TMU 9(4), May 1, 2012

National champion!  UNO claims its first Interstate title. Tunette Powell, senior and outstanding speech communication student, won the Interstate Oratory competition in Boston April 28. The persuasive speaking tournament is the nation's oldest and has brought together the top two speakers from each state since 1872. Powell earlier was a Nebraska champion and one of 12 students on UNO Forensics, which repeated its 5th place in the national team standings earlier in the month. Powell's persuasive speech is about her father's addiction to crack cocaine and her personal struggles. This is the first Interstate Oratory championship for UNO, and the first in recent memory for a public speaker from Nebraska.

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For the latest news, please visit the UNO School of Communication Facebook page, and follow @CommUNO on Twitter. 

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Next issue: Undergraduate honors 

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Excellence in action. Five outstanding journalism and mass communication majors received Omaha Press Club (OPC) scholarships April 13 at the annual dinner. Alison Thomsen, Brittany Redden,  Lindsey Peterson, Natalie Davis and Anthony Pontiero were recognized with the prestigious and highly selective awards for academic excellence and professional potential. Redden thanked OPC in a brief speech. 

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Associate Professor Teresa Lamsam was selected to make a social enterprise pitch at Yale University for start-up website Native Health News Alliance and companion blog Wellbound Storytellers. The Unite for Sight 9th Annual Global Health and Innovation Conference was held April 21-22. Lamsam also recently spoke to  journalism students at Santa Clara University exploring Social Determinants in Health.

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Bill O'Neill successfully defended his thesis,   "Physician-Parent Communication when NICU Babies are on the Threshold of Viability: A Qualitative/Interpretive Exploration of the Value Systems Physicians Use When Communicating with Parents of Extremely Sick." Associate Professor Paige Toller advised the thesis and chaired the committee, which also included Assistant Professor Adam Tyma and Alice Schumaker from UNMC. 

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Isaacson Professor Bruce Johansen published, "The Carbon Footprint of War," in Bruce Stinebrickner (ed.), Annual Editions: American Government 2011/2012. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011.

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Instructor Kevin Warneke successfully defended his doctoral dissertation in Leadership Studies at University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

UNO Communication Week 2012 activities. Students, faculty, staff and alumni celebrated Communication Week at the 57th Annual Communication Awards Banquet April 26. Events began April 18 with a record crowd of nearly 400 for the High School Media Conference. In a separate program that day, Professor Shereen Bingham and her students hosted a conflict mediation speaker. Public relations students presented their work on April 24. Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Paul Critchlow was interviewed by Director Jeremy Lipschultz for an upcoming show on NET2. Critchlow's spouse, author Patricia McCormick, presented and signed her new book Never Fall Down at KANEKO in the Old Market. Four distinguished alumni -- Danelle Schlegelmilch, Tim McMahon, Joan Lukas and Critchlow participated in the 8th Annual Communication Alumni Panel. McMahon later received the Alumni Achievement Award, Critchlow the  Lifetime Achievement Award, and Schlegelmilch the Rising Star Award. Lukas previously was recognized with the Alumni Achievement Award. The UNO School of Communication also recognized the Omaha Storm Chasers with the Communication Achievement Award and UNO Criss Librarian Marvel Maring with the Communication Service Award. Current students received more than $50,000 in scholarships. 

Events and photos.

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PRSSA Maverick PR dinner April 28

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Undergraduate Elizabeth Valla completed her successful practicum 
at CB 17 television in Council Bluffs

Lecturer Karen Weber with Brittany Redden and Natalie Davis at the OPC

Alumna Rose Ann Shannon, KETV, and Associate Professor Dave Ogden
award Lindsey Peterson an OPC Scholarship

Outstanding undergraduates Tunette Powell (speech), 
Billy Grenfell (broadcasting), and Kelsie Olson (journalism) 
with Dean Gail F. Baker

Paul Critchlow with former Chancellor Del Weber

Hugh Reilly and Abbie Syrek were co-emcees for the banquet

UNO PRSSA /Maverick PR inducted new members and
recognized seniors at a dinner

The calendar.  

May

1 - GOP Nebraska Senate Debate, UNO Television and NET1, 7 p.m.
4 - Graduation Breakfast, MBSC Ballroom, 9 a.m.
5 - CFAM Commencement, Thompson Alumni Center, 10 a.m.
8 - School faculty retreat, Thompson Alumni Center, 9 a.m.