SIUE Mass Communicator 2009 Student News and Notes

Student News and Notes

Undergraduate Honors Research Conference

Several Mass Communications Department students are participating in the Undergraduate Honors Research Conference of CSCA, which will be held in St. Louis in early April. “The Adderall Effect: Changing College Students’ Perception,” will be presented by students Patrick Richardson, Ashley Bailey-Whitt, April Gerhardt and Timothy Peasley.

A poster presentation of “The College-Age Voter: Factors of Influence” will be given by students Trisha Hoffman, Brittany Ramsaroop, Liz Franco, Carly James and Andy Ainslie.

Prof. Cory Byers’ advertising classes

In November 2008, Professor Cory Byers’ MC 334 Electronic Media Advertising class shot a commercial for the Doritos Crash the Superbowl contest. Watch the commercial here!

Some of Byers’ 334 students also created three videos as part of a viral video campaign.
Critter Getters: Running Raccoon
Critter Getters - Busy Bee
Critter Getters - Wild Dog

Trepka is commencement speaker, Walter Cronkite Scholarship Award winner

Mass Communication Department student Alex Trepka won the Walter Cronkite Scholarship Award from the Mid-American chapter of NATAS in October 2008. He was one of four total recipients and the first SIUE winner in quite awhile.

Trepka was also selected by the Provost to serve as the student commencement speaker at the 1 p.m., May 9 ceremony.

Gibson’s work honored twice

Mass Communication Department student Preston Gibson will represent the department in SIUE's 2009 Outstanding Senior Assignment Project Showcase. Gibson will showcase his excellent Web site featuring various videos and print ads developed through his past courses.

The showcase will be 2-4 p.m., April 21. You can see his work online at here

Gibson has also been named as the Mass Communications Department’s winner of the 2009 Jack Shaheen Media Image Award.

Meyer selected as Institute on Political Journalism intern, wins BND award

Mass Communications student Holly Meyer was accepted into the Summer 2009 session of the Institute on Political Journalism, an eight-week program at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The prestigious program’s students intern at media outlets in the nation’s capitol and attend classes at the university.

Meyer will intern as a fully credentialed reporter with the United States Army News Service, during which she will cover press conferences at the Pentagon and hearings on Capitol Hill.

Meyer is also the recipient of the Mass Communications Department’s 2009 Belleville News-Democrat Award.

Williams receives two awards

Britanny Williams is the recipient of the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation Award. She is also the recipient of the Mass Communication Department’s 2009 Barbara Regnell Leadership in Media Award.

2009 Mass Communication Department Awards announced

Several talented students were honored this year by the Mass Communications Department for their hard work and dedication to their field of study. Some winners were mentioned above. The rest follow:

John Regnell Media Policy & Law Award--Rob Dettmers

Dewayne Staats Award in Sports Journalism--Adam Young

Judy Landers Creativity in Strategic Media Award--Emily Reutebach

Kamil C. Winter Achievement--Kristin Bell

Alumni Achievement Award--Steve Jankowski

John Rider Graduate Achievement Award--Nukwa Quenter

Elmer C. Broz Award for Achievement in Journalism--Megan McClure

SIUE MC student studies in Costa Rica

A challenging option for SIUE students is to join the study abroad program. One SIUE sophomore, Mass Communications major Alisha Abbott learned this first hand. She traveled to Costa Rica in Summer 2008 as part of the program. “I am a Spanish minor, which is why I chose Costa Rica,” Abbott said. “It was a full emersion program which means you only speak Spanish in class as well as when you are with your host families.” Abbott said she thought an emersion plan would help her to pick up the language much faster. “While I was there I was really getting a lot better speaking Spanish,” Abbott said. “Now, that I am back it is more difficult to speak the language to others.”