The independent, nonprofit, community-focused Hawk Eye has been on line since Spring 2008 when it began publishing the Civic Project, an award-winning series of investigative stories that have covered a wide range of local issues—from campus pocketbook concerns, to campus parking problems, to fire-safety risks in new residence halls, to environmental contaminants beneath the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex site. In their former print-media form, Civic Project stories by Loomis’s students have won top honors in the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association’s Keystone Awards competitions for collegiate journalists.

The HawkEye archive includes the work of Loomis’s students dating back to Spring 2004, when their stories were published on the front page of the Indiana Gazette. Other local partnerships have involved the IUP campus newspaper, the Penn, and the Indiana County League of Women Voters, a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic group affiliated with the national organization.

Loomis said the HawkEye is unique in Indiana, Pa.

“The HawkEye may not be a newspaper of record for this community,” Loomis said. “But it is a record of important community issues. There’s nothing else quite like it in this little media market.”

The new HawkEye website has room to expand. Soon it will host podcasts of radio programs aired on WIUP-FM (90.1) The programs are produced by members of the IUP chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in collaboration with members of the Communications Media Department. Since 2006, the public-affairs programs—Indi Week in Review and Global Alert—have broadcast live, Sunday-morning interviews of local newsmakers, including candidates for local elections and leaders of campus and community civic groups.

Additional expansion will offer feature stories, photo essays, sports coverage, opinions, citizen journalism, and video. The expansion is supported by grant funds from the IUP Center for Civic Engagement and Student Leadership. To pitch story ideas or offer original reporting of community interest, contact the HawkEye’s editor, David Loomis, at doloomis@iup.edu or webmaster Lee Vest at 724-357-4411 or lcvest@iup.edu.

Monica Rizzo, a 1987 graduate of IUP’s Journalism Department, shared her experiences about her career in entertainment and journalism at a presentation to students, staff and faculty on October 21, 2009. Rizzo also spoke to several IUP journalism classes during her visit.

“I am teaching Entertainment PR this year, and I am just thrilled to have an alumna who has made it so far in the industry come to IUP to inspire us,” Dr. Michele Papakie, IUP Journalism professor, said.

Rizzo, a People Magazine writer, has covered stories for the Disney Channel and television shows such as Ally McBeal, American Idol, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Dancing With the Stars, Lost, Sex and the City, Spin City, and The Practice.

The presentation and visit was sponsored by IUP’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America and the IUP Journalism Department’s Sweeney Trust.

The Sweeney Trust was established in 1985 in honor of Elizabeth Ray Sweeney, who was at one time the treasurer of the Indiana Printing and Publishing Co., publisher of the Indiana Gazette.

The trust was established for the IUP Journalism Department to fund symposiums, lectures, and workshops with distinguished journalists from the IUP community. Past Sweeney Trust presenters have included William Zinsser, author of On Writing Well,’ and reporter Jimmy Breslin. They have focused on topics that includ managing crisis communications and women in the media.

Journalism faculty members and the Indiana Gazette staff led a panel discussion on the changing environment of the media and presented individual sessions on topics such as photojournalism, layout and design, social media, on-line journalism, editing, evolution of Web design, and citizen journalism.

The Fun 5K Run/Walk will be held on Sunday, November 1, 2009, from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Memorial Field House track to benefit the Kristen A. Stormer Memorial Scholarship Fund. The entry fee is $10. To register, you may either sign up on Facebook’s “Kristen Anne Stormer’s Fun 5K Run/Walk” website or send your entry fee to the Journalism Department, 434 Davis Hall, Indiana, PA 15705. Checks should be made out to Kristen Anne Stormer Memorial Scholarship Fund #5297.

If you cannot attend the Fun 5K Run/Walk but would still like to make a donation or pledge, you may visit the Support IUP webpage. Whether you click on “give now” or “make a pledge,” when you come to the “designation options” portion of the form, please specify that you would like your donation to be made to the Kristen Stormer Memorial Scholarship Fund. Also, if you are solicited by phone to make a donation to IUP’s Annual Fund, you may also designate your donation to Kristen’s fund then.

Faculty, staff and students of the Journalism Department will never forget Kristen’s contagious smile and zest for life. To memorialize her and to pay tribute to her hard work in the department, fellow student and good friend Ashley DiMaio took the initiative to set up this scholarship to honor Kristen.

After graduating cum laude, Kristen, ’09, of Hollidaysburg, moved to Ocean City and was working as a beach photographer for Scopes Photography. She was an excited, happy, beautiful, promising alumna who was so enthusiastic about starting her career.

But on June 23 in Ocean City, Md., Kristen’s life was cut tragically short, when she was hit by a delivery truck and killed while crossing the Coastal Highway at 33rd Street on her bicycle. Kristen’s obituary, published 6-25-09, can be viewed on the Altoona Mirror website.

Thank you, in advance, for your generous gifts.

This 1976 movie is the story about reporters Bob Woodward (played by Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (played by Dustin Hoffman) uncovering the details of the Watergate scandal that led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation. It won four Oscars, plus another ten wins and twenty nominations.

The movie’s tagline: “At times it looked like it might cost them their jobs, their reputations, and maybe even their lives.”

Stay after the movie to participate in a facilitated discussion about journalism with IUP faculty members from the Journalism Department. This event is sponsored by the IUP chapters of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). Pulitzer Prize-winning author and investigative reporter Bob Woodward will speak on November 4, 2009, in Fisher Auditorium at the IUP Performing Arts Center as part of the First Commonwealth Endowed Lecture series.

Monica, who is from Pitcairn and Gateway High School, now is a senior writer for People magazine in Los Angeles, whose main beat—television—has included those shows and others, such as Spin City, Ally McBeal, The Practice, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. She also covers the Disney Channel.

She will share stories of her adventures in the TV/entertainment/magazine-journalism world of Hollywood with IUP Journalism majors at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 21, 2009, in Beard Auditorium in Stouffer Hall. All IUP students, faculty, and staff are invited.

Earlier that day and during the next day, too, Monica will make presentations to five sections of Journalism classes: Feature Writing, Magazine Principles (two sections), and Entertainment Public Relations (two sections).

Her experience in journalism includes stints with the Indiana Gazette, Sports Illustrated, and Us Weekly. She has written ten teen-entertainment books and is working on her first mass-market hard-cover biography with Cheryl Burke from Dancing With the Stars.

She lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Sherman Oaks with her husband and seven-year-old son.

Farabaugh’s research focuses on political communications within the U.S. radio and television industries. He explores these areas through the use of historical and ethnographic research methods. His dissertation project explores the story of Carl McIntire, a radio commentator, and WXUR, a former radio station outside Philadelphia, and their role in the demise of the Fairness Doctrine. WXUR is the only radio or television station in American history to be denied license renewal by the Federal Communications Commission as a direct result of Fairness Doctrine violations.

In his third year as an instructor in the department, Farabaugh also works as a freelance writer and radio broadcaster. His most recent freelance writing, a feature story for the September 2009 issue of Johnstown (Pa.) Magazine, detailed the history and tradition of potato farming in Pennsylvania’s Cambria County. He provides play-by-play on high school football broadcasts for WWGE-AM 1400 in Ebensburg and WKGE-AM 850 in Johnstown.

The Global Alert show on October 11 will feature two advocates for and against the tree-cutting plan—local forester David Babyak and Friends of White's Woods President Michael Kesner, respectively.

Listener phone calls and questions are invited. Call 724-357-7971 at 11:00 a.m. on October 11 and suggest your question.

Spend Homecoming Sunday listening to and participating in Global Alert. Join the discussion about the future of White’s Woods. Think global, act local.

Global Alert is sponsored by the IUP chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Questions? Contact faculty adviser David Loomis, Journalism Department, at doloomis@iup.edu.

The Fun 5K Run/Walk will be held on Sunday, November 1, 2009, from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Memorial Field House track to benefit the Kristen A. Stormer Memorial Scholarship Fund. The entry fee is $10. To register, you may either sign up on Facebook’s “Kristen Anne Stormer’s Fun 5K Run/Walk” website or send your entry fee to the Journalism Department, 434 Davis Hall, Indiana, PA 15705. Checks should be made out to Kristen Anne Stormer Memorial Scholarship Fund #5297.

If you cannot attend the Fun 5K Run/Walk but would still like to make a donation or pledge, you may visit the Support IUP webpage. Whether you click on “give now” or “make a pledge,” when you come to the “designation options” portion of the form, please specify that you would like your donation to be made to the Kristen Stormer Memorial Scholarship Fund. Also, if you are solicited by phone to make a donation to IUP’s Annual Fund, you may also designate your donation to Kristen’s fund then.

Faculty, staff and students of the Journalism Department will never forget Kristen’s contagious smile and zest for life. To memorialize her and to pay tribute to her hard work in the department, fellow student and good friend Ashley DiMaio took the initiative to set up this scholarship to honor Kristen.

After graduating cum laude, Kristen, ’09, of Hollidaysburg, moved to Ocean City and was working as a beach photographer for Scopes Photography. She was an excited, happy, beautiful, promising alumna who was so enthusiastic about starting her career.

But on June 23 in Ocean City, Md., Kristen’s life was cut tragically short, when she was hit by a delivery truck and killed while crossing the Coastal Highway at 33rd Street on her bicycle. Kristen’s obituary, published 6-25-09, can be viewed on the Altoona Mirror website.

Thank you, in advance, for your generous gifts.

The fun begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Ohio Room, HUB. We'll network, then watch 90210 at 8 p.m. and Melrose Place at 9 p.m.

For more information read the Tuesday, October 6 article in The Penn.

Department of Journalism

Monica, who is from Pitcairn and Gateway High School, now is a senior writer for People magazine in Los Angeles, whose main beat—television—has included those shows and others, such as Spin City, Ally McBeal, The Practice, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. She also covers the Disney Channel.

She will share stories of her adventures in the TV/entertainment/magazine-journalism world of Hollywood with IUP Journalism majors at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 21, 2009, in Beard Auditorium in Stouffer Hall. All IUP students, faculty, and staff are invited.

Earlier that day and during the next day, too, Monica will make presentations to five sections of Journalism classes: Feature Writing, Magazine Principles (two sections), and Entertainment Public Relations (two sections).

Her experience in journalism includes stints with the Indiana Gazette, Sports Illustrated, and Us Weekly. She has written ten teen-entertainment books and is working on her first mass-market hard-cover biography with Cheryl Burke from Dancing With the Stars.

She lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Sherman Oaks with her husband and seven-year-old son.

In his twenty-five-minute presentation, Jesick gave the history of IUP’s Basic Journalism Skills course; told why the emphasis on the basics still remains strong in all department classes; explained the value of those skills in 2009; and updated his audience on the integration of media convergence into existing courses by all IUP Journalism instructors. IUP Journalism alumni and current faculty members contributed facts and opinions to his remarks.

Jesick shared the ninety-minute panel discussion with professors from Temple University and Samford University, including the panel’s moderator, Dr. Bernie Ankney ’87, now the chairman of the Journalism and Mass Communication Department at Samford.

Among those who attended this session was Dr. Vincent Benigni, the director of graduate studies in the Department of Communication at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Benigni graduated from IUP Journalism in 1983.

The IUP Journalism Department’s Society of Professional Journalists Secretary Ticairra N. Bazemore poses at the front door of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association (PNA) office in Harrisburg.

Bazemore, a sophomore Journalism major from Philadelphia, attended the third annual conference of PNA’s Student Editors Interest Group on September 17, 2009.

This 1976 movie is the story about reporters Bob Woodward (played by Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (played by Dustin Hoffman) uncovering the details of the Watergate scandal that led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation. It won four Oscars, plus another ten wins and twenty nominations.

The movie’s tagline: “At times it looked like it might cost them their jobs, their reputations, and maybe even their lives.”

Stay after the movie to participate in a facilitated discussion about journalism with IUP faculty members from the Journalism Department. This event is sponsored by the IUP chapters of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and investigative reporter Bob Woodward will speak on November 4, 2009, in Fisher Auditorium at the IUP Performing Arts Center as part of the First Commonwealth Endowed Lecture series.

The article by Ron Paglia, “Wealth of Life Experiences Shape IUP Journalism Chair,” can be read on the Tribune-Review website.

Visual journalism reflects the department’s pedagogical direction in integrating words, pictures, images, sounds, and web-based publishing to create new and contemporary forms of information sharing. It is a significant departure from the old print journalism.

To meet the resource needs for visual journalism, the latest design software, Adobe InDesign CS4, will complement the existing PhotoShopCS4.

Newly-purchased equipment includes Dell mini-tower PCs and the Konica-Minolta Bizhub 353 printer with copier capability.

The department has also purchased a server that will store visual journalism projects, especially images.

Another innovation in the lab is the touch-screen smart board that will allow the instructor to manipulate images and texts, as well as write notes on the screen—completely eliminating the old-fashioned chalk.

The visual journalism project spills into the department’s hallway, where a 52-inch Sharp TV screen with digital signage has been installed. This enables students who normally mill around the hallway waiting for their classes to start to use this time productively watching information from the department as well as world news.

Members of the Journalism Department technology committee are Dr. Stan Mukasa (chairman), Dr. Pat Heilman, and Dr. Michele Papakie.

These students chose journalism as their concentration as part of IUP’s Robert E. Cook Honors College Summer Program.

From 9 a.m. to noon each day, Dr. Michele Papakie exposed the students to various careers within the journalism field. They participated in an editorial board meeting at the Indiana Gazette, toured the facility, and watched the presses run. They learned basic news writing in the IUP Journalism lab, then visited a mock crime scene on campus and wrote an article about “the crime.” They explored how convergence, social media, blogging, and other multimedia tools have influenced the field. Students also toured IUP’s radio station, WIUP FM, and read from a teleprompter while being filmed in IUP’s TV station, WIUP TV.

Visit the Alumni Connections website to donate. Whether you click on “give now” or “make a pledge,” when you come to the “designation options” portion of the form, please specify that you would like your donation to be made to the Kristen Stormer Memorial Scholarship Fund.

After graduating cum laude, Kristen, ’09, of Hollidaysburg, moved to Ocean City and was working as a beach photographer for Scopes Photography. She was an excited, happy, beautiful, promising alumna who was enthusiastic about starting her career.

But on June 23, 2009, in Ocean City, Md., Kristen’s life was cut tragically short when she was hit by a delivery truck and killed while crossing the Coastal Highway at 33rd Street on her bicycle. Kristen’s obituary, published June 25, 2009, can be viewed on the Altoona Mirror website.

Thank you in advance for your generous gifts.

Siverling presented her research proposal June 26, 2009. The title of her project is “Shot and Wounded: How Journalism’s Magic Bullet Theory is Crippling the Business.” Her theory is that the media is causing unnecessary panic in the field by reporting that various newspapers are going out of business, when in actuality journalism is alive and well, but the medium is just changing once again.

During the Summer, Siverling will create a survey for IUP Journalism students to take when they return to school this Fall, and she will spend her Fall and Spring semesters analyzing her data and completing her project.

The McNair Scholars Program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania is an exciting academic year-round commitment focusing on first-generation college students with financial need, and those from underrepresented groups who have demonstrated strong academic potential for preparation in acquiring requisite skills needed for entry into graduate study and eventually earning a doctoral degree.

The Indiana University of Pennsylvania Journalism Department’s student-run public relations agency, Lasting Impressions, received big news at the end of last semester. It was officially recognized as a chapter of the national organization Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA).

Many thanks to the tireless Kaitlyn Johnston ’09, whose persistence with this project finally paid off! Her executive staff should also be proud of its accomplishment: Katie Morgan, Jake Kocan, Barry Wade, Justin Placer, Nicole Blessing, and Graham Tripp.

PRSSA was founded in 1968 as an organization that would cultivate a favorable and mutually advantageous relationship between students and professional public relations practitioners. Today, PRSSA has more than 9,600 members in 284 universities across the country. PRSSA IUP is one of twenty-four chapters in Pennsylvania.

Congratulations and good luck to the inaugural executive board of PRSSA IUP (the agency formerly known as Lasting Impressions): President Nicole Blessing, Vice President Michele Luebbers, PR Director Tiffany Fasig, Secretary Emily Eberhart, Social Chairman Steven Hall, Treasurer Laura Kale, and Historian Barry Wade.

The student society aims to foster the following:

• Understanding of current theories and procedures of the profession
• Appreciation of the highest ethical ideals and principles
• Awareness of an appropriate professional attitude
• Appreciation of associate membership in PRSA and eventually accredited membership

PRSSA’s Mission:

• To serve our members by enhancing their knowledge of public relations and providing access to professional development opportunities;
• To serve the public relations profession by helping to develop highly qualified, well-prepared professionals.

After graduating cum laude, Kristen moved to Ocean City and was working as a beach photographer for Scopes Photography.

“In my thirty years of teaching in the IUP Journalism Department, where I’ve worked with nearly two thousand students, I’ve never known a student who was more filled with life than Kristen Stormer,” said Randy Jesick, professor and department chairman. “She was so uplifting to talk with because she had such a wonderful enthusiasm for her career and her life.

“Every time I ever saw her in our classrooms and in my office, she had the broadest and most sincere smile on her face,” he continued. “She always impressed me as a hard-working student who really was destined for professional success. Plus, she seemed like a truly, genuinely happy young woman. She was always aglow with life.”

Friends, faculty, and staff are already discussing plans to hold a memorial service when students return in the Fall. They are also anxious to begin a memorial scholarship within the department.

Kristen’s obituary, published 6-25-09, can be viewed at the Altoona Mirror website.

In his presentation, Dr. Mukasa showcased IUP’s distance education project for Africa, which has so far trained over three hundred journalists, particularly in Somalia.

He also discussed future collaboration with IUP in distance education in journalism and mass communication with officials from the Kenya-based African Virtual University as well as the University of Nairobi. The conference brought more than two thousand participants from around the world.

Feldbusch, a public-relations practitioner at Xenophon Strategies in Washington, D.C., and Henninger, a staff photographer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, discussed their careers and answered audience questions about how they landed their jobs.

Four students…three cities…six alumni…and one video you’ve got to see!

During Spring Break 2009, four undergraduate students, including DeAnna Allen, a senior Journalism major and member of the IUP Ambassadors, traveled to New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., to film interviews with six IUP alumni about their experiences in college and in their professional and personal lives.

The result is RoadTrip IUP, a video inspired by the PBS documentary and series RoadTrip Nation. Watch the video above, or find out more at the Career Development Center website.

Utilizing state-of-the-art, professional grade software, including Adobe InDesign and Dreamweaver, students in the Journalism class explored every facet of magazine creation and design, including concept, articles, photography, art, editing, design, and production.

Back row: left to right: Nicole Roser, Abby Laskowski, Samantha Bond, Sara Lamberson, Emily Franey, Shannon George, Drew Walters, Mike Bowser. Front row: left to right: Carol Rosenthal, Dara Fennell, Katie Morgan, Nicole Blessing, Kate Sechrist, Josie Grimes. Picture by Pat Heilman
Select for larger photo

“Each student assumed a role critical to the editorial function of a magazine,” instructor Pat Heilman explained. “Each student was then responsible for that individual role as well as the integration of that function with those of their classmates.”

The magazine features articles on college student cuisine, from local pizza parlors to microwave masterpieces to late-night snacks. Each student was responsible for researching and writing one of the articles as well as for providing a favorite recipe.

In addition, students learned the differences in writing and design for print publications and webzines (on-line publications). These differences included “chunking” stories for the on-line version, which entailed writing screen-size portions of the stories for ease of reading on line.

Students, sometimes overwhelmed by the enormity of the project, worked diligently at the end of the semester to get the job done.

“Creating the magazine in this class was a completely different experience than anything I have ever done,” junior Samantha Bond of Leechburg, nameplate designer, said. “It really gave me a better understanding of how putting together a publication actually happens. There are so many angles that you overlook. You don’t consider how many times people actually have to edit the stories or the amount of time it takes just to organize the links. I realized that since everyone had different positions in our ‘staff’ and their tasks occurred at different times throughout the semester, that we really had to help each other when it came down to ‘crunch time.’”

Fourteen stories and numerous photographs are contained in both the print and on-line version. And, students seem proud of their endeavors.

“Creating just one edition of Taste of Class from scratch was frustrating at times,” twenty-two-year-old senior Sara Lamberson of Wallingford, the photography director, said, “but it gives me a sense of pride when I look at the final product. We were forced to work collaboratively and to depend on each other, making this class a hands-on and creative working environment. Taste of Class is our class’s baby, and I, for one, will be proud to present it as part of my portfolio.”

Other students remarked:

“This was certainly an eye-opening experience. Doing a few magazine pages by myself is not a big deal, but when everyone has to do a few pages then everyone has a part in putting the magazine together, and there is a little chaos. I'm glad I took the publications class because we learned what a real job is like, by completing several different projects at the same time throughout the semester.” — Nicole Blessing, junior from Muncy, managing editor

“Doing a print and Web version was a good experience because I got to see how all the different aspects and parts come together to form the whole magazine. It was also helpful to see the differences between the formation of a print and Web version of a magazine.” — Emily Franey, junior from Export, copy editor for the Web edition

“Overall, from the very start of the magazine, the best skill that this project taught the class was the ability to work together as a team to pull something off—even if we didn't have much experience with it. This magazine helped me learn how to take initiative and have a responsibility to others. Without everyone doing their part, we would not have pulled it off!” — Katie Morgan, senior from Harrisburg, computer storage and site map manager

“Working with the publications class to put together this magazine was such a nice experience. It was a learning experience for me. I learned how important each individual is to a publication.” — Nicole Roser, junior from Indiana, copy editor, print edition

“It was really great being in the publications class and being our own little magazine staff. It was close to a real-world experience, at least as close as I've come in any of my classes. Having deadlines to meet and style sheets to follow were just some of the things that made this project so realistic. Seeing it all come together in these last few weeks has been really exciting. I’m so proud of our class!” — Carol Rosenthal, senior from Waterford, table of contents creator for print and Web version

Other students involved in the creation and production of the magazine include: Mike Bowser, senior from Ford City and Kate Sechrist, senior from Indiana, copy editors, print edition; Drew Walters, senior from Bristol, copy editor, Web edition; Josie Grimes, senior from Bessemer, Web design coordinator; Shannon George, senior from Milroy, print design coordinator; Dara Fennell, junior from Fredericksburg, Va., home page designer; Abby Laskowski, senior from Erie, nameplate designer for print version.

The on-line version can be viewed at Taste of Class. Those wishing to see the print version may download a PDF copy from that site.

JRNL427 Publications is offered in the Spring semester for Journalism majors who have successfully completed JRNL327 Layout, Design, and Production.

Are you an organ donor? If not, have you ever considered it? If you sign up this month via the internet—it only takes ninety seconds of your time—you could help IUP win a statewide campus challenge! In Pennsylvania, it is simple. Log on to DonateLife-PA.org and click on the “It’s On!” link. The site is safe, secure, and simple to use. The life-giving transplants that are so precious to those waiting only happen when donors and families are benevolent enough to grant the gift of life.

April is National Donate Life Month as proclaimed by Congress each year. This year, IUP is participating in the first-ever “It’s On!” Campus Challenge. It’s a statewide competition to see what school can win by registering the most number of people to become organ donors. There are more than 101,000 people waiting for transplant opportunities. This can only happen through the kindness of organ and tissue donors.  (Picture by Lee Vest)

Some very enthusiastic students from my PR Problem-Solving class this semester were in the Oak Grove on Friday, April 17, 2009, spreading the word and signing up people on line. They took pictures of passers-by in a large, fun driver’s license they made, giving away treats, and held raffles for gift cards from Subway, Starbucks, and the IUP Co-Op Store! Picture (right) by Tim Yockey.

If you have any personal concerns or fears about becoming an organ donor, please visit the myths part of the DonateLife-PA website and be sure you are making a well-informed decision.

So please reflect, engage, and celebrate National Donate Life Month with your families, patients, and colleagues. And let’s help our school win the statewide competition.

Thank you!

Michele Papakie
Associate Professor of Journalism
IUP Department of Journalism 

“Michele, What a great thing for students to do! Thanks for doing this! As a personal testament, there is one person who can see today because of my family donating my father’s eyes. There were also about 4 burn victims who received his skin tissues.

“When we received letters from these people, it was one of the most touching moments in my own life and we knew that, although my father died at a young age, there were people living a better life because of him . . . Thanks again for doing this."

Janet Walker
Professor of Mathematics

Tara Friedl, a senior from Moon Township, earned an Outstanding Paper Presentation award for her research about the gender bias in media broadcasting.

Jessica Brown, a sophomore from Vintondale, earned an Honorable Mention for her research about organizations using Facebook as a public relations tool.

Eleven other students from Dr. Michele Papakie's JRNL 481 PR Research class participated in the forum. Five students presented papers, and six students presented posters.

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania sponsors the annual essay contest, and cash prizes were provided by the Society of Professional Journalists, Keystone Pro Chapter.

See the 2009 Sunshine Week Essay Contest at the Andruss Library Government Documents Unit 

IUP Department of Journalism

Last year the event raised about $1,100, according to Larissa Whiteley, community relations director for Lifesteps.