Student News and Notes
Lebron moves on: SIUE grad student will be part of prestigious Ph.D. program
This wasn’t her plan when she applied to SIUE, but Myrna Liz Lebron is now looking forward to earning her Ph.D. from Louisiana State University’s Manship School of Mass Communication in Baton Rouge, La.
Lebron was accepted into the SIUE mass communications graduate program in fall 2009. One of her first classes that semester was with Department Chairman Dr. Gary Hicks.
Simpson runs with the big dogs before he even has a degree
Many people would say that to succeed in today’s world, one must have a college degree. No one mentioned this to SIUE student Kurt Simpson.
While attending the university, Simpson decided if he was to succeed in the field of mass communications he needed to be proactive. The trick was figuring out where to start.
“I tried to get involved in everything I possibly could. I put my spoon in any soup I could find,” Simpson said.
The variety of “soups” he found included music videos and film festivals. Simpson’s new career was gaining momentum. Perhaps his biggest break came when he entered both the St. Louis and Chicago versions of the “48-Hour Film Project” competition. In both competitions, participants are given a character, a prop, a line of dialogue and a genre, all of which must be incorporated into their films.
‘In a world where…’: SIUE graduates win Emmy award
Former SIUE students were honored with a Mid-American Emmy Award in October 2010 for their work on the movie trailer spoof “Academic Integrity” that includes a voiceover from voiceover great Don LaFontaine.
2011 Mass Communication Department awards announced
The Department of Mass Communications honored several talented students this year for their hard work and dedication to their field of study.
Belleville News Democrat Mass Communications Journalism Award — Rosemary Githinji
Elmer C. Broz Award for Achievement in Journalism — Kari Williams
Mass Communications Alumni Scholarship — Barton Keip
John Rider Graduate Achievement Award — Myrna Lebron
The Kamil Winter Achievement Award — Denise Donley
Judy Landers Creativity in Strategic Media Award — Imelda Ammons
Barbara Regnell Leadership in Media Award — Aren Dow
John Regnell Media Policy and Law Award — Sarah Jacobsen
Jack Shaheen Media Image Award — Sheena Butler
Dewayne Staats Award in Sports Journalism — Allan Lewis
The Bob Hardy Scholarship in Broadcast Journalism — Kelsi Scheer