SJMC students honored at Graduate Student Day

SJMC doctoral student Daphney Barr and co-presenter Alexis Koskan, a School of Philosophy doctoral student, won first place in the Research Presentation Competition at the University’s 2007 Graduate Student Day, April 2. Six other SJMC graduate students were honored at the annual event which recognizes student research excellence.

Barr and Koskan won the award in the category, “Communication, Journalism, Languages,” for their research and presentation on "Mobilizing for disaster: An examination of disaster/emergency preparedness information on television news web sites."

Doctoral student Daniel Walsh received the 2008 School of Journalism and Mass Communications Graduate Research Award in recognition of his overall body of research efforts. Walsh was recently honored at the 2007 Annual Convention of the national Broadcast Education Association. His papers, “Broadcasting to Cuba in the Potter Box: An Ethical Analysis Radio and TV Marti” and “Radio Marti as an Instrument of Foreign Policy,” won first place in the convention’s international division and second place in the law and policy division, respectively.

Doctoral student Qingjiang Yao received the 2008 School of Journalism and Mass Communications Graduate Research Award for the Outstanding Individual Research Project for his paper, “China's Official Framing of Religion and Its Influence on Young Chinese Students: A Partial Testing of the Process Model of Framing in a Special Media Environment.” His peer-reviewed article also appeared in the December 2007 edition of the Asian Journal of Communication.

David Weintraub, a 2007 graduate of the School’s M.A. program who has since joined the SJMC faculty as an instructor in visual communication, won the Bryce W. Rucker Excellence in Student Research Award for outstanding research for his thesis, "Newspaper Coverage of Global Climate Change: Risk, Frames, and Sources." Weintraub also took home the Kappa Tau Alpha Top Scholars Award for completing his graduate coursework with a 4.0 GPA.

M.M.C. students Stephanie Margalis, Melissa McGill and Lauren Von Herbulis were also honored by the School with the Kappa Tau Alpha Top Scholars Award for maintaining a perfect 4.0.

Doctoral students Lisa Luedeman and Beth Concepcion and M.A. student Heidi Campbell also presented their research at Graduate Student Day. In addition, both doctoral students Hokyung Kim and Zadok Ekimwere submitted entries in the Poster Competition.

"I'm so proud of our graduate students for their scholarship,” said Dr. Lynn Zoch, SJMC associate professor and presenter at the awards ceremony. “So many times I hear people in other disciplines say, 'You don't do research in the J-School do you?' and it's frustrating to me because communication is integral to so many areas of research. To have our students presenting their research, and winning awards for it in a venue where other areas of the University are represented, is important, not just for their own careers, but for the visibility of the School,” she said.