Archive for October, 2009
Learning Journalism Ethics from the Best
Gene Foreman's book will help journalism students learn to think through ethical issues.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I owe my journalism career largely to The Daily Collegian, where I spent most of my college years. There’s just no substitute for hands-on experience, and I had a ton of it by the time I graduated.
But that was only half of the puzzle. I needed a teacher, too, one who could make me think about the things I was putting into practice. I was lucky enough to learn from Bernie Asbell, who brought his real-life experiences as a journalist and author into all of the classes I took from him. Hearing his stories taught me how to tell the ones I reported.
Now Gene Foreman, a visiting professor in the College of Communications since he retired from full-time teaching, is providing exactly that kind of experience to an even larger group of students. His new book, The Ethical Journalist: Making Responsible Decisions in Pursuit of the News, is full of real-life case studies that illuminate the difficult decisions journalists make every day—and, more important, the steps they took to make those decisions. The book and the issue are covered in this piece in The Philadelphia Inquirer, where Foreman worked for 25 years before becoming a Penn State journalism professor.
Gene is one of the most thoughtful journalists I’ve ever met, as you should be able to tell by this piece he wrote for the Inquirer earlier in September. And he’s a nice guy to boot, too. I can’t wait to read the new book.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
Jim Zarroli Talks Shop in Texas
Photo by Sarah Groman
National Public Radio’s Jim Zarroli ’79, who hosted a roundtable discussion for us last week on college affordability, was down in Texas on Tuesday to give a lecture at Baylor University on business ethics and corporate governance.
A Baylor publication called The Lariat carried a student-written account of his talk, as well as a short Q&A in which he talks a bit about his career.
Zarroli, who majored in journalism at Penn State, covers business and the economy for NPR; in recent years he has reported on the Enron debacle, Martha Stewart’s legal problems, and the Bernie Madoff scandal, among other stories.
The roundtable he hosted for us last week will appear in the January-February issue of The Penn Stater.
Tina Hay, editor
American Indian Leadership Program Turning 40
Eight months after returning to campus, I’m just scratching the surface in my quest to learn as much a possible about the unique research and programs here. I have discovered some fascinating stuff already, though, including this: the American Indian Leadership Program, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
The program, which is part of the College of Education, started in 1970, when 17 Native Americans from across the country came to Penn State to learn to be better leaders. To date, more than 200 master’s and doctoral students have completed the program, which is one of the oldest of its kind. Indian Country Today recently took note of the program, which offers fellowships to qualified students. Its head is John W. Tippeconnic III ’71g ’75g, pictured here.
I know that American Indians face some particular challenges, an issue I first became aware of when I read a classic piece of sports writing by Sports Illustrated writer Gary Smith, Shadow of a Nation. (I get goosebumps just thinking about the lede.) This program sounds like something I need to take a closer look at.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
A Funny Moment with Howard and Karl
The politically polarized nature of any discussion on American health care was on display Tuesday night at University Park, when Republican strategist Karl Rove and former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean debated the topic at Eisenhower Auditorium. The event, part of the Student Programming Association’s Distinguished Speaker Series, provided some entertaining moments. Tony Madonna, a Penn State undergrad and aspiring photographer, captured this one: the moment when Rove, apparently disagreeing with Dean about the costs associated with reform, pulled out a prop to emphasize his point.
Entertainment value aside, the debate doesn’t appear to have solved anything. As one student told the Daily Collegian afterward, “I thought it was a circus… there were no winners, just varying degrees of loss.”
Ryan Jones, senior editor
2010 Senior Class Gift: Arboretum Boardwalk
Sketch of the proposed boardwalk
And the winner is … The Arboretum at Penn State.
Voting for the Class of 2010 senior gift ended Monday, and the overwhelming choice was the Marsh Meadow Boardwalk and Overlook at the Arboretum. The final totals, announced Tuesday: 1,965 for the boardwalk, 435 for a public sculpture and endowed sculpture, and 418 for an endowment to maintain the HUB Aquarium.
The seniors have pledged $19,000 so far, and they’re continuing to raise money. You can get the specifics at the PSUSeniors.com blog.
The bloggers at Onward State thought the options could have been spiced up; they suggested “a massive statue of Joe Pa in the mountains overlooking Happy Valley in the fashion of Rio De Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer,” which obviously would have significantly increased the buzz around the tradition. I can only imagine what the College GameDay crew would have done with that.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
JoePa, Interactive
A tip of the hat to the folks at Black Shoe Diaries, one of our favorite Penn State football blogs, for putting us on to this terrific interactive version of the recent Sports Illustrated profile of Joe Paterno. It’s got video and audio, rare photos, and all sorts of extras. Great stuff.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Penn State v. Pitt: A Rivalry Renewed?
With a 35-10 dismantling of Michigan on Saturday, Penn State kept alive its hopes for the Big Ten title and a possible return to the Rose Bowl. Even if they don’t defend their conference crown (still-unbeaten Iowa controls its destiny in that race), the Nittany Lions are in great shape for a BCS bowl berth. Joe Paterno and his team won’t entertain speculation about their postseason destination, but of course, that hasn’t stopped fans or media. On Monday, the Altoona Mirror did more than just speculate, breaking down the possibilities by which Penn State would play in the Fiesta Bowl. The opponent? Pitt.
It’s only a possibility, and not necessarily a likely one. But it’s fun to think about, isn’t it?
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Anniversary of Betsy Aardsma’s death drawing notice
With the 40th anniversary of the murder in the stacks at Pattee Library approaching, you can expect to see a lot of stories about the still-unsolved case and the victim, Betsy Aardsma. Journalists often use anniversaries as news pegs for stories; that’s what we did in our September/October issue, in which we published a story about the murder investigation and Sasha Skucek ’99, ’07g, an English lecturer and journalist who has been looking into the case.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette weighed in Sunday with this story, in which investigators talk about the crime and how it still resonates after so much time. Said Centre County district attorney Michael Madeira, “It sounds like an urban legend, except it’s real.”
The anniversary is Nov. 28.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
Snow Joke: The Best Student Section in America Speaks Up
I had plenty of leg room Saturday in section NAU, row 90, the nosebleed section above Beaver Stadium’s north end zone. And I wasn’t the only one: There were plenty of open seats throughout the stadium, the freak weather keeping many returning alumni from an actual homecoming, and keeping many locals from venturing into the stands.
The section that looked the emptiest, of course, was in the opposite corner of the field from mine: the student section, where the first-come, first-served seating arrangement makes it obvious when the students don’t all show up. Disappointingly for a 3:30, nationally televised Homecoming game, the student section never filled up last week. Seeing how many seats sat empty throughout the stadium, I couldn’t be too annoyed at the students; but then, remembering that none of those students had to fly in from out of town or brave the mountains on Route 322 — and that more than a few of them spent part of the first half chucking snowballs at their own cheerleaders — I couldn’t help thinking otherwise.
All of which led me, when I got back to the office Monday morning, to “tweet” sophomore John Tecce, the Paternoville vice president, with a 140-character version of the following: Is it harsh to ask if “The Best Student Section in College Football” only applies to 8 p.m. kickoffs that the students deem to be “big” games?
I think I already knew the answer, but I was really happy to see both Tecce and senior Patrick McDermott confirm it, both for me and their fellow students. On Tuesday, The Daily Collegian ran a letter to the editor from Tecce chastising the minority of his classmates who showed up late (or not at all) for the game against Minnesota, as well as those who spent more time flinging hard-packed snowballs at each other and onto the field than they did actually watching the game.
Today came a column from McDermott, making many of the same points, and reminding me how many of these students take their responsibility — both as representatives of the University to a nation-wide audience, and as supporters of the team — incredibly seriously. (The organization and commitment that goes into running Paternoville, which I experienced first hand last fall, is ample proof of that.) It also offered a nice dose of perspective: as a Collegian sportswriter 15 years ago, I was fired up enough to write this silly little column offering behavioral advice to students whose fandom didn’t meet my standards.
At the same time, I was also one of those student-ticket holders who threw his share of marshmallows at Beaver Stadium before that sort of thing was outlawed…
My point? Ice-chucking no-shows aside, Tecce, McDermott, and most of the rest of these kids are alright. And I have no doubt that when Ohio State rolls into town in a couple of weeks, they’ll be at their best.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Joe Paterno: Powerful Octogenarian
As if Joe Paterno weren’t getting enough media coverage today with the Sports Illustrated story by one of my favorite writers, Joe Posnanski, he’s also popping up on the Slate Web site as one of “80 over 80,” the online magazine’s list of the country’s 80 most powerful octogenarians. JoePa, who will turn 83 in December, is No. 25, right between zillionaire oilman (now alternative energy man) T. Boone Pickens(81) and New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg (85).
Lori Shontz, senior editor
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