Greenlee School showcases research at national journalism conference
Eight of 14 papers submitted by master's students in the Greenlee School of
Journalism and Communication have been accepted for presentation this summer
at a national journalism conference in San Antonio, Texas.
Also, professors in the Greenlee School tallied multiple paper acceptances and
one national ethics award to be presented at the Aug. 10-13 meeting of the Association
for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
"I feel so elated," said Lulu Rodriguez, director of the graduate
program and associate professor. "This is the largest contingent of graduate
students going to a premier convention in the field - and, appropriately, on
our centennial."
During the conference the Greenlee School, celebrating 100 years of journalism
education at Iowa State University, will host a reception in honor of the graduate
program.
Michael Bugeja, director of the Greenlee School, credited Rodriguez and the
graduate faculty for focusing on advising.
"Some people think that teaching or publication builds national programs,"
he said. "No doubt, they're important. But advising, such as we have in
the Greenlee School, builds top programs because it inspires excellence in teaching
and research."
Rodriquez observed that the graduate students "are now becoming a major
force in showcasing our research strengths. They really help our professors,
too, especially the ones who supervise research projects.
"It just shows you how important becoming an active member of the graduate
program is," she added. "There is synergy."
Jocelyn Albertson, one of the master's students who placed a paper at the AEJMC
conference, said, "I can't thank Lulu enough for all her help and guidance.
[This] was the perfect finale to my master's experience!"
Rut Rey, another graduate student who placed a paper, noted that "Dr. Rodriguez's
door was always open, that is a great example of her personality and support.
I feel I could never thank enough all the time and effort that Lulu put on every
word on my paper."
Rey, a recipient of this year's research excellence award, also credited Professor
Eric Abbott for inspiring her to be a good researcher, and thanked Daniela Dimitrova,
assistant professor, for support and encouragement in and out of her classes.
"Dr. Rodriguez and Dr. Dimitrova are role models for me," she added.
Jeff Blevins, an assistant professor who co-authored an accepted paper with
graduate student Fernando Anton, said Anton was "extremely hard-working
and self-motivated." Blevins added that the number of paper acceptances
by master's students "is a testament to the scholarly strength of our program
and the quality of graduate students we attract."
Anton also placed a second paper about the effects of television news about
terrorism.
Another graduate student, Jason Boucher, scored the top student paper in the
community journalism interest group.
Jay Newell, assistant professor, worked with graduate student Ma Qing on an
accepted paper titled "Evidence of Media Saturation Among a Group of 10th
Graders in Beijing." Newell also placed a paper about advertising professionals
in the classroom, comparing electronic versus in-person visits.
Lindsay Phillips, who placed a paper in the Magazine Division, about "affluent
consumer" publications, thanked Newell "for guiding her through the
entire process."
"Throughout that busy week, he was always available to walk me through
SPSS or help proofread along the way," Phillips noted.
"Additionally, I would like to thank Dr. Bugeja for inspiring me to complete
this study only a week before deadline. I thought it was crazy at the time,
but am truly thankful that he suggested this pilot study to submit."
Kimberly Claussen also placed a paper, "The utility of agricultural extension
online resources to farmers," in the Science Communication Interest Group,
Faculty members were also successful in placing papers at the AEJMC conference.
Angela Mak, assistant professor, had three paper acceptances, two of which earned
distinction. A study on stakeholder groups of a health care organization took
second place in the open category of the public relations division. Another
paper with Jane Peterson, professor and assistant director of the Greenlee School,
took second place in the teaching category of the same division. And a third,
co-authored with Suman Lee, put forth a case study involving visual design of
the 50 states quarters program.
Dimitrova, assistant professor, placed two papers in the AEJMC competition on
the framing of the Iraq War. A paper on the factors that influence the amplification
and attenuation of public attitudes and worry about bioterrorist attacks by
Rodriguez, Lee and Peterson, will also be presented to the convention's science
communication interest group.
Joel Geske, associate professor, had a paper acceptance exploring attention
differences in reading print versus on-line text, using Electroencephalograms
(EEG).
Also at the convention, Bugeja will receive the Clifford G. Christians Award
for Research in Media Ethics. David Bulla, assistant professor, who will moderate
a research panel on sports news and serve on a panel on media convergence, will
talk on how journalism departments across the nation are incorporating convergence
(communicating across platforms) into the curriculum. He will also work with
University of Texas journalism colleagues and undergraduate students from UT
and ISU, publishing a convention newspaper.
