Communication Studies News
December 1, 2005

Students in the CST 300 classes will be involved in eight poster sessions in which they will present their research proposals. The poster sessions are open to all. If you have not yet taken CST 300 – you should attend a poster session or two to get an idea of how the process works. 

Among the subjects covered are: topic avoidance with parents, sports web sites, WWE and masculinity, presidential ads/ 2004, comfort in profanity use, father/ son relationships in Hmong families, and the framing of organic food messages. There’s at least one topic of interest to anybody! 

The poster sessions are scheduled as follows: 

Thurs., Dec. 2 at 9:25 and 11 a.m. in 333 and 347 Arts

Tues., Dec. 7 at 9:25 and 11 a.m. in 333 and 347 Arts

Thurs., Dec. 9 at 9:25 and 11 a.m. in 333 and 347 Arts

Mon., Dec. 13 at 3:55 p.m. in 342 and 347 Arts

Wed., Dec. 15 at 3:55 p.m. in 342 and 347 Arts 

Beginning in 2005, Communication Studies students will have a chance to learn more about different aspects of the field – thanks to changes in the core curriculum and new CST courses that have been developed. 

The changes will appear in the 2005-07 UW-L Undergraduate Course Catalog. Effective with that catalog, the CST major will be a 39-credit hour degree (all emphasis areas), with 12 hours required in the core and two fewer hours required in electives than called for in the current catalog.

This change in the core requirements will not affect current CST students (who will complete the core requirements in the catalog under which they entered UW-L). However, all students may take advantage of exciting new courses offered for elective credit (CST 240 and CST 380 – see below).

The changes were initiated by the CST Curriculum Committee (Drs. Billmeyer, L. Dickmeyer, Piehl, Rodrick, Swanson, and Tollefson) which was formed as a result of discussions at our beginning-of-the-year faculty retreat. The CST C-C worked hard to refine the core curriculum and achieve several objectives. We want students to have a stronger understanding of the role and impact of communication theory – so a new (required) theory course was created. We want to separate the theory issues from research methodology issues – so we created two new required courses (the theory course and a methods course) to take the place of the current required CST 300 course. Finally, we want students to have higher-level experience with the CST literature throughout the core curriculum, so CST 290 is being dropped and its outcome goals will be included in other courses in the core.

The new required core courses, effective with the Fall 2005 catalog:

CST 301, Theories of Communication, 3 cr.

CST 302, Research Methods in Communication, 3 cr.

Again, current students will be expected to complete the core requirements in the catalog under which they entered UW-L. There may be some adjustments necessary as we bring CST 301 and 302 online and drop CST 300 – however, current students should not be concerned about their ability to complete degree requirements. The CST Department will work with all students to assure that they complete core requirements as expected. (Some course substitutions may be necessary on an individual basis – see your faculty adviser if you have questions.) Key words: “Don’t panic – everything will work out ok!”

The two new elective courses which will take effect with the 2005-07 catalog are CST 240 (developed by Dr. Kurt Billmeyer) and CST 380 (developed by Dr. Scott Dickmeyer): 

CST 240, Fundamentals of Computer Mediated Communication, 3 cr.

CST 380, Communicating Leadership, 3 cr.

Courses that will be deleted from the catalog are:

CST 290, Research Tools for Communication Studies, 1 cr.

CST 300, Theory and Research in Communication Studies, 3 cr.

CST 400, Ethical and Legal Issues in Communication Studies, 3 cr.,

CST students produced and broadcast the 6^th Annual Coulee Region Humane Society Telethon on Saturday, Nov. 13. The telethon aired live on KQEG/UPN Channel 23 and cable Channels 6 & 10 from 7 to 9 p.m. Eleanor St. John and Rick Wilson, owners of KQEG/UPN, hosted the event, along with Mary Vinson, Coulee Region Humane Society Assistant Executive Director, and Kristen Albrecht, CST student, on the tote board.

This year, the telethon raised more than $6,000 in donations. The majority of the monetary donations pledged during the telethon were for $100 or more. Many of the donations were given on memory of viewers’ pets.

Many guests were ushered in during this two-hour telecast. CST Department Chair Rick Rodrick, along with his wife Janet Weir (CST faculty), and their dog Gillie, adorned with a large, gold ribbon for the occasion, made an appearance. One of the highlights of the production was a major donation by the 4^th and 5^th grade classes taught by Jenny Ruetten at Emerson Elementary School. The students collected more than $1,000 in pet supplies for the telethon.

Many Communication Studies students were instrumental in making this year’s event a success. Jaclyn Cardin and Nick Koegl, primary fundraisers, with assistants Beth Kinlund, Brittani Garner, and Andrea Platt had collected over $750 before the telethon went on the air.  Communication Studies students who assisted with the airing of this event were Jaclyn Cardin (executive producer and producer); Nick Koegl (producer); Chris Woodard (director); Crissy Lobermier, Andreya Platt, and Kayla Zajec (phone bank); Beth Kinlund (assistant producer and CG); Aaron LaGrange and Aaron Ott (cameras); Adam Strand (lighting, set design, and camera); Gregg Lewison (producer, audio, and set design); Ryan Berger (technical director and set design); Dan Walters (photographer and Wing studio technician); Carl Grevstad (UPN studio technician); Sarah Krueger and Bart Winkler (floor directors); Chris Hyke (teleprompter); Ashley Smeltzer (producer and computer graphic designer); Brittani Garner (video operator) Heidi Bolin, Kelsey Svendsen, and Jessie Tucker (line producers).

Several CST students went to New York City recently to participate in the national convention of the Public Relations Society of America. Read Sarah Nohr’s paper about the experience!

Read Noel Lee’s account below:

New York was amazing. The conference was awesome! I learned about the many dimensions of public relations.  There are so many opportunities you can partake of in public relations - such as food PR, fashion PR and so much more. The conference consisted of many different sessions, all presented by top-notch public relations persons. What we are learning in class...was really enhanced upon in the conference, especially the importance of writing skills. The most important thing I and the three other awesome girls I went with learned was: NETWORK. You aren’t going to get anywhere in life or in a career if you don’t network. Also, make sure you keep bridges between everyone, never burn a bridge with anyone, you never know when you might need their help. Send thank you's after anything and everything. New York was an amazing experience both the conference and the shopping, the eating and sight seeing. – Noel Lee

Several of our faculty attended the National Communication Association Convention in Chicago in November. Here’s some of the ways our faculty were involved: 

Dr. Cheri Niedzwiecki presented research titled Conversational Topics Between College Students and Siblings. She attended two short courses: “Teaching the College Course in Mediation” and “Sex, Love and Romance in the Mass Media.” Dr. Niedzwiecki is planning to present “Sex, Love and Romance in the Mass Media” as a special topics course in CST next year.

Dr. Scott Dickmeyer was the program planner for the Training and Development Division at NCA. Program planning involves several responsibilities including submitting the call for papers, recruiting and coordinating reviewers, accepting and rejecting proposals, choosing panel chairs and respondents, scheduling the division’s convention program, facilitating the needs of members during the convention, verbally reporting on the convention at the division business meeting, and writing a report of convention highlights for division newsletter. Dickmeyer is now the chair of the Training and Development Division of the National Communication Association.

Dr. Scott Dickmeyer had an article published in the North Dakota Journal of Speech and Theatre: Connecting Great Plains and North Dakota: Using the Heritage of Place as Normative Control Communication at One of The Best Companies to Work For in America.

Hello to all of you on this warm but gloomy Wednesday. I just wanted to say hi and give you an update about my life since graduation. I have been working for Quad Graphics in Milwaukee since July. I am in their corporate training program and am moving into my third rotation in a few weeks! Most of you probably remember Tim Bley...he also works for Quad and is currently in New York in one of our sales rotations. Anyway, I love living in Milwaukee, I live by the lake. It is absolutely beautiful! The program that I am in is one of the best transitions from college to work that I could imagine. I started this summer along with about 20 others which led to fast friendships and always someone to go exploring with. How is the academic year going thus far? Anything new in the department? If you get a chance, I would love to hear from you on any updates. Also, if anyone ever has any questions about Quad, feel free to give them my e-mail address. I hope all is well with each of you and your families. Have a great day.

From: Lindsay Murty [lindsayannm@hotmail.com]

My job here is great- I am really busy (usually working 50+hours / week)- and that will continue until January (until after the holidays and our move)... My main functions here are event planning, managing our marketing database, tracking client development events (using firm tickets, etc), and maintaining our website.  We have been really busy here... we are cleaning our entire marketing database, our new website design drops in a couple of weeks, and our firm moves on Dec 13, so we have to do PR for the move.  I work hard here, but I have the greatest group of coworkers ever- we laugh all of the time and are more of friends than anything else ... (Similar to the Comm. Studies staff and students).

Our wedding went really well- now I am so used to planning events that it was a piece of cake.  We went on our honeymoon to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico- and it was absolutely beautiful- Justin got food poisoning the last day we were there- but at least it was the last day! 

Justin has been doing really well at 3M- he is the youngest person in Insurance there- and making some great connections- he works directly with a Director there- since she is so high up in the company, he is being introduced to a lot of key players there.  He is working on a six sigma black belt project right now with the VP of marketing, and he was just a co-chair United Way 3M Campaign that won outstanding volunteerism award.  He thinks being an insurance analyst is ooook, but luckily at 3M they re-assign finance people yearly or bi-yearly. 

We also bought our first home in October- we are living in White Bear Lake- (northeast suburb) A good half way between St. Paul and Minneapolis for both of us.  It is so exciting to own a home, and we feel very fortunate to be able to do so.  Now we are just settling in- decorating and painting :)

Busy summer and fall for me!  Let me know how you are doing over at UW-L!! Talk to you soon, Lisa 

Lisa Bloomer

Client Development Coordinator

Rider Bennett, LLP