincoln, is anadmissions counselor for UNL.

Jill Zeman, Little Rock, Ark., is areporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

2002

Jami Larson, Woodland Hills, Calif.,is regional affiliate relations directorfor Premiere Radio Networks.

April Reins, Mission, Kan., is anaccount executive with BarkleyEvergreen and Partners PublicRelations in Kansas City.

2001

Amanda Wilcox Johnson, HighlandsRanch, Colo., is Web editor for TheCable Center, cable television’snational programming and researchcenter, in Denver. She will graduatein August from the University ofDenver with an M.A. in digitalmedia studies. While attending grad

school she worked full time as man-ager of communications for TheWomen’s College, a separate collegewithin the DU system for working,adult women earning DU bachelor’sdegrees by taking weekend classes.She did all of the college’s publica-tions and image development and itsWeb site.

Katie Juhl is production coordi-nator for ABC NewsOneWashington. She coordinatesWashington, D.C., operations, feedsand live shots for ABC News affili-ates and clients. Before joining ABCin January, she was a desk assistantat The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,produced for PBS in Arlington, Va.She worked for KUON-TV,Nebraska’s PBS station, for sixmonths after graduating from UNLand then earned the M.A. in broad-cast journalism from the S.I.Newhouse School of PublicCommunications at SyracuseUniversity. She also does freelancebroadcast reporting and gives pianolessons.

2000

Erin Dolan, Denver, is a marketingcoordinator for Microsoft in Denver.

Joshua Eickmeier works for theNew Hampshire Democratic Party asthe deputy field director for the firstCongressional District. He previous-ly worked on John Kerry’s primarycampaign in Iowa, New Hampshireand Tennessee.

Matt Miller, a photographer withThe Omaha World-Herald, earnedthird place in the Best of StillPhotojournalism 2004 competitionsponsored by the National PressPhotographers Association. Millerwon in the domestic news categoryfor a picture of two Omaha highschool girls fighting with each otherin a city park on April 4, 2003.According to the NPPA Web site, theaward in that category is for a photothat is unplanned and immediate, anevent where the photographer hasn’tthe time to plan but reacts on

instinct, adrenaline and news judg-ment.

Shannon Heffelfinger Shermanjoined Bailey Lauerman, Lincoln, inJune as public relations project man-ager. She previously was assistantsports information director at UNL.She will receive the M.A. degree injournalism in August.

Amanda Taylor, Littleton, Colo.,is public relations specialist at theGirl Scouts-Mile Hi Council.Previously, she was at the ColoradoCenter for Nursing Excellence astheir communications and outreachcoordinator.

1999

Eric Drumheller, Lincoln, is directorof community relations forEducationQuest Foundation inLincoln.

Jennifer McCarthy, Chicago, isan associate producer with HarpoProductions.

Jason Stuehmer, Westborough,Mass., is an applications specialistfor Pinnacle Systems in Lowell, Mass.

Heidi White was promoted lastyear to international editor at theArkansas Democrat-Gazette in LittleRock. She started her job there inNovember 1999 after a brief stint inCheyenne, Wyo. She was promoted inNovember 2001 to assistant interna-tional editor and in May 2003 tointernational editor.

1998

Angela Heywood Bible is spendingthe summer at the United Nationsheadquarters in Geneva at the Officeof the High Commissioner forHuman Rights in the Department ofCounter-Terrorism and Democracy.She completed her first year of lawschool at the University of NorthCarolina in May. As a requirementfor the master’s degree in interna-tional law, she also will take classesat the University of Geneva LawSchool — international tax, con-tracts and environmental law.


a l u m n i notes


a l u m n i notes

1997

Doug Kouma has been promoted tocopy chief of Better Homes andGardens Special InterestPublications. In his new role, hemanages copyediting and productionfor 100+ magazines per year andsupervises all staff and freelancecopy editors. He was previously asenior copy editor in SIP. After grad-uation, he worked at The DesMoines Register as a news copy edi-tor and 1A and Metro designer. InAugust 1999, he joined Meredith (inDes Moines) as an associate copyeditor in Better Homes and GardensSpecial Interest Publications. In 2002,he was named senior copy editor forbuilding and remodeling titles. Ascopy chief, he now has responsibilityfor all titles in SIP’sBuilding/Remodeling/Kitchens,Decorating & Design and Gardengroups. Together, the three groupsproduce 100+ magazines per yearwith a total circulation of more than40 million.

1996

Paul Erickson, Lincoln, is the instruc-tional technology development man-ager for UNL.

1994

Leslie Rupiper, Sioux Falls, S.D., is areporter at KSFY-TV in Sioux Falls.

1993

Emily DeMars Kranz, Fremont, ownsthe marketing consulting businesscalled The Ad Doctor in Fremont.

1992

Lori Koepke, Lincoln, joined SnitilyCarr’s media department as a mediabuyer and planner in March.

Mike Lewis has been in Chicagosince late 1999 and has worked as aneditor at World Book Encyclopediasince early 2001.

Susan Phalen, Alexandria, Va., isdirector of the International PressCenter for the Office of StrategicCommunications. As of April, shewas working in Baghdad, Iraq, forthe Coalition Provisional Authority,running the International PressCenter and working with the interna-tional press corps based in Baghdad.

1991

Monte Olson, Lincoln, is director ofstrategy and brand development atFusebox in Lincoln. He previouslyworked in Chicago, Los Angeles andSan Francisco, most recently asadvertising director for Bank ofAmerica in San Francisco.

1990

Jennifer Snyder, Lincoln, is market-ing coordinator for UNL’s UniversityHealth Center. She is working on amaster’s degree in journalism with anemphasis in advertising. She is amember of the planning committeefor the Lincoln Marathon.

1989

Kelly Anders, Sacramento, Calif., is areference librarian at the McGeorgeSchool of law in Sacramento. Sheearned her law degree at PepperdineUniversity in 1996. She received aForty Under 40 award from theDenver Business Journal in 2001.

Mike Reilley, a public relationsaccount executive at BaileyLauerman marketing communica-tions was promoted in February tobe director of the sports marketingand consulting group. Previously,Reilley covered the NFL, majorleague baseball and college sports asa reporter at the Los Angeles Timesand Chicago Tribune. He alsoworked as an online editor atAmerica Online and the WashingtonPost. He earned a degree in mediamanagement/newspaper administra-tion from Northwestern University in1995.

1988

Larry Punteney, Lincoln, joinedSnitily Carr as a marketing managerin March. He was a local newsanchor for three years and has hostednumerous Husker coaches’ televisionprograms.

Joan Rezac von Kampen recentlybecame Midlands team leader onThe Omaha World-Herald copydesk, where she has worked since1997. She previously worked for TheDes Moines Register, the ScottsbluffStar-Herald and the North PlatteTelegraph. She and her husband,Todd von Kampen, live in Omahaand have four children: Jonathan, 13;Joshua, 10; Benjamin, 3; andAnnetta, 1.

Cheryl Wemhoff was recognizedas the 2004 Ad Pro of the Year at theNebraska ADDYS in January. She ispresident of “advertising advice,” afirm specializing in consulting localand regional businesses and organi-zations on their marketing and adver-tising plans, media buying and copywriting. She has served on the boardof directors of the AdvertisingFederation of Lincoln for seven yearsand is currently chairman of theboard.

1986

Tammy Traudt, La Jolla, Calif., is amanager of events and special proj-ects at the University of California-San Diego.

Todd von Kampen recently wasnamed editorial page coordinator forThe Omaha World-Herald. He hadbeen a World-Herald reporter since1999. He previously worked for TheDes Moines Register, the ScottsbluffStar-Herald and the North PlatteTelegraph. He and his wife, JoanRezac von Kampen, live in Omahaand have four children: Jonathan, 13;Joshua, 10; Benjamin, 3; andAnnetta, 1.

1985

Joel Sartore’s photos will be onexhibit until June 5, 2005, at theUniversity of Nebraska StateMuseum at Morrill Hall, 14th and UStreets. The exhibit, titled “FragileNature: a Personal View,” is made upof more than 50 photographs Sartorehas taken during his 15 years of trav-eling the world as a photographer forNational Geographic magazine.

1984

Michael “O.J.” Nelson, editor at theKansas City Star, received the first-ever Headline Award from JohnsonCounty Community College’s jour-nalism and media communicationsdepartment. The award was in recog-nition of his contributions to jour-nalism in Johnson County. Nelsonhas worked 30 years for the Star,most of that time as an editor. Thisyear he became assistant managingeditor/zoning, overseeing content ofNeighborhood News inserts acrossthe area.

Mona Koppelman Smith,Brooklyn, N.Y., is the manager ofadult programs for the BrooklynMuseum. Her first book was sched-uled to be published in August byFaber & Faber. Titled BecomingSomething: the Story of Canada Lee,the book is the biography of blackactor Canada Lee. A politicalactivist, Lee was under surveillanceby the FBI and the House Un-American Activities Committee for adecade. In 1949, he was blacklistedafter he was wrongly denounced as aCommunist during a sensationalespionage trial. He continued to fightfor civil rights until he died in 1952.The book is dedicated to Bud Pagel,Koppelman’s first J school professor.

1983

Chris Bouma Anderson was inductedin May into the Norris Alumni Hallof Fame. She graduated from NorrisHigh School in 1979 and is in her11th year as Nebraska’s sports infor-mation director. For the past sixyears she has served as assistant ath-

letic director for communication andin May was promoted to associateathletic director. She oversees all ath-letic department publications andTV productions and assists withradio and television contracts.

1982

Monica Frank Pribil, Lincoln, worksfor the Tobacco Free Nebraska proj-ect sponsored by Nebraska Healthand Human Services.

1980

Eric Warp, Sacramento, Calif., isowner of American Warp Drive. Thisis his fourth year as an independentdesigner for television and print.Recent projects include the creationof virtual sets for a half-hour videofeaturing actor Martin Sheen. InFebruary he launched a new bou-tique production company with threefellow veterans of commercial TV.Their first official project asTVfabfour will be a documentary onAIDS in Romania, shot on location


a l u m n i notes

It’s official: Ruth Lahr,class of 1938, is a dis-

tinguished citizen. Shereceived the Holmes RunAcres Civic AssociationDistinguished CitizenAward in May.

Although the grouphas presented annualawards for special proj-ects or activities for manyyears, Lahr’s is the first“lifelong” recognition,she reports. The awardwas made for her lifelongcommitment to HRA resi-dents, her countless sto-ries in The HolmesRunner and her advocacyfor the children of the

area.Holmes Run Acres, in

Falls Church, Va., is acommunity of about 350homes, Lahr writes. Thefirst of the three sectionsopened in 1951. “I amthe last remaining originalresident.”

Lahr lives in a ranch-style home that was builtaccording to the modelfeatured in HouseBeautiful in spring 1951.

“Before the develop-ment organized into acivic association in 1952,there was a publication,The Holmes Runner, forour growing community— so isolated in Fairfax

County’s middle region—to keep in touch witheach other and with thelocality in which welived.”

Lahr was an early edi-tor of The HolmesRunner, which wasmimeographed and dis-tributed monthly in itsearly days. It is now pub-lished twice a month, andLahr continues to con-tribute regularly, writingmost often about schoolsor about Fairfax Countyhistory.

From the beginning,the HRA Civic Associationhas sponsored events forthe community and has

had a special speaker atits annual meeting. Thisyear’s speaker told theresidents how they couldform a historical district,“which would protect thearea from invasion byroad expansion, as in theproposal to widen theBeltway, which is thewestern boundary of ourcommunity. (I don’tmean mere incursion.),”Lahr writes.

In a note attached toa photocopy of her dis-tinguished citizen award,Lahr says, “Volunteerjournalism can berewarding.”

❑

Volunteer journalism rewarding – and ‘awarding’


a l u m n i notes

in March. He and his wife, Peggy,have a daughter, Zoey, 8.

1977

Bob Cullinan, San Rafael, Calif., isself-employed. After working formore than a dozen years in local TVnews and sports — with a handfulof network assignments along theway — he began a second career inmedia relations consulting in 1997.He helps people and companies landcoverage in the major local, nationaland international media like CNN,CNBC, The New York Times, TheWall Street Journal, Forbes, BusinessWeek, Wired, News.com and others.He acts as the conduit between hisclients and the media, helping clientsidentify the stories that can do themthe most good and then workingwith the reporters, editors and pro-ducers at targeted media to helpthem produce coverage of his clients.Over the years he has worked forclients like Microsoft, HP, TheSharper Image and the Kingdom ofTonga.

Rusty Cunningham is publisherof the La Crosse Tribune andWinona Daily News and president ofthe River Valley Newspaper Group,which includes the two dailies, plus atwice-weekly and six weeklies inwestern Wisconsin and shoppersthroughout the region. After gradua-tion, he was a cops reporter forabout nine months at The EveningPress in Binghamton, N.Y. He wentto The Omaha World-Herald in 1978as a copy editor and night copsreporter. He worked at the Quad-City Times in Davenport, Iowa, (LeeEnterprises) from 1979 through 1992as a reporter and editor and was edi-tor of The Ottumwa Courier from1992-1997 (a Lee paper at that time).He was editor of the La Crosse paperfrom 1997 to January 2002, thenpublisher of the Portage, Wis., divi-sion of Capital Newspapers. He

returned to La Crosse and Winona inFebruary.

1976

Gina Hills is managing producer ofSeattlepi.com, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s five-year-old Web site.She joined the Seattle P-I in late 1987after nearly a dozen years with UPIin Nebraska, Louisiana and Indiana.Before moving to the online world in1999, she had many editing positionsin the P-I’s newsroom, includingregion, education and politics editor.At Seattlepi.com, she has beeninstrumental in developing the site’snews content and 24/7 news strategy.

1975

Michael T. Martinez, Euless, Texas,is senior producer of Star-Telegram.com in Fort Worth.

1974

Ann Pedersen Gleeson, Omaha, isdirector of public relations forinfoUSA in Omaha.

1973

Barbara Chaney, San Francisco, isemployed by Sedgwick, Detert,Moran and Arnold in San Francisco.

1970

Bob Thacker became external rela-tions director of the Guthrie Theaterin Minneapolis July 5. Thackerretired in January from theMinnesota office of the New York-based advertising firm BBDO wherehe had been president and CEO since1999. He will lead the Guthrie’sdevelopment, marketing and commu-nications and will work with theeducation/community partnerships.

1969

Stuart M. Frohm, Midland, Mich., iswire editor and political writer forthe Midland Daily News.

1954

Wendell “Del” Harding Jr.,Washington, Utah, is a retired NASApublic information office chief.During his career, he earned 11national writing and publicationawards, served two terms as vicepresident of National School PublicRelations Association and nine yearsas an officer of the ColoradoProfessional chapter of SPJ. Earlier inhis career, he was a reporter for theFremont Tribune, the Lincoln Starand the Denver Rocky MountainNews.

1950

Alan Clem, Vermillion, S.D., haswritten seven books. Three relate toSouth Dakota and four to U.S.national government and politics.His most recent book is Governmentby the People? South Dakota Politicsin the Last Third of the TwentiethCentury. When he was at the univer-sity, Clem was president of SigmaDelta Chi and editor of the DailyNebraskan.

Send us yournews!

Internethttp://journalism.unl.edu/

alumni/alumni.html

[email protected]

❖


c o l l e g e notes

After the May 22 tornado torethrough southern Lancaster

County, some folks needed helprebuilding. Some needed food andwater. Some needed donations ofclothing.

Saranne Renaud and her year-book staff at Norris High Schoolneeded a computer lab.

Renaud, in her 13th year as jour-nalism teacher and yearbook adviserat Norris, southeast of Lincoln, usu-ally plans to complete production ofthe book right after school is out inMay. This year she expected theentire staff to be at Norris on May25 and 26 to finish their spreads.

But by May 25 and 26, only halfof Norris was still standing. TheSaturday tornado had destroyed thenorth and west sides of the complex,which houses grades kindergartenthrough 12. The storm tore a foot-square hole in the roof of Renaud’sclassroom, and the downpour thataccompanied the tornado soaked thecarpet, closet and cupboards.

Most of the completed work onthe yearbook was stored on comput-ers, but the building had no electrici-ty to operate even lights. Once thepower was back on, the tech staffperson at Norris copied all the year-book materials onto a CD so that thestaff could take it elsewhere and fin-ish up.

But where? It just so happens that Saranne

Renaud is married to Jerry Renaud, amember of the UNL broadcastingfaculty. Jerry suggested the J schoolwould be able to find a place for theyearbook staff to finish its work.

Luther Hinrichs, journalism’scomputer guy, set up a lab full of PCsfor the Norris refugees and loaded

the software theyneeded for theirproject. Then arepresentativefromWadsworth, theyearbook pub-lishing company,came by andadded the neces-sary enhance-ment software.

OnWednesday, June9, all 15 mem-bers of the year-book staffshowed up atAndersen Hall toget started. Atleast a few wereat work everyday after thatthrough lateJune. When theproofs cameback from thepublisher in July,the staff cameback to do theindex and put the final touches onthe book. Renaud hoped to have thewhole thing completed by mid July.

Shelly Thompson, spreads editorfor the yearbook, said coming to theJ school every day has been a lot dif-ferent from what she expected to bedoing in June and July. “We werereally close to being done, and thisthrew a loop into things,” she said.

But Renaud said she was happyand relieved to be set up and func-tioning in Andersen Hall. “I have noidea where I would have looked” ifthe J school hadn’t been willing tohelp, she said.

Mike Goff, interim assistantdean, said the school was delightedto do something to help some of thefolks affected by the storm.

The finished product, which willinclude a special section about thetornado, will probably be available inmid September. Predictions are it willbe a fine product.

Despite the storm and the chal-lenges involved in changing venues,“the yearbook will be just as good”as ever, Thompson said.

❑

Photo by Luis Peon-CasanovaNorris high school students, left, Brittany Kvasnicka and JessalynSchrock work at the College of Journalism and Mass Communi-cations to finish their yearbook. Saranne Renaud, yearbook adviser,looks on. Most of Norris High School was destroyed by a tornadoMay 22.

May tornado movesNorris yearbook staffto Andersen Hall


c o l l e g e notes

By SARA CONNOLLYJ Alumni News staff

Last January, one week into thenew semester, students and

teachers in the basic business writingcourses at UNL had to up and moveacross campus — from NebraskaHall to journalism’s Andersen Hall.

The move signified not only anew physical location but also a newcurricular location for the businesswriting courses. The classes, requiredfor all business majors at UNL, hadbeen offered by the College ofEducation and Human Sciences butare now part of the J School.

The move makes sense, saidMichael Goff, interim assistant deanof the journalism college. “Our col-lege is known as the place on campusthat focuses on writing and commu-nications,” Goff said. “This is a logi-cal place to house the business writ-ing program.”

The 500 students who take theclasses each semester learn to writememos, resumes, business letters andother documents commonly used inbusiness today.

Dona Vasa, coordinator of busi-ness communication, said the newlocation has changed the course andthe way it is taught.

“These classrooms have comput-ers for all the students,” Vasa said, aswell as projection equipment thatallows instructors to use up-to-datetools like PowerPoint.

Goff helped oversee the move. Hesaid the classes keep two computerlabs busy all day long, five days aweek.

In addition to its facilities andequipment, Vasa said, AndersenHall’s location is good for studentsbecause it is closer than NebraskaHall to the core of the campus and,especially, to the College of BusinessAdministration. Nearly all the stu-

dents who take the course are fromCBA.

Still, not quite all the businesswriting classes have moved toAndersen Hall. Vasa said three of the25 sections of the class are stilltaught in Nebraska Hall.

The move from Nebraska Hall toAndersen Hall was done quickly andwithout much advance notice, Vasasaid. Goff also said moving officematerials and teaching tools was hur-ried and confusing, but it all seemedto have worked out.

“It was hectic with the last-minute stuff at semester break,” Goffsaid. “Not all of the rooms wereready. We had to put in a new com-puter lab.”

Even with all of the hassles, Goffsaid the 11 part-time instructors whoteach the business classes have addeda new dimension to the faculty atAndersen Hall.

“We’re pleased to have the busi-ness writing teachers here,” he said.“They’re a pleasurable group of peo-ple.”

❑

Three Wheaton College graduatesgather for a ceremonial photo atthe J school in January.

Dean Will Norton, center, invit-ed Ray Smith, left, and Don Holtto speak to journalism classes andrewarded their efforts withNebraska sweatshirts.

Smith was an editor, publisherand editorial director with HBJPublications, Cleveland, a sub-sidiary of Harcourt BraceJovanovich Inc. in the 1970s andwas named vice president of HBJPublications in 1978. He foundedhis own media consulting firm inWheaton, Ill., in 1995, retiring in2003.

Holt began his career as areporter and editor at Chicago-area newspapers, then went to

Newsweek magazine. He was awriter and later an editor atFortune magazine and then editorand senior vice president of the

Journal of Commerce. He was avisiting journalism instructor atWheaton College from 1999 to2003. ❑

Writers, editors visit UNL J school students

Business writers find new home

Three UNL students earned aJune trip to San Francisco

when they qualified for the 2004Hearst Journalism Awards Programfinals. Broadcasting student JuanitaPage and news-ed students DirkChatelain and Van Jensen competedin San Francisco in early June.

The J school finished in seventhplace overall in the awards program,the first time in recent memory it hasfinished in the top 10 overall. Thecollege was fourth in print and 17thin broadcast. Last year, UNL finishedthird in the print competition.

Page was one of five studentsfrom across the nation selected intwo rounds of competition as a final-ist in the television category. To qual-ify, she had submitted two stories inthe first round. One was about watercontamination in Grand Island, astory that took her back to the com-munity several times.

“They were passionate about it,”she says of the Grand Island resi-dents she covered. Their problem was“bad them but good for me,” leadingto an award-winning story.

Her second story was aboutanother sad situation: complicationsfrom a blizzard. The two put her infourth place in the quarterfinals.Fellow broadcasting student BrandiPeterson finished first in the quarter-finals.

For the semifinals, Page needed toenter three stories that ran no morethan a total of 10 minutes. She usedthe Grand Island story again andadded a story about a mentally hand-icapped Omaha girl who had beenraped. The family gave Page anexclusive interview, and she producedwhat she called a “very movingstory.”

For her third story, she wantedsomething lighter, and she got it —figuratively, at least. Willy Amos, amember of the Husker football team,

is a world jump-rope champion, andPage focused on Amos and his jump-ing.

The package was enough to takeher to the finals in San Francisco.

On the print side, Chatelain’s firstplace finish in sports writing guaran-teed him a place in the finals. Hiswinning story about the BeatriceBruins baseball team was publishedin July 2003 in The Omaha World-Herald.

“It was about a collection of per-sonalities and backgrounds boundtogether by a love of baseball,”Chatelain said. “It definitely had a‘Field of Dreams’ feel to it.”

He said his favorite stories arerelated to sports but not necessarilyabout sports. For example, “I wouldargue that the Beatrice story, thougha baseball story, was more about 20-year-old kids, their dreams and whatthey sacrifice to chase those dreams.”

Jensen qualified for the finals bytaking fourth place in the profilescategory and ninth in the sports cate-gory.

Jensen’s profile was about RogerKats, who once announced footballgames in Jensen’s hometown ofLewellen.

“Roger’s story is a truly amazingone,” Jensen said. Kats was mentallyhandicapped and battled constantphysical health problems, but “itnever held him back” and he becamea beloved member of the community.

Jensen’s sports story was aboutthe bill Nebraska Sen. ErnieChambers proposed in theLegislature to require UNL to pay itsfootball players.

All three Hearst finalists plan togo into news after they graduate —all in December. Page would like tobe a reporter or editor. Chatelain,interning this summer at the St.Louis Post-Dispatch, hopes to coversports for a newspaper in theMidwest. And Jensen, spending thesummer at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, wants to be a reporter andalso hopes to write a book or twosomeday.

The Nebraska cheering section atthe San Francisco finals included

broadcasting professor TrinaCreighton, news-editorial professorJoe Starita and Dean Will Norton.Creighton and Starita supervised thecollege’s Hearst entries.

Other 2003-04 Hearst winners inthe print category were Melissa Lee,second place in profiles, and EricaRogers, eighth place in editorial writ-ing.

All three finalists were excitedabout the opportunity to compete atsuch a high level.

“It is a great honor to be listedamong the top collegiate journalistsin the country,” Jensen said, “andthis experience is one I’m sure I willthink back on fondly for decades tocome.”

❑

s t u d e n t notes


Students winbronze Oscar

Dave Pittock says actuallygoing to Cuba and learn-

ing to know the Cuban peoplewas the best part of the experi-ence that produced the docu-mentary “Cuba: IllogicalTemple.”

But being a winner in theStudent Academy Awards com-petition has to be a close sec-ond.

The documentary, producedby Pittock and Lindsey Kealy,was one of the three top win-ners in its category in the 31stannual competition, known asthe Student Oscars. It is the firsttime that an entry from theUniversity of Nebraska has beenselected as a finalist.

The two students were partof a J school depth reportingproject that sent 11 students toCuba and Florida to report onpolitical and social issues inJanuary 2003. The magazineproduced by the news-editorialstudents was nominated for a

J school sendsthree studentsto Hearst finals


s t u d e n t notes

Pulitzer Prize.Pittock, a Lincoln Southeast

High School graduate, earned hisundergrad degree in broadcastingat UNL and is nearly finished withhis master’s program. Kealy, who isfrom Sutherland and was marriedlast summer, graduated in May

2003 and works as a news pro-ducer at KMTV in Omaha.

Their trip to the June 13awards ceremony in Hollywoodwas provided by the Academy ofMotion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Pittock said he appreciated theguidance and help he and Kealy

received from JerryRenaud, broadcastingfaculty member, andfrom Joe Starita,news-ed facultymember, who taughtthe depth reportingclass that focused onCuba.

The other twodocumentaries thatwere finalists in thecategory were pro-duced by studentsfrom the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley.

Danny Ladely,director of the MaryRiepma Ross MediaArts Center at UNL,said in a press release,“The StudentAcademy Awards isan exceedinglyimportant competi-

tion for students to win.” Someprevious winners include SpikeLee, Bob Saget, “South Park” cre-ator Trey Parker and producerswho went on to win Oscars for“Toy Story” and “Forest Gump.”

❑

UNL journalism students broughthome a raft of awards from theSociety of Professional JournalistsRegion 7 Mark of ExcellenceCompetition in April.

The winners are as follows:Lincoln Arneal — sports column

writing, 2ndDirk Chatelain — sports writing,

1stDerek Lippincott — sports pho-

tography, 1st; feature photography,

3rd; photo illustration, 2nd; generalnews photography, 3rd

Kris Kolden — feature photogra-phy, 1st; feature photography, 2nd;photo illustration, 3rd; general newsphotography, 2nd

David McGee — spot news pho-tography, 2nd

Krystal Overmyer — generalnews reporting, 3rd

Erica Rogers — general columnwriting, 1st

Alyssa Schukar — sports pho-tography, 3rd

Spring 2003 news-editorialdepth reporting class (DakaraiAarons, Sarah Fox, Melissa Lee,Shane Pekny, Jill Zeman) — in-depth reporting, 1st, “Cuba: AnElusive Truth”

Daily Nebraskan — best all-around daily student newspaper, 1st

J school students win big in SPJ contest

Photo courtesy AMPASLindsey Kealy and David Pittock (front row, far right) at the Student Academy Awards presenta-tion in Hollywood in June.

s t u d e n t notes

Aaron Franco, whograduated in May,received a Silver Addyin the OmahaFederation ofAdvertising’s annualAddy awards competi-tion. He was recognizedin the student logodesign category for hiswork on a new logosystem for theNebraska StateHistorical Society.While in school, he wasemployed atInformation Analyticswhere he designed adsand informationalmaterials and did directmarketing.

Ashley Frear-Cooper was co-recipi-ent of the 2004OutstandingContribution toWomen Award, pre-sented by the UNLChancellor’sCommission on the

Status of Women.Frear-Cooper organizedthe campus Relay forLife the past two yearsand spearheaded manyevents for the Women’sCenter.

Betsy Garbacz, whograduated in May, wasfeatured in a UNLAdmissions ad.Garbacz was an adver-tising and political sci-ence double major whohad five internships infour years and waspresident of the studentAdvertising Club.

Jessica Hoffmanand Aaron Eske havebeen awarded UCAREfunding for the comingschool year.

Hoffman, a news-edstudent, is workingwith Luis Peon-Casanova, the college’sinterim photojournal-ism teacher, and withDr. Kevin Lee, from the

AstronomyDepartment. Her proj-ect, Phases of theMoon, will be pub-lished on the universi-ty’s astronomy Webpage. The projectinvolves shooting themoon daily in an out-of-town location for 30to 60 days, dependingon visibility.

Eske, an advertisingmajor, will be workingwith advertising facultymember Stacy James.

UCARE grants pro-vide funds for under-graduate students towork with facultymembers on jointresearch projects.

Mary “Maggie”Pavelka, a junior adver-tising major, was elect-ed to the Association ofStudents of theUniversity of Nebraskastudent government inMarch. ❑

Juanita Page, a broadcastingmajor, led the CornhuskerForensics team to a spectacularshowing at the 2004 AmericanForensics Association NationalIndividual Events Tournament at

the California StateUniversity, Long Beachcampus April 3-5.

Page placed first in thenation in informative speak-ing and was fourth bestspeaker in the nation inoverall sweeps. It was hersecond consecutive nationaltitle.

She was also the firstperson in the history of theAmerican ForensicsAssociation to win both aprogram of oral interpreta-tion championship and aninformative speaking cham-pionship.

Page earned fourth place inpoetry interpretation and was asemifinalist in duo interpretationand oral interpretation and quar-terfinalist in dramatic interpreta-tion.

❑

JUANITA PAGE

Page wins secondnational forensicschampionship

Phot

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s t u d e n t notes

News-ed majors Krystal Overmyer and Brett Wertz were the first recipients of the new Katherine (Katie)and E.N. (Jack) Thompson Memorial Scholarship Awards for Journalism Students Studying Abroad.They are pictured with Russell Ganim, chair of Modern Languages and Literatures, left, and Harold E.Spencer, donor and friend of Jack and Katie Thompson. The awards are administered by ModernLanguages.


The Evian Bottled Water campaign by advertising major Jim Hoke won three golds at the 2002 NebraskaADDYs in February. The ADDYs are sponsored by the American Ad Federation to honor excellence in advertising and work to develop a high level of creative standards.

Non-profitU.S. Postage

PAIDPermit 46Lincoln NE

Build a family tradition without breaking the bank.

THE LEGACY SCHOLARSHIPATTENTION ALUMNI If your children are not residents of Nebraska, they may qualify for an undergraduate scholarshipwaiving nonresident tuition at UNL, a four-year value of $30,330.*

The Legacy Scholarship is offered by the University of Nebraska–-Lincoln to eligible nonresident children of UNL,UNK, UNO and UNMC alumni. Eligibility requirements include:

Admissions: 800-742-8800 or http://admissions.unl.eduAn equal opportunity educator and employer with a comprehensive plan for diversity.

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and•Earn a cumulative college GPA (all institutions) of 3.0 or better

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*Based on a total of 120 credit hours. Legacy Scholarship applicable to undergraduate courses only, and does not change residency status.

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