Tuesday Morning Update: TMU 8(7), May 17, 2011

Six communication majors claim OPC scholarships. Six School of Communication journalism and broadcasting students were awarded Omaha Press Club scholarships at an OPC dinner on April 29: Cartia Mazzoni, Panko-Roberts; William Grenfell and Kelsie Olson, John F. Davis; Brandon Bartling, Paul N. Williams; Brent Lubbert, Floyd Kalber; and Sam Petto, Mark O. Gautier, Jr. Intern Award. OPC annually awards scholarships to top students at UNO, UNL and Creighton. Associate Professor Dave Ogden served as the Master of Ceremonies for the event.

Afghan journalism professors learn new media. Five professors from the Kabul University journalism faculty are gaining media skills and developing new curriculum, as part of an eight week visit to UNO. The professors learned about online journalism, publication design and graphics, television video production, media writing, and other courses from faculty and staff. Wendy Townley, Jerilyn Kamm, Gary Repair, Jeremy Lipschultz, and Sherrie Wilson are offering curriculum ideas and sharing teaching methods for lab courses. Graduate students Chris Potratz and Jessica Bernhardt also assisted the faculty, along with UNO Television staff members Mark Dail and Mike Pacholski. The professors had intensive English language instruction and visited Scottsbluff, Nebraska and Mt. Rushmore. They also are touring local media outlets and visiting Omaha sites. The visit concludes with a trip to Washington, D.C. In the second and third years of the program, UNO is scheduled to send faculty and staff to Kabul, and additional professors will come to Omaha.

Next issue: UNO School of Communication Year In Review

Reilly reads from his acclaimed book. Associate Professor Hugh Reilly (left, photo by Howard Marcus) was one of three participating in a May 5 book reading at the Joslyn Castle Ballroom. The event, co-sponsored by the UNO School of Communication, was part of the History Lives educational series. Reilly read from his book, Bound to be Blood: Frontier Newspapers and the Plains Indian Wars. Emphasizing eyewitness accounts, the book focuses on eight watershed events between 1862 and 1891 including the Battle of the Little Big Horn, the Trial of Standing Bear, and the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. Other authors reading included History Professor and Graduate Program Chair Michael Tate. He read from his book, The Frontier Army in the Settlement of the West, which dispels timeworn Army stereotypes and shows that the frontier army was much more – conducting explorations, compiling scientific and artistic records, building roads and improving river transportation. Kenneth Flint, author of 16 published novels with subjects based mostly in the history and folklore of Britain, America, and Ireland, read from his new book, Fort Atkinson. The fort was once the country’s largest fortress beyond the Missouri. Its garrison protected America’s interests and the burgeoning fur trade, provided a base camp for explorations. Flint’s book tells the story of how that lost fortress was restored to become the major historical park.

Excellence in action. Hugh Reilly participated in the Omaha Advertising Federation's "Ad Wars" competition. It is an annual trivia contest held between teams from local ad agencies and local media teams. The Redstone Communication tied with SKAR Advertising this year, and SKAR won the tiebreaker to be crowned as this year's Ad Wars champion. On the team with Reilly was Amy Jacobberger, a recent alumna. Other UNO School of Communication alumni working at Redstone include: Shawna Eves, Randa Zalman and Amanda Peterson. Reilly also recently attended the Nebraska Writer's Guild's Spring Conference. The two-day conference was held at Mahoney State Park. *** Instructor Mike Whye’s writing and photography was published in a Nebraska Life magazine story about Omaha's Hot Shops Art Center. The work took second place in the photography division of the 2010 Mark Twain Awards, which was hosted by the Midwest Travel Writers Association. The award was presented at the MTWA's April 9 conference in Chicago. *** Paige Toller, Kate Rempfer, Joy Chao, Ana Cruz, Karen Dwyer and Marlina Davidson received course redesign grants from UNO to develop online courses. *** Paige Toller’s students April 20 celebrated raising more than $5,000 during service-learning events this year. *** Dave Ogden and Kevin Warneke will present, “Team Commitment Among College Baseball Players: Examining the Chemistry of the Coach/Player Relationship” at the 2011 Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture on June 2. *** Bruce Johansen published an Omaha World-Herald Midlands Voices opinion May 4 on the climate threat.

Alumni notes. Dave Failor has retired from the United States Postal Service to accept a new position as Chief of the United Nations Postal Administration in New York. “I have offices in New York, Geneva and Vienna, so I'm getting to see a bit of the world these days,” he wrote. “Ruth and I moved to Manhattan a few weeks ago, and we're loving life in the big city.” *** Liz Cajka has been accepted to the DU Publishing Institute (this summer at the University of Denver. ***

Communication Week 2011. The School of Communication hosted Dean Gail F. Baker’s Aksarben Cinema screening of DuSable to Obama, Chicago’s Black Metropolis, as one of several Communication Week activities. The screening was followed by a panel discussion with the production team. Distinguished alumni Mike Moran, Paul Critchlow, Rita Paskowitz and Jackie Normington offered suggestions to current students at the alumni panel. More than $50 thousand in scholarships were awarded at the 56^th Annual Communication Awards Banquet. Moran, former U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. WOWT-TV News Director Amy Adams received the Alumni Achievement Award. Paskowitz, a renowned storyteller, received the Alumni Community Service Award. Normington received the Rising Star Award. Big Omaha founders Jeff Slobotski and Dusty Davidson were recognized with the Communication Achievement Award. Karen Dwyer and Courtney Fristoe co-chaired the banquet. The committee included: Joy Chao, Kate Rempfer, Cynthia Robinson, Holly Miller, Abbie Syrek, Mary Gum, Michelle Theis, Karen Weber, and Jeremy Lipschultz. Hugh Reilly served as Master of Ceremonies. A week later, at the Commencement Breakfast, KETV News Director Rose Ann Shannon offered graduates career advice. Karen Weber and Maverick PR planned the annual event.

Hynes announces retirement. UNO Senior Vice Chancellor Terry Hynes announced that she will resign her position, effective August 31. Hynes has served as UNO's senior vice chancellor for academic and student affairs since June 2008. “We've accomplished a number of goals I had when I arrived, and I think this is the right time for this change," Hynes said. Hynes aimed to deepen UNO's strength in research and creative activity. UNO grew its external funding for contracts and grants during the past three years and recently was reclassified by the Carnegie Corporation as a doctoral research university.

Events and photos.