Out with Smith, In with Marren

   The new year is bring changes for the Communication Department.

   Ron Smith is leaving as chair to answer a call to serve as interim Associate Dean for Buffalo State's School of Arts and Humanities. In this capacity, Ron will assist students and faculty in 10 departments and 3 interdisciplinary programs.
   A professor of public relations, Ron has served as chair since 2003. He joined the department in 1990 after serving as communication director for the Catholic Diocese of Syracuse. He also had worked as a newspaper reporter and a Navy journalist.
   The number of Communication students has grown from 488 in fall 2003 when he became chair to 703 this fall, a 44% growth. Recognition by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications was a highlight of his term as chair.
   Ron holds a bachelor's degree education from Lock Haven University and a master's degree in public relations from Syracuse University. He is an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America. He holds numerous awards for his work in public relations. He is the author of two textbooks on public relations and co-author of a textbook on media writing.

      Joe Marren, associate professor of journalism, is stepping up as interim Communication Department Chair.
   Joe first joined the department as a student, earning degrees in both journalism and history with a minor in anthropology in 1986. Ten years later, he received a master's degree in history from St. Bonaventure University.
   Joe re-joined the department in 2002 as assistant professor of journalism, after having served as a part-time instructor since 1997 while working as a columnist and associate editor for Business First.

   Joe is the author of several book chapters on journalism and the media's role in the desegregation of baseball. He holds journalism awards from the NY Newspaper Publishers Association, NYS Associated Press, NY Press Association, and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

Our Blog Readers

   Who's reading this blog? You and 2,595 other people. That's since we started this blog in June; 696 in the past month alone.
   The most common page readers are seeking is the Internship Update, with 74 visitors. Additionally, we've had 37 readers for Faculty Achievements, 22 for Sports Communication and Advisement/Registration, 20 for Celebrating Meg, 19 for New Students, New Semester, and 17 each for Public Relations Awards, Tips for Part-Time Instructors, and Scholarship Applications.
   Most of our readers are from the U.S., but we've had quite a few internationals -- 30 from the Republic of Georgia, 22 from China, 14 each from Brazil and Germany, and 11 each from Denmark, Russia and Taiwan.
   We're pleased that we've been able to provide useful information for so many readers. We'll keep it up.

Editor-Adjunct on Journalism Future

   Margaret Sullivan is editor of The Buffalo News. She's also an adjunct journalism instructor in the Communication Department. So when she talks about the future of journalism, she's speaking with experience and expertise. Here's what she offered during a Buffalo City Forum at the WNED studios:
- No one knows what journalism will be like in the future.
- Society may not need newspapers, but it will always need newspaper-style journalism.
- Thus good journalism will always be with us.
   That's the same message that Sullivan, and all full-time and part-time journalism faculty at Buff State, give our students. It's a message about accuracy, integrity, and professionalism. It's a message of hope about their future in a changing profession.
   See the Buffalo News article and download Sullivan's hour-long talk on Buffalonews.com.

Tips for Part-Time Instructors

   Assistant Professor Annemarie Franczyk likes teaching journalism so much she's helping other communication professionals join her.
   Writing in Quill magazine published by the Society of Professional Journalists, she gives advice on "Landing the Education Gig." Subtitle: "Whether you've been laid off, are semi-retired or are just looking for extra income, teaching journalism is attractive. And it takes a lot more than mere years in the field."
   In the article, Franczyk draws on her own transition as newspaper reporter and part-time lecturer in becoming a full member of the faculty. She also interviews faculty and department administrators at several universities. Read the Quill article.

Media, Music and Dance

   Department technical assistant Brian Milbrand is directing Surround: Visual, a multi-genre show at Asbury Hall (Ani DeFranco's church on Tupper and Delaware). The show is the second and final segment of the "Beyond / In Western New York" performance series.
   Brian says the goal of this project is "to create an atmosphere that saturates the audience with a stew of media techniques, music, and dance."
   He also directed the opening series event, Surround: Audio, which featured electronic instrumentation and live surround-sound mixing with live mixed videos. That segment was held at the Burchfield Penney Art Center on campus.
   Read about the exhibition in an Art Voice front-page article by Stephanie Berberick, a Communication Studies senior.

Tsunami and Communication

   Associate Professor Michael Niman has published a chapter about the South Asian tsunami and communication aspects of the natural (and subsequent social) disaster. The chapter examines tsunami stories that most of the world's media did not tell and the environmental and social injustice that such silence nurtures.
   Niman's chapter, "The Political Tsunami: Not All Death and Destruction Is Natural" was published in Tsunami Communication: Interpersonal/Intercultural, Mass Media, and Philanthropic Responses; Historical, Technical, Ethical and Development Communication, published by Hampton Press.
   Read the chapter at mediastudy.com/articles/tsunami2004.pdf.