Alumni News

 

Alumnus Ken Baldwin Establishes $500,000 Financial-Journalism Endowment

 

Ken Baldwin, a 1949 journalism graduate, hopes through his gift to better prepare students to report on important financial issues. Current news headlines tell us how timely and necessary this is. The Baldwin Business and Financial Journalism Endowment Fund will generate income annually to support students with a depth of knowledge to investigate business and financial topics affecting consumers and taxpayers. Read more>

 

If you have interest in supporting the endowment or would like more information, please call 803-777-6898 or e-mail tedixon@mailbox.sc.edu.

 

 

 

Sammy Fretwell Shares Taylor/Tomlin Investigative Journalism Award

 

Journalism alumnus Sammy Fretwell, ’83, and John Monk, staff writers for The State, are this year’s winners of the Taylor/Tomlin Award for their series, "DHEC Under Fire.” Fretwell and Monk wrote an eight-day package about troubles at the S. C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. They published a story each day about how DHEC’s difficulties were affecting average citizens who depend on the agency for health protection. Read more>

 

 

 

 

John Baker is First Alumnus to Win Cocky Award for Best Super Bowl Ad

 

John Baker, ’01, was back on campus April 1, to accept the coveted Cocky Award for Bud Light’s Conan O’Brien commercial. Baker was the art director on the ad, prepared by BBD-Chicago for Super Bowl XLIII. The commercial’s copywriter, Jeff Oswald, joined Baker to accept the Cocky Award during the college’s I-Comm Week. Baker and Oswald told students the behind-the-scenes story of making the commercial with O’Brien (Conan’s a good guy) and shared some never-seen-before footage with them. Read more>

 

 

Seven Alumni Inducted Into Beta Phi Mu

 

The School of Library and Information Science inducted the following alumni into its honor society, Beta Phi Mu, on Monday, March 30:

Trudy Bazemore
Jennifer Brown
Kimberly Maughan
Nicholas Meriwether
Mamie Anthoine Ney
Santi Thompson
Jennifer West

Alumna Drusilla Carter Wins National Recognition

 

Drusilla Carter, director of the Chesterfield County Library System and 2005 graduate of the School of Library and Information Science, has been recognized by Library Journal as one of 2009’s Movers and Shakers. This award recognizes individuals who are changing libraries for the better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Alumni Elected to Board of Governors

 

SJMC alumni Capt. (rtd.) Larry Thomas, ’83, and Malik Husser, ’00, have been elected to serve on the Carolina Alumni Association’s Board of Governors. Thomas is the director of regulatory affairs for BP America, Inc. in Houston, Texas. Husser is the executive director of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C.

 

Student News

Students Honored at Graduate Student Day

The University’s Graduate School gave the following awards to our students on April 3:

 

In SLIS, Barbara Montgomery won second place for her poster, "One Too Many.” Clayton Copeland received a Preparing Future Faculty award from the Center for Teaching Excellence.

 

In SJMC, Youngshin Hong received the Dera D. Parkinson Fellowship; Heidi Campbell won third place for her oral presentation, "Propagating the ‘Womanpower’ Campaign during WWII” and Beth Concepcion won third place for her oral presentation, "When Does Reporting Become Obstruction of Justice?: A case study of ethics in the newsroom."

 

Our school award winners were also announced:

 

School of Journalism and Mass Communications

Bryce Rucker Excellence in Student Research Award — Qingjiang Yao
2009 Graduate Research Award — Heidi D. Campbell, Hilary Fussell Sisco, and Yang-Hwan Lee
Kappa Tau Alpha Top Scholar Award — Teresa M. Mobley and Bradley J. Petit
Kappa Tau Alpha Honor Award — Anna Groos Saunders, Hilary Fussell Sisco, Matthew Charles Tryon, and Joy Ballard Wilkerson

 

School of Library and Information Science

John N. Olsgaard Distinguished Service Award - Diversity Leadership Group
Outstanding Alumni Award - Mary Smalls
William M. Trafton Outstanding Student Award for Leadership - Chess Schmidt
Wayne S. Yenawine Distinguished Student Award - Adam Vorobok

 

Visual Communications Sophomore Goes to Washington, D.C.

Sarah Langdon was chosen from honors students across the state for the South Carolina Washington Semester program. In the fall, she will take classes in public policy and intern. Read more> Sarah has published articles, photos and video in Web sites and publications all over town, including The State. She is secretary of the new student NPPA chapter.

 

Journalism Student Wins Story of a Lifetime

Good storytelling skills won second-year journalism student Paul Bowers an all-expenses-paid trip to Africa for two-weeks in May, exploring West Africa with New York Times writer and Pulitzer Prize-winner Nicholas Kristof. Bowers will travel Africa and blog for the New York Times. Bowers submitted an essay and video to compete with 900 others for the chance to win this trip with Kristof. Read more>

 

College News

Cocky’s Reading Express™ On a Roll

 

The State published two articles last month highlighting Cocky’s Reading Express.

 

From The State...

 

Schools getting Cocky about reading

Andrew Gaeckle had the South Kilbourne Elementary School students just where he wanted them.

 

With a book in his hand and a furry friend by his side, the University of South Carolina senior commanded every set of eyes as he sounded out the story of "I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More” during a visit to the school earlier this week.

 

To be sure, his sidekick was a big part of the allure. Read More>

Bolton: Illiteracy problem a tough one, but we can fix it
By WARREN BOLTON

 

READING A book to a child today lessens the chance of law enforcement having to throw the book at him tomorrow.

 

That’s one of the themes captured in an effective video produced by the folks who run USC’s Cocky’s Reading Express program, which travels the state stressing the importance of reading to elementary school students.

 

In the video, released last month, Dianne Johnson, an English professor at USC, talked about how those who plan the need for prison capacity use third-grade reading scores to help make projections. "And they can predict very accurately how many beds will be needed in so many years for these kids,” she said. Read More>

 

 

Newsplex to Help Bridge Generations

 

The IFRA Newsplex, the College’s multimedia news laboratory, will be at the center of an innovative project funded by the Knight Foundation. Students from USC and Benedict College will train in Newsplex and then work in senior citizen centers to help the seniors tell their stories in innovative ways. The work will be displayed on a Web site maintained and promoted by The State newspaper (BGTIME.org). The project is called Bridging Generations through Technology, Information, Media and Engagement. It is funded by a two-year, $383,000 grant from Knight to the Central Carolina Community Foundation. In addition to training the students, Newsplex will serve as a liaison between the cross-generational reporting teams and The State.

 

Participation in the Knight grant is just one part of what is turning out to be the busiest year in the six-year history of Newsplex:  

• In March, a Newsplex team was in Belgium to conduct a training program in convergent journalism for NATO.

• In February, a Newsplex team was in San Juan to train journalists from El Nuevo Dia and Primera Hora.  

• Also in February, the Portuguese media company Impresa sent 12 journalists to South Carolina for training.  

Newsplex continues to provide training and support for the U.S. Department of Justice’s AMBER Alert program.

 

S.C. Public Service Commissioner to Address Media Law Class

 

Mignon Clyburn, a former newspaper editor and publisher, has been a member of the Public Service Commission since July 1998, and is being widely mentioned as a candidate for appointment by President Barack Obama to the Federal Communications Commission. Clyburn received a bachelor’s degree in Banking, Finance and Economics from USC in 1984. The PSC regulates intrastate commerce in electricity, telephone and other vital services. The PSC has recently concluded hearings on applications to construct a new coal-fired power plant in the Pee Dee and two new nuclear-power generating plants in the midlands. She will speak to Professor Jay Bender’s Media Law class on April 14.