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2004 News
New DMA Professor
Jamie O'Neil, a multimedia designer, will be joining the Digital Media Arts program this fall. He succeeds Tom Wolfe. 

Due to receive an MFA from the State University of New York at Buffalo this summer, he has an extensive background in digital media as applied to video, graphic design, web design, broadcast TV, corporate identity, advertising and contemporary art. Mr. O'Neil states, "My portfolio...reflects a multifaceted technical ability...I direct, shoot, edit, design, code and often times even compose the music and perform in my projects. Thus, one will be hard pressed to find a stock image in any of my print, websites, CD-ROM's or DVD's." The new assistant professor explained that his teaching approach emphasizes making, as he believe it leads to the confidence and commitment in students that is "required to gain critical understanding of digital media as a contextual force of influence."

Sabbatical Update
Dr. Barry Berlin will be on sabbatical in the fall researching to two technology-related topics. He will explore the credibility of on-line journalism and the extent of a digital divide in Canada. Dr. Charles Wigley, who was on sabbatical the past spring working on a research methods text, will return in the fall.

2004 Marilyn Watt Alumni Award
The Communication Studies Department honored Gregory Mott '81 as the 2004 recipient of the Marilyn G.S. Watt Alumni Award at an April 28 ceremony.

Mott has been at the Washington Post since 1990, and is currently Copy Chief of the Health section of the paper.  In addition to his editing responsibilities, he writes feature articles and book reviews.

Mott believes that his career path is directly related to his association with the Communication Studies department.  He completed an internship in radio news while a student at Canisius, which led to his first job out of college.  He later became a news editor for the Buffalo News prior to joining the Post.  Mott has consulted with a number of organizations on the development of young minority journalists.

The Marilyn Watt Award is presented to distinguished alumni who demonstrate the positive values exemplified by Dr. Watt, long-time faculty member and Chair of the Communication Studies Department.

Faculty & Student Research
Dr. Barbara Irwin presented a paper entitled "Soap Operas and Health Information Campaigns" at the 2003 National Communication Association (NCA) annual convention in November.  The research study examined the content and potential influence of storylines related to AIDS, cancer, and diabetes, among other serious health issues, and the way in which creators and writers approach developing these stories.

Dr. Melissa Wanzer co-authored a paper with Dr. Melanie Booth-Butterfield from West Virginia University and Kelly Gruber, a graduate of the MSOCD program, entitled, "Perceptions of Health Care Providers? Communication: Relationships Between Patient-Centered Communication and Satisfaction,"  which will be published this summer in Health Communication.

Dr. Wanzer and Dr. Irwin were co-authors of a paper presented at NCA by Gary Bostwick '03, "Gender Differences in Computer-Mediated Communication."  This paper was based on Bostwick's senior honors thesis.

Cristen Marek '04 is the first author of a paper entitled, "An Exploratory Investigation of the Relationship Between Roommates? First Impressions and Subsequent Communication Patterns," co-authored with Dr. Melissa Wanzer and Jennifer Knapp '00 a doctoral student at West Virginia University.  The paper will be published this summer in Communication Research Reports.

DMA 2003 Grad Films in Africa
Jason Holler, DMA class of 2003, came back to speak to the class of 2004 at the annual Communication Studies Department Senior Honors Day. Jason recently traveled to Malawi to work on a movie for the Malawi Children's Village.  He showed several scenes from the film, "Juma's Story," as well as some behind-the-scenes footage, and described his adventures in working on the film in extreme conditions.  Jason works full time at Full Circle Studios, which is working with Kevin Denny '61, Director of the Malawi Children's Village, to produce the entertaining and educational film. 

CCTV Produces "Canisius College Tonight"
An active group of Canisius College Television (CCTV) members produced a television series this year.  Patterned after the late-night talk shows, the program featured interviews of guests from the Canisius community, comedy sketches, and music segments.  The program aired regularly on the Canisius television system. 

AWC Travels to Boston
Dr. Melissa Wanzer, AWC advisor, traveled April 21-25, 2004 with five AWC members to the Eastern Communication Association convention in Boston MA.  Four of the students (Katie Schlientz, Pete Koch, Annie Nutting, and Beth Kelly) presented competitively-selected research papers in the form of posters. Amanda Zimmerman also attended the convention and presented a competitively-selected paper based on her honors thesis entitled, ?The Sex Objectification of Women in Advertising: A Contemporary Cultural Perspective.?  Her honors thesis was directed by Dr. John Dahlberg.

New Chair Announced + Dr. Berlin's Legacy
Dr. Barbara Irwin has been elected to a three-year term as chair of the Communication Studies Department, effective July 1.  She succeeds Dr. Barry Berlin, who served three, three-year terms.  Dr. Berlin will be on sabbatical in Fall '04.

Irwin, a full professor and 13-year member of the department, also will serve as acting director of the Digital Media Arts program until January '05.  Dr. Irwin teaches classes in the Journalism and Media Studies sequence, focusing on media issues, effects, broadcasting, and television.  Dr. Irwin will continue to direct the Communication Studies department's successful internship program, which places students in professional settings and gives them the opportunity to apply the theory and background from their coursework in the actual workplace. 

Dr. Irwin's research focuses on cultural indicators of daytime serial drama (soap operas), television and health education, reality-based programming and docudrama, and the creation of television programming. 

During his tenure, Dr. Berlin was key to the creation and development of the Digital Media Arts (DMA) program.  Two new DMA faculty as well as multimedia hardware and software were secured, through a grant, to launch the new DMA program in Fall 2000.  He also helped plan the facilities at Lyons Hall and assisted in developing both the Watt Scholarship and the Marilyn Watt Alumni Award.  Also, two faculty were promoted to full professor and two others received tenure and promotion to associate professor. 

Dr. Berlin's work as Chair of Communication Studies and Director of the Digital Media Arts program is providing direct benefits to students pursuing the Communication Studies and DMA majors.  He will continue to teach Journalism/Media Studies and DMA courses, and will resume his role as Director of the Digital Media Arts program, upon his return in January, 2005.

Mr. Hudson: new CEO . . .
On 6/18 Mr. Stanton Hudson was selected as CEO of the American Lung Association of New York State. As some of you may know, he has been involved with the American Lung Association at the local, state, and national levels for the past twenty-two years.

To quote Professor Hudson from a recent letter concerning his career change, "Words can't express what a delight it has been getting to know many of you [students]. Despite my zeal for the American Lung Association, and keen anticipation for the challenges that lie ahead, I am sad to be saying farewell to Canisius College after nine years. In particular, I will miss my students..." 

A search is presently underway for someone to teach the public relations courses Mr. Hudson was to teach in fall of 2004--as well as for someone to continue providing leadership for the Organization Communication and Development master's program. We wish him all the best as he embarks on this new endeavor.