北京,我們來了!

I just got an email from NBC Sports about the application process for the Olympics Internship Program.

Here are the details:

WHAT: NBC Sports is coming to the Park School to recruit students to work as interns at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. You would be in China for 6 to 8 weeks, living in the international media village and working for NBC Sports, and returning to the United States in time for the fall 2008 semester.

More WHAT: The total cost to interns will be $2500, which students will pay to NBC as a contribution toward expenses. That amount will cover all student contribution for transportation, housing, food, and whatever other fees or costs may be associated with the experience; NBC will cover the rest. All interns will travel to and from China together and will be part of an active and engaged internship program, with NBC staff serving as mentors (they've really enhanced this formal support structure because China may be somewhat more challenging an environment for students than Italy was...). In addition, NBC Sports will pay for one academic credit for each student intern.

More WHAT: Financial constraints should not prohibit any student from participating in this amazing experience. Students who are accepted to the internship program but who would find the costs prohibitive should let me know; we will find a way to make your participation possible.

WHO: Only juniors and seniors are eligible to apply. That means you need to be a CURRENT junior or a CURRENT senior to apply. (If you are a current senior, you would need to delay your formal date of graduation to August so you could enroll in an academic credit for the internship during the summer; all interns must be students. You would still participate in graduation in every way, but your official graduation date would be in August.)

Freshmen and sophomores will get their chance in 2010. Just so you know.

WHAT TO DO: Applications and information sheets will be available in the dean's office on the third floor of Park, beginning on Tuesday. You will need to fill the application out and return it to the dean's office on or before Monday, September 24.

We will send all applications to NBC Sports, which will identify those students it chooses to interview.

WHEN: Five NBC Sports staffers will be on campus on October 24 and 25 to conduct interviews. We'll schedule those 30-minute sessions in early October. NBC Sports -- not the Park School -- will select the interns.


Students who participated in this program in Turino say it was the most amazing experience of their lives. I can't imagine China would be any less extraordinary.

Park in SL (Second Life....)....again!

Hey guys,

TVR professor John Scott is going to talk about his new (and award-winning) documentary, Scouts are Cancelled, in Second Life.

That's right: On the Park School island in Second Life.

Log on at 10 a.m. on September 6, watch clips from the film and talk to John about his work.

It will be one of many Park events in SL this semester, so if you're not used to being in world and don't know how to find your way around, NOW is the time to learn. You don't know what you're missing!

A few words from the windy city...

Hey,

I'm in Chicago, attending a meeting of our national accrediting council, and I just read the Ithacan Online (which, by the way, is looking pretty darned snazzy....)

And besides the fact that I look like I just ate a lemon or a rodent or something in that photo (it's not the photog's fault...I actually do look like that...), I thought they did a really good job on the story about all the administrators who have decided that it's time to move on to the next phase of their careers or personal lives (I guess retirement is a career phase...).

And I know some of you are really mad at me. I understand. Some days, I'm mad at me, too.

But that's not what this particular blog posting is about.

It's about the fact that I did talk about the journalism department when Aaron interviewed me, and his summary was accurate. But we were talking about me, not the Journalism Department, so I didn't hijack his interview and tell him about all the things we HAVE done in the department since I met with the students in January.

So I've decided to tell you all instead. (Let's face it: it's a heck of a lot better than more talking about me....)

For starters, Mead Loop is now back in the classroom full-time, which is a great gift to all of his students and his colleagues (because he's also serving as our Master Teacher this semester, which means he will spend at least some of his time mentoring and guiding his colleagues who are newer to Park).

We hired Ryan Parkhurst on a more permanent basis, not only because he's really terrific and we love having him around but because many of our students asked us to bring in (more permanently) somebody who could really help us focus on broadcast journalism.

We are delighted to welcome Vadim Isakov, a brilliant young journalist from Uzbekistan, who will be teaching Global Journalism and Issues in the News, and who will be working and meeting with journalism students for brown-bag lunches and other small-group programs.

We've been recruiting all summer for the director of our new Center for Independent Media (you should have seen our Flash ads on Romanesko), and it worked: we have some outstanding candidates and we'll be scheduling those interviews in the next few weeks (we waited until you all came back to campus).

We got 19 backpack journalism kits, which are totally amazing and cool and will help you master the practices of multimedia journalism, and you're going to love them.

All of the journalism faculty (as well as several other faculty and staff) participated in an intensive training session this summer on digital storytelling, and those new skills will undoubtedly be integrated into their courses this year.

A team of us is going to teach Digital Journalism this fall, testing out a new model that really leverages the talents and strengths of several different people in the school to give students (we hope) an extraordinary learning experience that will really prepare them to be multimedia reporters. (I'll keep you posted!)

Virginia Mansfield-Richardson, our associate dean, has very kindly agreed to take on administrative responsibilities for the department while we continue to search for a department chair. She and I went to Washington DC in August (it was HOT) to attend the Association of Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication conference, where we spent a lot of time (she really did) recruiting candidates. We met some exceptional people who are very interested, and we came away from that experience really struck by what a great reputation the Park School has across the country.

We're also searching a tenure-track faculty line in the department, which means we will have a new center director this fall, and a new department chair and faculty member next year.

And we're planning the first national conference on Independent Media, which will take place the first weekend in December in the Park School.

Whew.

So Aaron was right: I wish things were COMPLETELY perfect. But we're getting there...and I feel really good about that (and all you journalism folks should, too....)

I'm off to find some real Chicago pizza (last time I was in this city, a pickpocket took my wallet while I was walking down Michigan Avenue and spent $1800 in about 40 minutes -- including buying himself a pair of $800 snakeskin boots....but that's a story for another day/blog...)

Cheers! And welcome back, by the way. I am SO glad to see you all.

MORE rushing....

So I posted one list, and now we've got another one....I TOLD you it was impossible not to get involved around here....


iMPrint:
Wednesday, Sept. 5
7:30 p.m.
Ithaca Falls Room (Campus Center)

Video Game Club:
Tuesday, Sept. 4
7 p.m.
Park 220

Student Organization Involvement Fair
Wednesday, Sept. 5
10 a.m.- 3 p.m.
Campus Center
This fair will have representatives from various campus organizations.

Please note: If you are unable to attend a rush night, you can still participate. Just contact a representative from that group!

The AMAZING (Ithaca) Race

Pete Berg (class of '07) and a group of his friends last year spent months planning, shooting and editing their very own (IC) version of CBS' Amazing Race (two seasons!) which turned out to be among the most popular and successful ICTV shows in recent history.

And it's still getting great press.

This week, the biggest and most popular Reality TV blog on the Internet, "Reality Blurred," calls The Race "equally amazing" as compared to the network version.

Read it yourself right here.

Season 2, which Pete and his crew shot in March, will be airing in its entirety beginning the week of September 17th (our first air week).

Tune in, and tell your friends.

What a great way to start another year of amazing ICTV.....

Congrats!

You DO like purple....

So I asked all the first-year students -- freshmen and transfer students -- to give us some feedback about the purple in the lobby.

As you probably noticed, we're finishing the lobby's facelift this summer (well, almost: the floor and video wall will be done over December break), and a couple of us have been doing 'walk throughs' every week since June, just to keep an eye on how things were going. Two weeks ago, I was out of town for a few days and when I got back: Voila!

It was PURPLE. (We thought it was going to be more....ummmmmm, well, blue.)

So I took an informal (VERY) poll about the purple, and it turns out, most of you -- those who have taken the 20 seconds to respond, that is -- have decided you like it.

It's "modern," "snazzy," ("snazzy is such a good word), and "electric." (Really?)

Looks like it's stayin'.

(Works for me: purple's my favorite color. Even THAT color purple....)

Be there!

Hey everybody,

Here is a list of rush nights and informational meetings for the various student organizations.

ICTV
Wednesday, Aug. 29
7 p.m.
Emerson Suites

WICB/VIC
Thursday, Aug. 30
7 p.m.
Park Aud.

The Ithacan
Thursday, Aug. 30
8 p.m.
Park Aud.

Park Productions
Tuesday, Sept. 4 OR Thursday, Sept. 6
Noon
P266

Buzzsaw Haircut
Wednesday, Sept. 5
8 p.m.
Taughannock Falls Meeting Room (Formerly N. Meeting Room)

Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ)
Sept. 4
7 p.m.
Park Aud.

American Advertising Federation (AAF) and
Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA)
Tuesday, September 11
7 p.m.
IC Square

See you there!

DigiJO....can't wait.

Hey,

I know I'm leaving in January, but this is just to let you all know that, until I leave the city limits of Trumansburg (my hometown, ever been to the Rongo? worth the drive...) in the dead of winter, I'm still the 100 percent -- no, 110 percent -- dean of the Park School. And I'm going to enjoy, and take advantage of, every minute of it.

I'm even going to get to teach this fall (hurrah!). A team of us -- me, Ari Kissiloff, Adam Peruta (new advertising faculty), and Michael Serino -- are ganging up (and I say that in the nicest possible way) to teach Digital Journalism.

I'm teaching the lectures -- the ethics, economics, communities, practices -- of online news. Ari and Adam are teaching the technology: we're giving teams of students our new backpack journalism kits for the semester (woo-hoo). And Michael will be coordinating the students' interactions with and work for the Ithacan Online (our only full-time online newsroom, so the perfect partner in the production of daily digital journalism on deadline...though students will be able to contribute their packages and features to other publications as well).

It's a new model for teaching the course, and I'm SO excited about the opportunity to be a part of it.

Besides, I couldn't leave Park without spending as much time as possible with you guys...and that includes inside the classroom as well as outside of it.

Yippee!

Cannibalpotluck.com: It's hilarious...really.

Hey,

So you're counting the hours (really, aren't you? I am...) until you're all back on campus and hanging out and being here (we really did miss you all...I hate it when you're gone; parking is good, but the rest of that empty campus thing really doesn't work for me....)

But while you're waiting to smoosh that last box in the car, slam the trunk and head for Ithaca, take a few minutes and check outsome hilarious videos by a group of your fellow Parkies: Sean Brogan (TVR), Zach Capp (TVR), Matt Portman (Journalism), Jake Alinikoff (CPMA), Harrison Flateau (Writing) and Dave Newberg (Culture & Comm).

Last spring, they produced one sketch, Discontinuous, (which received "immortal status" on Will Ferrell's comedy video hosting website funnyordie.com). It was discovered by some people over at the CW (the merger of UPN and the WB) who are going to show it this fall on a show called Online Nation, which airs at 7 p.m. on Sundays (Wahoo!).

The guys have just made two more videos -- and I mean JUST -- and you can find all of them on CannibalPotluck (www.cannibalpotluck.com), which was developed by fellow parkie Luke Elmers.

OR you can go to www.youtube.com/cannibalpotluck. OR funnyordie.com. OR collegehumor.com.

So take a minute, log on, watch the videos, and LAUGH.

And let 'em know you did, will you? We all love to hear that we're making the world a happier (or funnier) place.

Cheers!

Welcome back!

Greetings!

Today is the day! The faculty are back on campus, and it's starting to look like one of my favorite times of year, when you all come back and everybody is so excited to see one another and everything starts again. The wonder of teaching is that every fall is a new beginning, a new chance to do it better, to dream big dreams, to make the impossible happen. I love it.

It's also the day I'm back to blogging on a regular basis. I sort of took the summer off -- not because I didn't have anything to say (Ha! like that would ever happen!) but because I figured most of you wouldn't be reading anyway, and I don't want you to miss all the great things we're doing in Park. Like, for example:

As I write this, the Park School's faculty and staff are engaged in our very first all-school Technology Day. Everybody has signed up for two technology sessions -- one in the morning and one in the afternoon -- that cover a wide range of topics, from the iLife suite (on the MacBook Pros), to gaming, WebCT, the college's Web Profile Manager, podcasting, wellness & technology, and Second Life. I walked down the hallway this morning and listened in at every door; the conversations were so engaged, so energetic, so much a reflection of the energy we bring to these new opportunities for teaching and learning. And next week, a smaller group of faculty will spend three full days in an intensive workshop on digital storytelling, presented by the experts from the Digital Storytelling Center in San Francisco.

Way cool, huh?