CST Dept. News

06/30/2004

Welcome Dr. Kurt Billmeyer!

The Department of Communication Studies welcomes Dr. Kurt Billmeyer, who joins us as an assistant professor. Dr. Billmeyer comes to UW-L from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, where he taught courses in persuasion, conflict management, interviewing, and public/ business speaking. Dr. Billmeyer earned his Ph.D at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln; he earned a B.A. and M.A. from Idaho State University. His research interest is “in the blurred boundaries between public discourse and popular culture.” Dr. Billmeyer’s office will be in 352, Center for the Arts.

 

 

Welcome Mary Anna Kidd!

The Department of Communication Studies welcomes Mary Anna Kidd, who joins us to assist with covering Dr. Swanson’s teaching load in his absence from the department. Mary Anna is a doctoral candidate at the University of Kansas, where she is working on her dissertation. She will be teaching four sections of CST 260 Professional Communication during the fall semester. Mary Anna has lived in Texas and Thailand (talk about intercultural experiences- wow!) and spent many years working in radio broadcasting. Please join us in welcoming Mary Anna to the department, and wishing her great success as she writes her dissertation!

 

 

Swanson to direct Advising Center

June 29, 2004

To:     University Community

From:  Elizabeth J. Hitch, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Re:     New Advising Center Director

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Doug Swanson, Associate Professor in Communication Studies, will be our first Academic Advising Center Director. He will start his duties on July 6, 2004, and will be in touch with interested parties as he begins his work. We expect that the Advising Implementation Committee will be established as soon as possible and that identifying a location, outfitting the space, and staffing the center will be completed by the end of Fall semester, 2004. The Search and Screen Committee for this position was comprised of:

Betsy Morgan, Psychology (Chair)
Chris Bakkum, College of Liberal Studies
Billy Clow, Theatre Arts
Lisa Giddings, Economics
Peg Maher, Biology
Lori Petersen, Exercise and Sports Science
Karla Stanek, Career Services
Barbara Stewart, Office of Multicultural Student Services
Jan Von Ruden, Records and Registration

Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
 145 Graff Main Hall, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
1725 State Street, La Crosse, WI 54601
Phone: (608)785-8007, Fax: (608)785-8046

An affirmative action/equal opportunity employer

CST grad is 57th “Alice in Dairyland”

Betsy Francoeur with her parents and
Dr. Putz on graduation day. 

Betsy Francoeur, a May 2004 graduate of the Department of Communication Studies, has been crowned as Wisconsin's 57th Alice in Dairyland. She then began her duties as a dairy industry ambassador on June 14.

Francoeur interned for two Fortune 500 companies during her college experience. Growing up, she also worked on her family's heifer and steer raising operation in Lincoln County.

Other finalists who competed for the title were Gretchen Brewer, Clinton, University of Wisconsin-Platteville; Angela Kramer, Platteville, UW-Madison and UW-Platteville; Jennifer Russell, Cambridge, UW-River Falls; Kelly Soczka, Middleton, UW-River Falls; and Nicole Wagner, Sussex, UW-Platteville and UW-Milwaukee.

The out-going Alice, Natalie Parmentier, had many words of thanks and praise to the people who made her reign possible. "This experience has been a real gift in my life, both personally and professionally," Parmentier said during her retiring address. "I had so many rewarding experiences this past year during my journey, and I have all of you (in Wisconsin agriculture) to thank for making this adventure possible."

Next year, the Alice finals will be held in Taylor County. http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/index.cfm

CST students help with Grand Excursion

Several Communication Studies students helped with Grand Excursion 2004, the historic event that took place between June 25 and July 5 along the Mississippi River (www.grandexcursion.com). Dr. Doug Swanson's summer CST 491 class involved students in two weeks of learning about the Mississippi River communities' history, economy, environment, and culture. Then, after the classroom/site visit segment was completed, each student put in 25 hours of individual service learning time to help with Grand Excursion. The class received extensive publicity both on-campus and off - including a newspaper feature story and photo in the La Crosse Tribune when the class visited Lock & Dam #7 at Dresbach, Minnesota.

Reuben Torres and Mike Ladenthin (at left, above) put in service time with the La Crosse Grand Excursion committee. Torres and Ladenthin helped coordinate services to bicyclists at the UW-L "Bike Camp" that was set up to provide rest and shelter for several hundred bicyclists who pedaled the route of Grand Excursion. Bicyclists passed through La Crosse on June 29 and 30.

PRSSA chapter forming

The Communication Studies Department is applying to have its own chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America. The project to launch a chapter was carried out by Noel Lee, Sarah Nohr, and Kelly Simonsen as a mini campaign project for their CST 360 class.  It is hoped that the chapter paperwork will be approved by the Public Relations Society of America http://www.prsa.org/ in time for the chapter to begin work in the fall semester. The advisors for the chapter will be Cary Heyer, APR (UW-L Director of Public Relations) and Doug Swanson, APR (CST faculty member).

CST student to co-edit The Racquet

CST student Erica Nedland has been named as one of two co-editors for the UW-L student newspaper The Racquet next semester.  Erica will be joined by co-editor Meagan Kempen, a Marketing / English double major.  The 2003-04 school year editor for the newspaper was Todd Fabos, a CST major who was graduated in May. The Racquet is now available online at: http://www.theracquet.net/

Graduates reception a big success

The department’s first-ever reception for graduates and their families and friends was a big success, thanks to the tireless efforts of Dr. Rick Rodrick, Department Chair, and Wenona Wolf, student event coordinator.

More than a hundred people attended the event. (We say “more than a hundred” because we know there were at least that many and, frankly, nobody counted people to know exactly how many.) There was lots of food to eat, plenty of good conversation, and quite a few photos taken. See below!

Thanks for ‘showing us your cans’

Dr. Swanson would like to thank all the students, faculty, and friends who participated in the loosely organized but definitively oddball ‘Show us your cans’ contest. As you know, the purpose of the contest was to come up with new photos to illustrate the opening page of the CST web site and do away with the static cans illustration that had been on the page for the past couple of years. We received lots of photo submissions and have chosen a few of the more novel and unique ones for the front page of the site. Thankfully, we did not receive any embarrassing and/ or distasteful photos. (Dr. Swanson guesses that since the contest happened so late in the semester, everyone was too tired and stressed out to do anything embarrassing or distasteful.) Thanks again!