E-ALERT
- September 5, 2006
Dear Friends of the College of Mass Communications and Information
Studies:
As a new semester begins, we want to share the “news” from
our college. Stop in to see us when you can.
On the Job:
I am pleased to announce that the College hired its first
Publications Coordinator, Heather Nye, who started August
30. Heather has been an editor with The News Press in Fort
Myers and was city editor of The Island Packet in Hilton
Head. Her experience in copy editing and page design as well
as work she’s been doing for the S.C. State Library
make her a great fit for the college. Heather will work with
the directors of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications
and the School of Library and Information Science and the
dean in creating, editing and publishing a variety of materials
including alumni magazines and newsletters, press releases,
recruiting and promotional materials. (J-school alumni, watch
for the fall edition of InterCom, coming soon.)
The college welcomed 434 new students, 332 journalism and
102 library, to campus on Thursday, August 24, as our fall
semester began.
In Memory:
The college sadly reports on the deaths of two alumni. Journalism
alumnus William E. (Trez) Lee, class of ’56, and library
alumna Lorie C. Edwards, class of ’93 who was the deputy
chief information officer at USC, both passed away in August
of this year.
On the Move:
Journalism school alumnus Jamie
Ballentine, a.k.a. Cocky,
is “winging” to Albuquerque to become the mascot
of the Firebirds, an NBA developmental league for rookie
basketball players and, apparently, mascots. Jamie hopes
it will lead to a full-fledged NBA mascot job. Jamie swapped
feathers for fins for a season as the mascot for Columbia’s
summer baseball league team-the Blowfish. Visit www.carolinaalumni.org to read a special feature on our high-flying alumnus.
Journalism school alumna Katie Jensen has proven that hard
work and persistence pay off. Katie applied for an internship
at Ogilvy & Mather in New York, was turned down, but
decided she’d not take no for an answer.
She kept emailing Derek Goode, a journalism school alumnus
at Ogilvy, and not only got the internship this summer, but
has now turned it into a full-time job.
Journalism alumnus Rick Cushman, News Officer for the University
of Pennsylvania Health System, recently returned from a week
long trip to Africa. Along with a large delegation from the
University of Pennsylvania, Rick traveled to Botswana to
observe the Penn-Botswana HIV/AIDS Program. The program,
a collaboration of the Infectious Disease Division at the
University of Pennsylvania and the Government of Botswana,
has established clinical, educational and research programs
in Botswana, Africa to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. Rick
was along to document the trip by taking photos and directing
a film crew. Visit www.uphs.upeen.edu/idd/ for more details.
The college has appointed 1979 news-editorial alumna Sharmin
Barnes Hill to represent all journalism and library school
alumni on the Council of Alumni Societies at USC. Each alumni
society at USC provides a representative to the Council of
Alumni Societies, an official constituency of the Carolina
Alumni Association, which in turn will have representation
on the Association's Board of Governors. Visit our Web
pages to find out what Sharmin has been up to since her time in
the journalism school.
Journalism Professor Ran Wei took a research trip to Asia
in July to present a paper on cell phone use and globalization
in Taipei, Taiwan. He then gave public lectures on his research
in advertising at Henan University in central China and the
Communication University of China in Beijing. Henan University
has invited Prof. Wei to be a guest professor. While in China,
Prof. Wei was invited to sit on the advisory board of The
Advertising Museum of China. The Museum, when completed,
will be the first national collection of advertising archives
and artifacts in the country.
On the Calendar:
Join the college’s Alumni Society for both of its
Homecoming events this year. Our Alumni Society will host
a Friday family reception on Gibbes Green (that’s adjacent
to Davis and LeConte Colleges and behind McKissick Museum),
on November 3, from 4-5:30 p.m., and our traditional pre-game
barbeque at SCETV on Saturday, November 4, two hours prior
to kick-off against Arkansas. Stay tuned for more details.
Both the journalism and library schools welcomed more than
100 graduates to the college Alumni Society at receptions
following the August 5 commencement ceremony. Visit our Web
pages for more details
and photos. See attached photos.
If you have exciting news to share about alumni of either
school, please e-mail Cindy
Kellett, Director of Development
for the college, at kellett@sc.edu.
More info about more things, as always, on www.sc.edu/cmcis.
If you have an address, phone, email, job change and/or want
to get involved with our Alumni Society, contact Elaine
Taylor,
Assistant Director of Development for the college, at etaylor@sc.edu.
And as of Thursday night’s shutout at Mississippi
State, we’re undefeated and unscored upon! Go Gamecocks!
Charles Bierbauer
Dean |
