TMU 7(1), Jan. 12, 2010

UNO PR alumni and students dominate competition. The PRSA Nebraska 2009 Paper Anvil Awards Dec. 10 featured many School of Communication winners, as graduate alumna Teresa Paulsen of ConAgra was named Professional of the Year.

Graduate alumna Amy Adkins of Cassling, a local marketing firm, won in the Accessory to Success category for "Investing in You." Adkins also was recognized for "2009 State of the Union" marketing. Paulsen's team was awarded for "ConAgra Foods Brand Story/Launch Video."

An annual report Award of Merit went to M.A. alumnus and School of Communication instructor Kevin Warneke for “Thanks for Lending a Hand,” Ronald McDonald House Charities in Omaha. M.A. alumna Randa Zalman of Redstone Communications received an Award of Merit in the integrated marketing communications campaign category for the 2009 Designer Showhouse.

Current School of Communication students also were recognized with student awards. The Outstanding Classroom Campaign Award of Merit went to "U kNOw Choices: Choose to Care, Binge Drinking Prevention Event," UNO Chapter of PRSSA, Molly Johnson, Heather Nasif, Cassie Prestia and advised by Lecturer Karen Weber. The Award of Excellence also went to UNO PRSSA students Jennifer Estep, Aimee Labenz, Sarah Casey, Mikaela Knipe and Kristen Martin for "Very Important Path: Your Backstage Pass to College." They also won for "Paint the Town Orange MS Awareness Week 2009," PRSSA, Maverick Solutions Student PR Firm, Estep, Labenz, Casey, Knipe, Nasif, Yan He and Jill Sauser. Nasif also was recognized with the Outstanding PR Internship Award of Excellence for her work with Blue Planet Natural Grill.

Chancellor's Medal goes to founding director. Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Graduate Studies Dean and Professor of Communication Deborah Smith-Howell received the Chancellor's Medal at the December Commencement. Smith-Howell has been a campus leader in strategic planning, development of campus leaders and student-centered processes. She was the long-time chair of the Department of Communication and the founding director of the School of Communication. She moved into administration in 2004. Smith-Howell returned to the classroom this year to teach the new Perspectives in Speech Communication course.

Faculty mentor at Native American youth panel. Associate Professors Teresa Lamsam and Hugh Reilly made presentations at the Native American Youth Panel in November sponsored by the Council of Native American Heritage at Union Pacific. The annual event is organized to encourage young adults from the Native American community to take ownership of their future. Lamsam currently directs UNO's Native American Studies program. She and Reilly assisted with mentoring, resources, career paths, tribal affiliations and dual citizenship challenges. The event included groups of Native American students from Omaha Central High School and the Omaha Nation.

"As a teen on the Osage reservation, I never had an opportunity to hear from other Native Americans about their failures and successes in pursuing a college degree," Lamsam said. She shared with students "what we know about academic persistence in relation to Native American youth... and also shared from our heart and soul what it was really like to leave the reservation and adapt to new ways of knowing.

You know Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Dogs of all sizes came out on a snowy Sunday afternoon in early December to get their pictures taken with Santa Claus. A team of volunteers wearing elf hats helped take pictures of the pets with Santa Claus, portrayed by Associate Professor Chris Allen. Elaine Allen was Mrs. Claus. For $15, guests received a hard copy and a CD copy of their pooches to share with friends and family. The fourth annual Santa Paws event sponsored by the UNO Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter raised $415 for Hearts United for Animals, a no-kill shelter. Maverick PR, the UNO PRSSA chapter, partnered with The Bookworm, a pet-friendly independent book store in Omaha. Promotion for the event, which included a feature story in the Omaha World-Herald and on KETV, helped the chapter collect $100 more in proceeds than in 2008. “The event was so much fun and for an amazing cause,” senior Eryn Wisdom said. “We couldn’t have picked a more deserving organization.”

Academic excellence in action. Instructor Kevin Warneke's reporting students provided stories for a special Gateway section about “UNO after dark.” Each student was assigned a story, which were turned in to the Gateway. The editor then decided which ones to run. *** KVNO has named a new news director. Robyn Wisch of Omaha accepted the full-time position as KVNO news and public affairs coordinator and will begin her new duties Feb. 1. She will report to KVNO Operations Manager and Executive News Producer Dana Buckingham. Wisch currently works as a reporter for Nebraska Public Radio and The Reader. She is also an administrative assistant at the University of Nebraska Foundation. She has won numerous awards and recognition for her reporting including the 2007 Eric Sevareid Award of the Northwest Broadcast News Association. She has contributed news reports for both National Public Radio (NPR) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Wisch was born in South Africa and attended high school in Johannesburg. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Arizona State University. *** Assistant Professor and General Manager Bob Franklin collaborated with Public Administration Professor Ethel Williams on a paper accepted for presentation at the 52nd Annual Western Social Science Conference at Reno, Apr. 14-17. *** Two of Assistant Professor Lynnette Leonard's students -- graduate student and undergraduate -- have papers accepted for the upcoming Central States Communication Association meeting in Cincinnati. Graduate student Katie McWilliams is on the Top Student Paper panel in a very competitive division. She will be recognized for, "A Speaker for All People: Robert F. Kennedy and Afrocentric Rhetorical Theory." Undergraduate Jennifer Rome's paper," Obama's Campaign Rhetoric and the Power of Identification," also will be presented at CSCA. *** Professors Shereen Bingham, Jeremy Lipschultz, Mike Hilt, Hugh Reilly and Dave Ogden, associate professors, will be presenting their groundbreaking deliberative dialogue work in a panel at the Public Administration Theory Network Conference, May 20-23 in Omaha.

New and noteworthy. Lainey Prisbell has arrived, and her father was awed by the birth experience. The first child of Marshall and Jayme was born in late December at just over seven pounds and 20 inches long. "What an exciting time," Professor Prisbell said. "Joy is in abundance in the Prisbell home." *** Broadcasting New Media alumna Karina Becker, a Hollywood sound expert, had a commercial she worked on named as a finalist in the Doritos "Crash the Superbowl" competition. She produced the sound design and mixing for "Casket," which is eligible to win a $1 million prize. *** Graduate Teaching Assistant Abby Poulter as featured in an early December WOWT 10 p.m. news story about digging out her car to get ready to return to school. Poulter was struggling to get out of her Midtown parking space after snowplows cleared the street. "Even if classes are canceled, I need to go to campus because finals week is next week, and I have a lot of stuff to do for it."

Footnotes. 1. David Mathison, author of Be The Media, will be on campus Feb. 26. A public presentation is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Thompson Alumni Center. UNO is collaborating with Creighton University and the Omaha Press Club Foundation to bring Mathison to Omaha for students, faculty and professionals. Mathison will spend the evening at a no-host OPC dinner. He also will make a skill enhancing seminar at the new Apple Authorized Training Center. Mathison’s advice is to directly connect with large audiences to obtain maximum exposure for their work. 2. The Alumni Association Night on the Ice dinner and UNO Mav hockey game is Jan. 23. Last year, more than 50 Communication people attended the fun event. 3. Edelman Digital Media President Rick Murray has agreed to be the "Omaha Ten-Ten-Ten" keynote kick-off speaker the evening of Oct. 10, 2010 in the Collaborating Commons. Murray oversees development of PR-centric campaigns through interactive design and word-of-mouth street marketing in their group called "Edelman on the Go." He is at the center of the social media movement. The conference will feature professionals and academics collaborating on a vision for the next decade of social media.

The photo gallery

Faculty attended Commencement:
Barb Pickering, Adam Tyma and Chris Allen
(Rita Shaughnessy, Mike Hilt and Jeremy Lipschultz not shown)

Celebrates top chapter in the nation:
PRSSA Adviser Karen Weber

UNK's Communication chair visits campus:
Ralph Hanson guest lectures in Chris Allen's class
(Seen here at Lynnette Leonard's NOMA meeting)

Bake sales raise money for student travel:
PRSSA staffs the table

Upcoming events

February
4 - North Omaha Media Alliance (NOMA), CPACS 104, 3:30 p.m.
12 - Strategic Planning Forum, MBSC Ballroom, 8:30 a.m.
16 - PRSSA Mardi Gras Bake Sale, ASH, 11:30 a,m,
17 - PRSSA Lunch & Learn with PRSA Pro, ASH 107i, 12 p.m.
18 - Maverick PR Fundraiser Dinner, Indigo Joe's, 7 p.m.
23 - PRSSA Eating Disorders Week Event, MBSC, 11:30 a.m.
26 - David Mathison, Be The Media, Thompson Alumni Center, presentation, 2 p.m.
27 - Omaha Press Club Foundation Workshop, Creighton, 9 a.m.

March
5 - Center for Collaboration Science Research Seminar, CPACS, 8:30 a.m.
15 - Spring Break Week
27 - OPC 2010 Show, Mid-America Center Council Bluffs, 5:30 p.m.

April
22 - PRSSA National Organ Donor Awareness Event, MBSC, 11:30 a.m.
26 - Communication Week Events (April 26-29)
27 - Mav Solutions, MBSC Chancellor's Room, 4 p.m.
28 - National Advertising Competition, St. Louis
29 - Scholarship Breakfast, MBSC Chancellor's Room, 9 a.m.
Alumni Panel, MBSC Dodge Room, 1 p.m.
55th Annual Communication Awards Banquet, Thompson Alumni Center, 6 p.m.

May
7 - Commencement Breakfast, Thompson Alumni Center, 9 a.m.
Commencement, Civic Center, 2 p.m.