On the road again
Maymester is an intriguing concept, one that compresses a semester's
worth of experience in less than a month. If Maymester was not
part of the academic calendar when you were at USC, here's a sense
of what you might have missed. Immersion, apprehension, exhaustion,
exhilaration.
 Personally,
I love teaching Maymester courses. I can block out three weeks,
engage students in huge chunks of time — often including
a major road trip — and never hit that mid-semester slump.
Frequently, I teach a Media & Politics course that incorporates
a week behind the scenes on my old political beat in Washington.
Over the years, I've infected a few students with Potomac fever.
I'm not alone in this purposeful frenzy. Advertising professor
Karen Mallia takes ad students to the agencies of New York, as
the late Jon Wardrip did before her. Dr. Brooke McKeever and senior
instructor Lisa Sisk cover strategic and risk communications in
Atlanta. Professor Glenda Alvarado puts her students to work on
a social media blitz to promote a charity golf tournament in the
Upstate. We make the most of alumni contacts wherever we go.
For several years, visual communications instructor Scott Farrand
has been leading our Multimedia Munich Maymester. Scott's persuaded
me to be his partner this year, not that it took much persuading
to return to Germany where I'd spent five years as a correspondent.
Two days after spring commencement, 21 students, Scott and I will
board a Lufthansa flight headed for a week each in Berlin and Munich.
The student teams combine journalism, viscom, ad and PR students
and have been researching and preparing their projects for weeks.
The stories they've chosen will be crafted in broadcast, print
and web versions.
Taking the students to Germany has several purposes. It meets
the university's objective of creating beyond-the-classroom experiences.
Meets it by a few thousand miles. It compels the students to function
in unfamiliar environments where language and culture may be both
stimulant and deterrent. It injects history into their experience.
What happened in Munich in the 1930s or at the 1972 Olympic Games?
How was Berlin divided in the half century of the Cold War? How
has it evolved in the two decades since the wall came down?
It's also not a one-sided proposition for me. I've seen those
German cities as a correspondent, but now I get to see them through
the students' eyes. I'll let you know how it worked out in next
month's letter.
Auf Wiedersehen,
Charles Bierbauer
College News
Seniors honored at SJMC Honors and Awards Day
Outstanding students in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications
were honored during a ceremony on April 18. For photos and video
of the event as well as a list of all recipients, please visit
our website
Trembach receives university research award
Stan Trembach, a doctoral student in the School of Library and
Information Science, was one of 54 graduate students in the university
to receive a Support to Promote Advancement of Research and Creativity
(SPARC) Graduate Fellowship. Trembach's research project focuses
on the impact the Cold War and the Soviet military industrial complex
had on the development of scientific and technical information
management systems in the mid-twentieth century United States.
Students win big in collegiate newspaper contest
The Carolina Reporter brought in four awards in the 2012 Collegiate
News Contest, organized by the South Carolina Press Association.
Chelsey Seidel placed first in the feature story category for "QuadSquad
delivers;" Ryan Quinn was second in the news story category
for "IRS
wipes away thousands;" Brittani Coleman took
third in the same category for "Cabbies
say new rules put them in back seat;" and Jonathan Battaglia won third for page
one design.
Now accepting nominations for the 2013 Annual Literacy Leaders
Awards
Please help us identify those who have had a statewide impact
on literacy by nominating individuals or groups for the South Carolina
Annual Literacy Leader (ALL) awards for 2013.
The ALL awards are presented by the School of Library and Information
Science at the University of South Carolina in the fall of each
year to from one to three individuals and/or groups who have had
a statewide impact on literacy in South Carolina. Recipients can
be any individuals, agencies, organizations or corporations with
a local presence in South Carolina, regardless of their primary
place of residence or corporate headquarters.
For
more information
Visual communications students' work on display
A photography exhibit by visual communications students Jeremy
Aaron and Lee Walker will be on display at the University of South
Carolina Visitor's Center through the fall semester. The project, "A
Portrait of South Carolina," was funded through the Magellan
Scholars Program and highlights 12 photo subjects from all walks
of life in the state of South Carolina. Aaron and Walker were mentored
throughout the project by assistant professor Denise McGill.
 Campbell receives Information Science Scholarship
Jordan Campbell, sophomore information science student, is the
2013-14 recipient of the SLIS Information Science Scholarship.
Campbell, a Mountain Rest, S.C., native, is a dean's list student
and member of Alpha Lamda Delta Honor Society.
Campbell hopes to
continue her studies after graduation by gaining an MLIS and becoming
a school librarian. Read
more
The Carolina Agency wins 13th professional excellence award
Students of The Carolina Agency (TCA) competed against public
relations, marketing and advertising professionals from across
the state to win a Silver Wing Mercury Award from the South Carolina
Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (SCPRSA). This
recognition represents TCA's thirteenth award for professional
excellence since the agency's inception in 2005.
TCA's 2012 entry, "On Angel's Wings," was a direct
mail/direct response device which netted the Midland's Ronald McDonald
House Charities a total of $21,911.00 in gross revenue and a $78
to $1 return on investment.
Faculty Notes
Dr. Tara Buehner, visual communications, successfully defended
her dissertation, "Threat, modeling and misconceptions: A
coorientational study of professional photojournalists and citizen
photojournalists' values." She will graduate with a doctorate
from the University of Oklahoma on May 11.
Lisa Sisk, public relations, received a Two Thumbs Up award from
the USC Office of Student Disability Services for "making
a difference in the education of one or more of our students."
Feature
Public relations senior receives Algernon Sydney Sullivan award
 The University of South Carolina presented its highest student
honor, the Algernon Sydney Sullivan award to Lauren Nottoli, a
public relations senior from the School of Journalism and Mass
Communications.
Nottoli is a graduate of Cardinal Newman High School in Columbia.
Mentoring roles during her time at Carolina have included both
the Emerging Leader and Greek Emerging Leader Programs, as well
as service as a University 101 peer leader.
She served as president of her sorority, Gamma Phi Beta, during
her junior and senior years and was named one of the top 11 presidents
of her sorority nationally. Her involvement in Dance Marathon includes
work as a dancer, Miracle Cup coordinator, external director and
mini-marathon director. She was a top five finalist in this year's
University Homecoming Showcase, and a finalist for USC's Outstanding
Woman of the Year award.
"I am most proud of getting to know so many people and making
an impact on them. I wanted to let them have a great experience
like I have had here," she said. "One of the greatest contributions
I have brought to this university is sharing my love for USC with
high school students in the form of Dance Marathon."
After graduation in May, Nottoli will travel as a collegiate leadership
consultant for her sorority, Gamma Phi Beta. She plans to attend
law school in fall 2014.
This is the second consecutive year that a public relations student
has received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan award; Christina Galardi
won the honor in 2012.
Sullivan awards are given each year to one graduating woman and
one graduating man for outstanding achievements, campus leadership,
exemplary character and service to the community. The award, given
at 15 colleges and universities across the country, is named for
the 19th-century New York lawyer and philanthropist. |
