Fall Potpourri

Who is Elaine Arnold, and why is she sending me all these alumni messages? Well, it's her job. But you used to know her as Elaine Taylor, our alumni relations manager. Elaine and Brian Arnold — both USC alumni — were married in North Carolina on September 8. Elaine's back on the job, of course, as we swing into a fall season of activities.

We would also like to introduce you to Elizabeth Quackenbush, who has joined the college as our senior director of development. Elizabeth comes back to her alma mater with significant experience in fund-raising for non-profit organizations in the Midlands, including Harvest Hope Food Bank and Volunteers of America of the Carolinas.

For the past few months, eNews has been produced by Annie Lambert, a 2008 visual communications graduate and now the development assistant for the college.

That's our small, but indefatigable development staff. They work so seamlessly that I'd nearly forgotten they are all relatively new or, at least, have a new name.

Ace Sanders is probably someone I don't have to introduce, not to Gamecock fans who watched him shred Missouri defenders on punt returns and a touchdown reception. But what the CBS announcers left out is that Ace is one of our visual communications majors. If all Missouri saw was a blur, well, that's Ace's way of communicating on the football field.

We sent 19 of our senior journalism majors to Charlotte for the Democratic National Convention, where they worked for half a dozen national and local news outfits. The campaign of 2012, unending though it may seem, has been a terrific teaching opportunity for many of our journalism classes. Our students' behind the scenes stories and experiences are worth checking. http://jour.sc.edu/news/newsann/12Fall/dnc.html

Like the leaves of autumn, Cocky's turning colors. You may have caught a glimpse of a more robustly garnet Gamecock on one of the televised football games. On the road with Cocky's Reading Express™, he's still the same reading magnet for South Carolina school children, just not that old red rooster.

After a busy summer, my wife and I tucked in an early fall escape for a week riding in the mountains of southern Colorado where the aspens were turning golden, the sky was a cobalt blue and cell phone service was nearly non-existent, except from one mountaintop with a 30-mile line of sight to the nearest town. It's our recipe for reinvigoration. As Ronald Reagan used to say, "There's nothing so good for the inside of a man as the outside of a horse."

Happy trails.

Charles Bierbauer

Follow @cjbsc

College News

I-Comm Week 2012 Schedule Announced

I-Comm Week will take place Oct. 8-11. The following events are open to the public:

Monday, October 8

• Robin Roberts, president of National Media Research, Planning and Placement, "The Era of Big Data: 2012 Political Advertising Campaigns," 10 a.m., Russell House Theater
• Associated Press Presidential Photo Exhibit in the Thomas Cooper Library, open through Oct. 26

Tuesday, October 9

• Corey Hutchins and David Axe, "Comics, Politics and South Carolina: How We Turned Alvin Greene into a Cartoon," 6 p.m., Gressette Room, Harper College

Wednesday, October 10

• Robert Newlen, deputy director of the National Law Library, Resume Workshop, 2 p.m., third floor multimedia room, Thomas Cooper Library
• Joyce M. Durant, dean of the library and professor at Francis Marion University, "Journey to Librarianship," Reception at 5:45 p.m., Presentation at 6:30 p.m., Davis College room 112, Panel to follow
• IABC / PRSSA / SAF, Networking: It's Who You know, 7 p.m., Capstone Campus Room

Thursday, October 11

• Professor Denise McGill, visual communications, and Dr. Buz Kloot, a research professor in the USC School of the Environment, present their documentary, "A Better Place: St. Helena, South Carolina," 7 p.m., Public Health Research Center Room 114. Reception to follow.

See the full I-Comm Week schedule

Professor Voted onto Industry Board of Trustees

Dr. Shannon Bowen, public relations, has been voted onto the Board of Trustees of the Arthur W. Page Society. The Arthur W. Page Society provides opportunities, initiates communication and collaboration, and encourages research that contributes to the growth of the public relations industry. The group's members include public relations leaders in Fortune 500 companies, top PR agencies and leading academics who have distinguished themselves teaching corporate communications.

Bowen will serve a three-year term, and hopes that her service to the board will help students and alumni with job possibilities and internships by raising awareness of the public relations program in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

ALL Awards

PR Students Win Honorable Mention in National Competition

A project completed during professor Jeff Ranta's campaigns class has earned five public relations alumni an honorable mention at the PR News Platinum PR Awards. The group, made up of Corinne Burdette, Katie Davis, Dezmon Gilmore, Jennica Justice and Amanda Wenk, was honored in the marketing communications category for their campaign "The Great Weiner War of 2011, Lulu's Hot Dogs," which was completed for a local hot dog stand last year. They shared the category with top brands such as Adobe Systems, InterContinental Hotels Group and Downy. The awards ceremony took place during a luncheon on Sept. 14 in New York City.
Read more and see campaign book

Alumna to Intern with The American Library in Paris

Brianna McCluskey, MLIS '10, has accepted an internship with the Children's and Young Adults' Services department of The American Library in Paris. During the three-month internship, McCluskey will work closely with the children and young adult volunteers. She will help plan and present programs, assist with collection development, provide support for children's programming, help with a new English-language outreach program to local schools and assist with the social media outreach for children and teens.

J-school Faculty Members To Have Papers Published

Dr. Brooke McKeever, public relations, will have two papers published. "News Framing of Autism: Understanding Media Advocacy and the Combating Autism Act" will be published in Science Communication and is currently available online. http://scx.sagepub.com/content/early/recent

Another paper, "Perceived Hostile Media Bias, Presumed Media Influence, and Opinions about Immigrants and Immigration," will be published in Southern Communication Journal this November.

Tara Buehner, visual communications, will have her paper, "Visually assessing the First Lady in a digital age: A study of Michelle Obama as portrayed by journalists and the White House," published by the Journal of Women, Politics and Policy.

Connect with CMCIS on Social Media

The college is increasing its social media presence. Follow us on Twitter @UofSC_CMCIS and on Facebook at facebook.com/cmcis. We can't wait to connect with you!

Feature

Alumna's Charity a Finalist for Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award

By Ben Ortiz-Colon

Lorri Shealy Unumb, '90 broadcast, has been selected by The NASCAR Foundation as a finalist for the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award. Unumb will receive $25,000 for her charity, the Autism Academy of South Carolina, and has been entered into a national competition for a chance to win $100,000.

Unumb's life was deeply affected when her eldest son, Ryan, was diagnosed with autism in 2003. She learned that insurance companies did not cover autism treatments and, thinking of all of the other families this affected, Unumb started working with legislators to create "Ryan's Law," which requires insurance companies to cover autism treatments. The law went into effect in South Carolina in 2008 and 31 other states have since adopted some form of "Ryan's Law."

"Ryan's Law was really born out of this sense that the situation was unfair, and that we could fix it," said Unumb. "I was fortunate to have a good education and be able to go to law school. To be able to put that to good use and do good for other people means a lot to me."

LINKS

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South Carolina Center for Children's Books and Literacy

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Convergence Newsletter Blog

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UPCOMING EVENTS

I-Comm Week
October 8 - 11

Gamecocks on the Green
Friday, November 9
Gibbes Green

For more information on these events, contact Annie Lambert at lambert@sc.edu, or
(803) 777-6791

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LOST

A Time Capsule. Last seen in the Carolina Coliseum a few decades ago. If you have any information leading to the recovery of our time capsule, please contact Elaine Taylor Arnold (taylorem@mailbox.sc.edu)