The conference runs May 9-10, 2008. For more information, visit the AFP Web site.

Important Dates:

housing contracts are due May 1

registration for Pre-College begins May 27

[Front (L to R): Michelle Haidet, Megan Kosicki, Ellen Cox, Liz Follet and Katelyn Mooney; Back (L to R): Laura Marczika, Prof. Hong Cheng, Ryan Dease, Laurel Wiencek, Lauren Miller, Prof. Craig Davis and Victor Rasgaitis]

Twelve teams from universities and colleges in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia participated in this year's competition. As the first-place winner, the OUAA team will represent AAF District 5 to compete at the national finals in Atlanta in June.

[(L to R): Ryan Dease, Lauren Miller, Liz Follet, Katelyn Mooney and Victor Rasgaitis]

"The students have worked so hard since last fall on this competition and the five presenters did so well yesterday. Everyone of us was thrilled," according to Prof. Hong Cheng, one of the co-advisers (with Prof. Craig Davis) for Ad Club.

[OUAA's Ellen Cox received this year's only scholarship ($1,000) from AAF District 5, presented by AAF's John McCafferty.]

Julia Marino (BSJ '07) recently completed an internship in Africa with the Common Language Project. Her internship was funded with a John R. Wilhelm internship program scholarship through the journalism school.

Here's one of the projects Marino produced while in Africa. [visit the Pulitzer Center for more information]

Carla Saavedra-Santiago is a senior in the News Writing and Editing sequence. In this video Carla describes two paid internships she had during her years at OU, as well as other internships offered to Scripps students.

Garrett Downing is a second year student in the jschool. This past winter quarter he interned with washingtonpost.com in DC. In this video Garrett describes what he learned about the future of journalism and how to prepare for it.

Educators and journalists from around the nation were selected from a large pool of applicants for these two training events. They will be held concurrently at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University, where the Reynolds Center is headquartered.

The seminar for professors covers essentials of teaching a hands-on course on financial, economic and writing aspects of the field. The financials seminar for journalists features training in financials, from stock markets and bonds to financial statements and company research. Fellowships cover all seminar expenses.

"The success of last year's inaugural Business Journalism Professors Seminar encouraged us to repeat it," said Andrew Leckey, Director of the Reynolds Center. "We initiated the Strictly Financials seminar as a direct answer to many requests received from business journalists who wanted to learn how to dig deeper into the intricacies of how companies operate."

Fellows chosen for the "Business Journalism Professors Seminar" are:

Annie-Laurie Blair, Miami University of Ohio

Laura Castaneda, University of Southern California

Roger Desmond, University of Hartford

Dr. Martin Edu, Grambling State University

Lynn Holley, University of Illinois

Dr. Ed Lenert, University of Nevada, Reno

Shaheen Pasha, American University in Cairo

Mark Vamos, Southern Methodist University

Georgiana Vines, University of Tennessee

Leslie Whitaker, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Timothy Gibbons, University of North Florida

Mark Tatge, Ohio University

The "Strictly Financials" fellows are:

Hanah Cho, The Sun in Baltimore

Roberta "Robbie" DiMesio, The Oregonian

Nell Luter Floyd, The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss.

Delawese Fulton, The State, Columbia, S.C.

John Gittelsohn, The Orange County Register

Angela Gonzales, The Business Journal of Phoenix

Traci Gregory, The Mohawk Valley Business Journal

Beth Kassab, Orlando Sentinel

David Morrill, Bay Area News Group, Walnut Creek, Calif.

Stefanie Murray, Ann Arbor News

Denis Paiste, New Hampshire Union Leader

Kristen Tatti, Northern Colorado Business Report

More than 6,000 working journalists around the country over the past four years have taken part in workshops, online seminars and online tutorials of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. More information about the Center can be found on its Web site, www.BusinessJournalism.org.

The Center is funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, it is one of the largest private foundations in the United States.

Last day to apply for graduation for spring quarter

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30

Journalism Day (schedule to be posted)

MONDAY, MAY 12

Academic advising begins for fall quarter registration for continuing students (contact advisor/college/department/school/regional campus student services office as appropriate)

MONDAY, MAY 19

Fall quarter priority registration begins

Caleb Troop is in his first year of study in Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. In this interview he tells JSchool director Tom Hodson about experience he is gaining as a freshman.

Allie LaForce is a freshman at Ohio University, majoring in journalism in the Honors Tutorial College and the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. JSchool director Tom Hodson interviewed LaForce during the first week of spring quarter.

Brian entered Ohio University in the Fall of 2007. He's in the Honors Tutorial College with a journalism major. Prof. Tom Hodson, director of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, interviewed Brian prior to a basketball game at Ohio University.

By Jason King, Yahoo Sports. Used with permission.

Anyone who likes girls who are into sports will surely be a fan of Allie, who feels as comfortable in her Ohio University basketball uniform as she did her Miss Teen USA crown. Along with being one of the most striking women in college basketball, Allie is also one of the most well-rounded.

She was valedictorian of her senior class at Vermilion (Ohio) High School, where she starred in basketball, softball and volleyball. Now a freshman walk-on at Ohio U, Allie is studying journalism with the hopes of becoming a sideline reporter or play-by-play analyst once her basketball career ends. She’s also maintained her involvement with the various charity organizations she worked with during her reign as Miss Teen USA.

"Not exactly," said Allie, when asked if her life had calmed down during the last year. "It was crazy being Miss Teen USA, but things are still pretty crazy. I’ve got a lot of things to keep me busy, but I like it that way."

Luckily Allie penciled in a few minutes to chat with me before Sunday’s Super Bowl.

KOTR: How has college basketball gone for you thus far?

ALLIE: So far so good. We’re No. 1 in the MAC right now, so you can’t get better than that. We’ve won six games in a row.

KOTR: How much different is the college game from the high school game?

ALLIE: It was an easy transition for me, mainly because the coaches and the girls on the team were so welcoming and so helpful. The level of play is definitely a lot harder than high school, but it’s all been very rewarding. It’s awesome to play with people that understand the game. In high school you have people playing for a lot of different reasons. It’s not always because they love basketball. In college everyone loves it and everyone is dedicated. That’s the best part about it.

KOTR: Why did you pick Ohio University?

ALLIE: I came to Ohio University for the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. My AAU coaches and I were in contact with the basketball coaches here. There was an open tryout. I knew that if I didn’t give it a shot that I’d regret it. Luckily it worked out well.

KOTR: How active have you been in the journalism school?

ALLIE: I’m trying to get as much hands-on journalism experience as I can. There are so many opportunities here. I’m doing morning sports radio right now. I go to high school basketball games and film them and report on them. I’m playing basketball on top of that and I just transferred into the Honors Tutorial College, so there’s going to be an extra workload.

KOTR: Have you decided what field of journalism you want to enter, or are you still in the experimentation stage?

ALLIE: I’m still in the experimentation stage. I think sports broadcasting is what I want to focus on. After college, I won’t be playing basketball anymore, but I want to keep it in my life. So broadcasting is something I’d enjoy. I think it’s great that women are getting more and more opportunities to be seen and heard in the sports industry. I can see myself being a sideline reporter or doing play-by-play. Play-by-play may be further down the road, but I can see myself doing sideline stuff right now.

KOTR: What are some parallels between competing in a beauty pageant and a basketball game?

ALLIE: There’s a lot of pressure because you’re out there in front of a big group of people. The preparation is (tough) too. When I won Miss Ohio I did it with almost no preparation whatsoever. I wasn’t expecting to win. I just did it to mix things up from sports a little bit. But for Miss Teen USA … that was on national television, so I wanted to be prepared. There was a lot of preparation that went into it as far as walking technique, sit-ups, jogging, eating healthy, interview questions … it goes on and on.

KOTR: What was the toughest part?

ALLIE: The interview, just because the walking and the dancing is all something we rehearsed for 18 days. We practiced from early on the morning until late at night. In the end it was like riding a bike for us. It was nothing. The interview was something we never practiced. You are who you are. There’s no teaching involved. So it was nerve-wracking, because you had no idea what they were going to ask you. Plus, the contestants write the questions, and no one was going to (reveal) what they wrote.

KOTR: What did you talk about during the interview?

ALLIE: They asked me about the all-guys baseball team I was on when I was younger. I told this story about how I drove in the game-winning run in a championship game. The crowd went crazy. They loved it. I was the only girl on the team and those boys weren’t expecting me to get a hit. All of a sudden those guys were my friends.

KOTR: Why did you enter the pageant?

ALLIE: My mom was Miss Ohio in 1977. One day she said, 'I think you should enter the Miss Ohio pageant. I think it would be fun for you. Just treat it like it's a (sports) camp. Go meet some girls, have fun doing something that's out of your comfort zone.' There were no expectations of winning and I didn't tell many people I was doing it. There were a handful of my family members that came and I didn’t have any of my friends come.

KOTR: Then you went on to win Miss Teen USA before your junior year of high school. What were some of the perks?

ALLIE: The day after I won I was on a plane to New York City to see my Manhattan apartment (laughing). Just imagine a junior in high school, from a small town, going to live in a Manhattan apartment. The day I got there it was a big publicity day. There were a bunch of different TV shows and radio tours. It was exciting. I got to go overseas twice. I went to Germany and visited a military base and interacted with some of the sons and daughters of the men and women who are deployed. Then I went to China for a bridal fashion show. I missed 60 days of school. Thankfully my high school was very cooperative. I got all my homework assignments before I left and then I’d do them on the plane or in the car. I still graduated as valedictorian, so it was worth it.

KOTR: Tell me about some of the charities you worked with?

ALLIE: I did a lot of work with the Sparrow Club and Best Buddies. I did a 90-mile bike ride with Best Buddies. It was on a tandem bike and I had a 'best buddy,' which is a person with a mental disability that you help. You become one of their best friends. You’re there for them. You're their buddy. My buddy was named Katie and she's a victim of Down's Syndrome. We rode 90 miles together on a tandem bike. It was awesome. It was featured on NBC. One time our pedal broke off and we were sitting on the side of the road until a repair team came and fixed our bike. We really had a chance to bond. We still talk to each other. She’s an awesome girl.

KOTR: Sounds as if you had some rewarding experiences that will stick with you. What do your new teammates and classmates say about your time as Miss Teen USA?

ALLIE: When I first got here the basketball girls didn’t know me, so they just called me Miss America. I wasn’t Allie or anything. I was just Miss America. Most people don’t know that there’s a difference between Miss America and Miss USA. I just laughed about it. It was a funny joke between us. They still call me that from time to time.

RELATED LINKS:

player bio: Allie LaForce (OU Women's Basketball)
Yahoo story

read more

SPJ press release (September 12, 2007):

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Society of Professional Journalists is pleased to honor Ralph Izard with the Distinguished Teaching in Journalism Award.

Izard is the Sig Mickelson/CBS professor in the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University and professor emeritus in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. He previously served a two-year term with the Media Studies Center/First Amendment Center in New York, where he was online editor of publications and coordinator of the International Initiative for Journalism Education. His work at Ohio University for 32 years included 12 years as director of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. Co-author or editor of three books, Izard's articles include several on journalism ethics, media diversity and professional development in journalism.

Included in his journalistic background is work for two newspapers and in four bureaus of The Associated Press. He has served as a consultant for the United States Information Service in the South Pacific and for Mitchell College of Advanced Education in Australia and has conducted professional journalism workshops on five continents. He was president in 1992-93 of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) and vice president for campus chapter affairs of the Society of Professional Journalists from 1976 to 1979. In 1985, he received the Wells Memorial Key, SPJ's highest national award for service.

For 12 years Izard was editor of Newspaper Research Journal. He received a bachelor's and master's degree from West Virginia University and a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Illinois.

Together with Adrienne Moore, director of the Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs, Izard founded Mass Communicating: The Forum on Media Diversity (www.masscommunicating.lsu.edu), a Web site offering information to help reporters and editors improve news coverage on minority issues. The Web site also features a host of resources to support increased diversity in newsrooms and academia. An online library boasts an impressive collection of information and research on media, gender, religion and race. More than 100 course syllabi can be found on the site.

"Under Izard's guidance, the faculty at Louisiana State increased efforts to recruit doctoral candidates of color, tapping historically black colleges for leads," wrote Sally Lehrman, SPJ's national diversity chairwoman in her nomination letter. "They developed relationships with high schools in Baton Rouge and New Orleans to introduce journalism to the students."

The Distinguished Teaching in Journalism Award honors an outstanding journalism educator who has made a significant contribution to the profession and/or journalism education. Students, former students, alumni, colleagues and professionals may submit nominations. Nominees do not have to be members of SPJ.

Izard will be recognized Friday, Oct. 5 during a luncheon at the 2007 SPJ Convention & National Journalism Conference in Washington, D.C. at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave., NW.

Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. For more information about SPJ, please visit www.spj.org.