Blog Hopping (And My 100th Post!)

My inspiration to become a blogger started with Evan McBroom back in March 2009. I met with the church marketing entrepreneur at an Indianapolis Panera to learn about his career path.

I expected to do all the listening, but within the first five minutes I was the one put on the spot. He asked me point-blank: "So, what's your blog about?" Oops. I didn't have an answer. It was enough to get my hands to the keyboard and start whipping up an idea for one. Thanks for the inspiration, Evan! And here's what happened next:

Digital Disciple has been my primary blog to explore faith, media and ethics through the Meg Biallas lens. It started with coverage of first-ever conference: the Religion Communicators Council in March 2009. Since then, I've written about observations in technology, the future of journalism, musings on faith, and more. Thanks for reading it, too, because this is my 100th post for Digital Disciple!

I started Capital Comment in August 2009 to keep a running commentary of my adventures as a D.C. intern last fall. But all good internships must come to an end. I never believed I'd be able to resurrect the blog, but I have - and with good reason: I moved right back to D.C. for a job! I'm still working out some of the fancy kinks of Wordpress, but its been a great learning process for me.

My supervisors at National Public Radio let me blog for NPR's All Tech Considered, which covers technology and culture. I explained Facebook policy changes, wrote about iPhones that control smart homes, and even ticked off Google when I questioned if Google's free holiday airport wi-fi was truly "free."

Then in December, I met Gen-Y career blogger Heather Huhman on Twitter. She had just started a blog called the Classroom To Cubicle Project, driven by recent graduates and pending grads. That a fabulous experience - I read job hunting advice from my peers all over the U.S., and contributed what I'd learned in my search as well.

In my final semester at Butler University, I wrote a guest post for the admissions web portal. It was fun to take what I learned about social media from the NPR Social Media Desk and give tips to incoming college students.

And now? I'm a weekly blogger for The Bluevine Collective, a multi-author blog project funded by the United Methodist Church. It's run by two awesome church guys from Indianapolis - Pastor Stan Abell and Media Ministry Dude Matt Peyton. The project is experimental -- we hope to evolve into a place of spiritual growth and even a mode of worship. My most recent post sparked a series of comments about ...well, you'll just have to read it. We also take submissions - poems, commentary, musings - all of it!

Thanks for sharing the blogging journey with me!

Good Dawgs Always Come Home

And they did. Since my last post, the Butler Men's Basketball team competed in the Final Four and advanced to the final NCAA championship game against powerhouse Duke University. To boot, the last round was held just six miles from campus - in Conseco Fieldhouse.

What it's like when your humble midwest university is launched into national spotlight? Well, when it's a for positive news -- such extremely positive news -- the experience is pretty surreal.

First, the student perspective: Visually, the campus perked up. Students tied blue bunting around the trees on campus, and suddenly there were snazzy banners on light posts. Someone even dyed the Star Fountain blue. The bookstore was teeming with alumni, families, prospective students and students vying for the latest Final Four t-shirt design. (Don't worry, I picked up swag for the whole family).

Then I started reading the news online. It was astounding. Each day, my Google Alerts emails got longer and longer. Most of the articles were related to the NCAA tournament, but then were articles featuring our president, Bobby Fong - and even our pampered pup mascot Blue II. In a period of two weeks, we gained home page news coverage on Web sites like NPR, The Washington Post, The New York Times and more. Our local CBS affiliate, WISH TV, made daily appearances on campus. Our own sports writers from The Butler Collegian received countless media requests and interviews.

As I started to realize the magnitude of attention Butler was drawing, it dawned on me that campus felt different. There was an invisible, but very elevated sense of excitement - of community - of unity. I can't pin it to one person or one moment

I watched the final round right home at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. It was fitting, too - the place where "Hoosiers" was filmed so long ago, now served as a movie house to watch one of the most historic basketball games our school has seen.

So we lost to Duke. To their credit, they played a mean game. To our credit, we played harder. It was beautiful, even in the midst of the final score.

President Dr. Bobby Fong cancelled class the day after the game (and that was before we knew who won!). Tuesday was quiet on campus - students were recovering from the excitement, the national attention and the celebrations. That afternoon, thousands of students, faculty, staff and neighbors clamored into Hinkle Fieldhouse - not to watch another game, but to celebrate our team.

I'm going to be sappy and say I was near tears the entire pep rally. The team truly brought the campus together. Even Butler alumni from D.C. and around the country rallied to Indianapolis for the celebrations. It was like one big Butler reunion.

Looking back on March Madness, the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

In the wake of the game, Coach Brad Stevens appeared on the the David Letterman Show (Full disclosure: Letterman is an Indianapolis native!). Gordon Hayward accepted a NBA draft pic. "Butler" was a trending topic (WORLDWIDE) on Twitter (for several minutes anyways) - that made my day. The basketball seniors got to play with the Harlem Globetrotters and the team has been made Grand Marshals for the Indy 500. We're too big, yo!

Sad news: Our campus fountains are no longer dyed blue.

Happy news: Coach Stevens just signed a 12-year contract to stay with Butler!

Want a recap of the campus energy during March Madness? Just watch this.

Technology & the Liberal Arts

The following is an essay I submitted for the Butler Liberal Arts & Sciences 2010 essay contest. The contest posed the question:

New technologies and social media offer the public a myriad of options for reading and writing, and the sharing of opinions and experiences has never been easier or more immediate. But the immediacy and ease of publication is fraught with pitfalls and potential issues that provide new challenges for the next generation of readers, writers, and thinkers. Consider the place of your liberal arts education in this mix and write an essay in which you analyze how that education has better prepared you as a consumer of, contributor to, and critic of the texts that flow from new media outlets.

I sat in a boardroom at National Public Radio listening to news executive Dick Meyer talk about his career. His story sounded like other accomplished journalists I’d heard speak: he started in a traditional newspaper background. He rode the wave of technological changes and the Internet boom of the nineties -- and still maintained his journalistic foundation.

The interns sat around the table, attentive to Mr. Meyer’s words. We wanted insight into our future – a future that seemed potentially dismal in the midst of a recession and some of the biggest changes the journalism field has ever seen. Perhaps Mr. Meyer could impart wisdom that would unlock the keys to our success.

That’s when I asked him about the future of journalism.

“I don’t have the answers for you. It’s up to your generation to figure out how to do journalism.”

His answer was short, and it was not what I wanted to hear - at least, not at first.

As I thought about his answer, I realized that I have all the essential tools to figure it out how to adapt to new technologies. I’m not alone, either. My entire generation will move into adulthood - into this economy - with the combined skills and efforts that a four-year institution has helped us develop.

I glanced around at my colleagues. I was reminded of how diverse each of our educations was. All of us had traveled to Washington, D.C. from small private colleges, Ivy Leagues, Big Tens, and everywhere in between. We weren’t all journalism majors, either. We studied government, literature, gender, psychology and biology. We were a cornucopia of experiences, personalities and ideas, with a passion for storytelling.

Unless you’re a fortune-teller, there’s really no way to predict how society and technology will adapt to any changes headed our way. A seasoned journalist won’t have the answers for me. My professor won’t have the answers for me. But they’ve all given me a foundation for me to tackle the answers on my own.

In a future where the very foundations of media appear to be shaken, it’s important to remember that storytelling still has a role, no matter what the technology is. Marshall McLuhan so aptly put, “The medium is the message.” My storytelling skills will mature because of reporting classes, but also from a course on Islam, a seminar about doubt and reason, and even from a project researching housing costs in Indianapolis. It’s those courses - outside the periphery of my main studies - that will make my education that much richer.

The economy is uncertain, and so is the future of media. But no generation has ever known anything with absolute certainty. Instead, the past can aid us in making decisions in the present that will affect us in the future. Liz Coleman, president of Bennington College, said last February, “History provides a laboratory in which to see the actual as well as the intended consequences of ideas.”

We can thank our grandparents - our ancestors – for giving us that blueprint for the future. In the fabric of our society exist potential solutions for conflict, theories on ethical dilemmas – because others have tried it before we have. My History and Literature of Journalism class won’t tell me how to best reach audiences with the newest technology, but it will provide a critical foundation to equip me with tools for the future.

Coleman, a great innovator in preserving the liberal arts, said, “when making connections is of the essence, technology emerges with special intensity – but so does the importance of content.” If we incorporate something akin to Apple’s iPad into the classroom, we need to make sure that the content in that medium, whether news or literature or scholarly research – is still of substance.

No matter what vehicle will carry journalism into the future, we still need communicators with critical thinking skills, but we also need communicators who can also be good listeners. There are stories to be told. Lives to be chronicled. Imaginations to illuminate.

Back in the boardroom, I mused about my colleagues’ futures. From our diverse educations will spring forth communicators – men and women - in radio, television, and newspapers. It won’t stop there, either. One of the interns plans to attend law school, and another wants to start her own photography studio.

Mr. Meyer reminded us to keep an open mind and to never lose sight of the journalism’s foundation: the ability to observe, think critically and report the truth. That foundation, I believe, is what will sustain our society, whether informed by word-of-mouth, a smart phone or a message in a bottle.

College of Comm: A Good Marriage

Tonight, a town hall meeting – made up largely of faculty and some students – gathered to discuss the creation of a sixth college at Butler – the College of Communications.

It would encompass the Media Arts and Journalism programs, as well as Communication Studies and Communication Disorders. I will admit – it’s a big decision for such a small school. But it's a concern I've raised in the past, and it hasn't gone away.

I got to speak at the Town Hall – in front of a room of about 60 or so faculty – to make my case for a College of Communications.

Why the decision to mix things up a bit? As a student of both Media Arts and Journalism, I can give you a bit of insight:

• There is an overlap in curriculum. I have taken an ethics course and media law course in both departments.
• Other institutions have taken the step to converge these programs.
• Students in both departments should have equal access to camera equipment and software.

In the “glory days” Butler University used to have a renowned radio and television program. Today, the revised Media Arts department focuses on dynamic areas such as digital media production, recording industries, and broadcast journalism. It is a fairly small department, but also lacks a traditional communication foundation (i.e. writing).

Journalism is an altogether separate department, largely funded by newspaper giant Eugene S. Pulliam (hence, the name of the j-school) and it's part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. It boasts a strong internship program, and solid reporting classes needed to work as a traditional journalist.

The only problem is that both departments fall under two different colleges. Media Arts is aptly named the “step-child” of the Jordan College of Fine Arts. We’re chalked up next to the ballerinas and musicians – while Journalism falls under the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences – by far the largest of Butler’s five schools.

The proposed College of Communications would:

- Include accreditation

- The three current departments would develop into 6 programs

• Journalism
• Strategic Communication
• Digital Media/RIS
• Organizational Communication
• Critical media/rhetoric
• Communication Disorders

Even though professors in the liberal arts school are concerned about journalism breaking away from LAS, in reality, a converged curriculum would allow those students time to take additional classes in the College of LAS. Problem solved.

I was most impressed by one of my journalism professors, Dr. Anokwa. He stayed quiet for most of the conversation, then offered his thoughts, with an excellent analogy: “[Journalism with the Liberal Arts] is a bad marriage and our children are suffering.” (PS - I am one of those "children.") He added that he wished his colleagues would be more supportive. He comes from broadcast background, having grown up and worked as a broadcaster in Ghana. But he couldn’t teach broadcast and print journalism – he had to pick. This is just one of the many challenges the faculty face - not being able to fully practice their area of study. Most of the room clapped at the end of his comment, including me.

The case of a College of Comm. has even been attempted in the past. In fact, both departments are already housed in the same building – Fairbanks!

Other perks of a new college: a college-wide internship program, and potentially a graduate program in the future.

The decision is far from being made. On March 2, there will be a Faculty Senate meeting, and then two additional meetings in April. Ideally, we’ll know sometime before the semester ends.

Here’s what I concluded: After a two-hour presentation and lively discussion, it’s clear that the faculty, staff and administrators care about Butler. They care about it as an institution, they care about the students. They care about its future. They cared enough to show up and duke it out. That alone gives me hope.

A College of Communications would break down barriers between departments and work in the best interest of students – to prepare them for real-world, multi-platform media experiences.

It was a beautiful thing to see professors from both departments work together on this proposal - better yet, to see them in the same room together! Last month I had to decide which program to sit with at graduation. Journalism? Media Arts? Like the child of bad marriage, I could not decided which 'parent' I liked better. I'm hoping for a better marriage for future students.

I'm a Guest Blogger

I got my first gig as a "guest blogger" this month. My picture is even featured right next to my favorite mascot, Blue II. Below is the piece I wrote for Butler University admissions' "Go Butler" Web site:

When I came to Butler in 2006, Facebook was new and everybody who was anybody had an account. I started by adding Butler students who were also in the Media Arts program. During Welcome Week, I was at an ice cream social and recognized a girl from Facebook. We hugged each other the first time we met because we felt like we were already acquainted! She and I had a bunch of classes together, and today she’s a really great friend of mine.

Online transparency is key. Students and parents can turn to Butler’s social network accounts to get a more personal perspective of life at Butler. I think I’m most impressed with Butler’s chief of police, Ben Hunter who recently started his own Twitter account. Butler has taken the steps to meet students where they are: online. Last week, I logged on to Twitter and found out that Butler was closed because of the heavy snowfall. In that sense, these sites are helpful not only in keeping up with friends, but also in staying updated on important university messages.

While social media has connected me to people I wouldn’t have otherwise known, it has also flowed over into my academics. One of my professors, Dr. Geertsema, requires her students to extend our classroom discussions to Facebook. Just last week, I posted an article and discussion question to the class Facebook group. That, to me, is the beauty of social interaction and a critically-thinking institution.

Recently, I’ve seen social media help me out of a jam or two. This past December, I was getting ready leave Washington, D.C. – where I interned at National Public Radio. The weekend I planned to leave, my flight got rescheduled but I had no transportation to get to the airport. I posted a call out for help via Twitter. I didn’t have to wait long to get a response. A friend I’d met at a conference in D.C. was headed to the airport, too. He picked me up and we drove the airport so we could catch our flights out of the city. If he hadn’t responded and offered his help, I’d probably still be stuck in D.C.! I know a lot of people who have a social media success story, whether used for research or in the event of breaking news, like the Haiti earthquake or the Iranian protests.

In another instance, I called on my Facebook and Twitter networks for research topics ideas and got a lot of great suggestions - nearly 10 different ideas!

The best thing incoming students can do is to get plugged in on social networks. Facebook is already a favorite among high schoolers, but Twitter has really practical purposes that extend beyond just updating a status. Usewww.search.twitter.com to find interesting articles about college applications. Find out which schools have Twitter accounts, and follow them. Join fan pages. Ask the questions you have about campus tours or the size of a dorm room. Utilize the tools that are out there.

Online presence says a lot about a university. It says they care about reaching out to students in a personal and meaningful way. Social media brings you that much closer to the university. If you want a university that’s progressive, look to how they utilize their online presence.

Re-Entering the Butler Bubble

(via Luciano Joaquin/Flickr)

This semester is different from everything else I've experienced at Butler.

I'm living in my sorority house for the first time, which is a bigger adjustment than you might think. My closet is in a completely separate place from desk, which is also in a completely separate place from my bed. I don't have my own kitchen, but it does mean I don't have to do the dishes (ftw!).

Until now, Butler has spoiled me: I lived in the residence halls for two years as a RA, so I got a lot of personal space. Even in when I lived in D.C. I only had one roommate, and she was pretty swell. But now, I share my study space with three other girls.

Living in the Capital opened my eyes a more diverse group of people. I have a new respect for work ethic, and for socializing - that includes being flexible and being open to meeting new people all the time (which happens every day in D.C.!)

Professionally, I know it's time to prepare for the real world. But my schedule - 5 classes (three are nightside) and interning 15 hours a week - makes it hard to separate academic pressures from finding time to relax and reflect, let alone apply for jobs.

My personal time with God has suffered. I'm working on finding my quiet time, personal space to spend with him.

Today I hosted a group discussion at the Blue House, where I'm an intern. It was called "How Do I Re-Enter the Butler Bubble?" Ironically, it not only helped other students unpack their out-of-Butler experiences - it was therapeutic for me, too!

I think one of the Butler students explained her experiences best (and this is paraphrasing): It's good to have those experiences to learn who you are when you're by yourself. If you live your life filled with too many activities, all the noise blocks out the quiet time. If you don't have the quiet time, you can't listen to that voice (I call it God) inspire you.

For now, I'm still adjusting to this lifestyle - the syllabi, the disjointed class schedule, the chaos and sisterhood of my sorority house. All of it.

My Eighth Semester

I said my final farewell to my semester in Washington, and now I'm nearing the finish line to my time at Butler University. I've got a full plate of academics, extracurriculars and sorority life (not to mention that thing called "finding a job").

Here's the lineup:

Theological Ethics is my last chance to utilize an elective. As I've continued to explore religion and faith in my daily life and work, I wanted to take a religion course before Butler told me to graduate. Our professor, Dr. Brent Hege, just won an award for theological promise, too! I'm looking forward to some deep discussions, especially since there's only 7 of us in the class.

International Communication is going to focus on how media is distributed around the world - and how that contributes to globalization. Last week our class divided into two section and did some role-playing: one side was the Western world and the other side was the Third World and debated issues of Westernization. It got pretty heated.

The History and Literature of Journalism, though it may sound dry, will probably be pretty cool. I'm hoping to do my epically long research paper on either the Newsboys Strike of 1899 or the development of non-profit media. Who knows? But I'm excited, as only a journalism major could be.

Data-based Investigations is a new journalism elective this semester, taught by the expert! Mark Nichols is in charge of data-based investigations at the Indianapolis Star. We meet once a week, from 7:15 - 9:45, hoping that all those crime statistics will keep us awake! In all seriousness, though, we'll practice writing a FOI request letter (Freedom of Information) and use software to input things like crime statistics.

Directing the Narrative offers me one more chance to work behind a camera before I get out in the real world. It will finish off my Media Arts (video production major. This weekend I shot a short character sequence with a classmate. I played an OCD college student. If all goes well, maybe I can post that clip at some point.

During the week I'm also interning at the Center for Faith and Vocation, working as the multimedia editor for The Butler Collegian, bible study-ing and living in Pi Beta Phi (a.k.a. The White House)! I even found a video (tour of the house) my roommate Christina did for her gig as a Butler blogger.

Photo Credit

Disciple Spotlight: Michelle

Here's another great disciple in my life; she even formally discipled me!

Michelle will join the Campus Crusade staff at the University of Missouri (Columbia, MO) this fall. Michelle was an integral part of my faith at Butler. 

As my discipler (mentor) and bible study leader, she has a gift for leadership and being a patient teacher. That's not surprising, though; she majored in education at Butler University, and has a ballet background (that's where all her patience comes from!).

She'll be leading the freshmen and sophomore women's bible studies on campus and developing a branch of CCC geared specifically towards Greek students. She joins Elizabeth McKinney, a former CCC staff person at Butler.

In her prayer letter to me, she explained the challenges students face at college:

"In the midst of academic achievement there is a competition for students' hearts - a battle of the flesh against the will of God...there is a great need for light to be shed in the middle of this darkness."

Michelle has been an awesome impact in my life. She is direct and honest, and keeps me accountable in my actions. I know she will do the same with students at University of Missouri.

You can contact Michelle at michelle.zatulovsky@uscm.org and also give online.

Disciple Spotlight: Helena

This week features a series of disciplers in my life - those who are actively pursuing the Great Commission. They are dear friends, mentors and sisters in Christ.

Helena is a pharmacy student at Butler. It's one of the most renowned programs in the nation, and requires six years of hard work and dedication. But luckily, Helena incorporates a healthy dose of comedy into her daily life. I rarely see her without a smile :)

While our college peers interned, worked and enjoyed vacations, Helena took part in 3 different mission trips. One involved working with Christian medical professionals. 

The program is called Whole Person Care Preceptorship, and includes 4 weeks of training medical students on the spiritual care of patients. It is joint program through Campus Crusade for Christ and the Medical Strategic Network. 

Helena said: "It was really cool to see how our career is our ministry and that patients not only need spiritual care, but many of them want it and were more than happy to talk to us."  

She learned to take the 'spiritual history' of a patient and to "identify the laments of the soul." The students learned how to pray with patients by shadowing Christian doctors. 

"Talking to patients was scary and cool all at the same time, but it was great to practice what we were learning."

Sure hope I can have a pharmacist or doctor in the future who cares about me that much!

Helena writes her own blog, The Adventures of Torpe. She loves Jesus, Diet Dr. Pepper, and kittens.

The Summer on the Knoll

Knoll (noun): A small rounded hill, a hillock.

This was a summer of many firsts and lasts. My first summer living in Indianapolis, my first experience at a TV station, my last summer as a college kid.

I had the chance to live where many Butler students call "The Knoll." While it may sound like a ritzy golf course, it's simply the off-campus housing neighborhood that surrounds Butler University. In fact, while the street is called Berkley Road, the street is actually paved with grass (see photos in my next blog post)!

Why was this summer so fun? Maybe because it was summer, or because I got to work with journalists everyday or because - as my mom would say - I was just "enjoying my twenties." I guess it was a combination of all of that. Here are some of my favorites memories from Summer '09, in review:

1. Friends. I got to see old friends, go on bike rides along the canal, take picnics with my RA gal pals, build up friendships with roommates, and bond over home-cooked meals, many cups of tea and a midnight showing of Harry Potter No. 6. 

2. Life on Berkley Road (aka The Knoll). After three years of dorm-style living, I had the chance to stretch out a bit. Living in a house exposed me to the joys of a kitchen and the not-so-joyous calls to the landlord, clogged toilets and many "friendly" critters.

3. The Intern Experience. I worked in the 25th largest television market this summer. I met and worked with seasoned journalists. The experience opened my eyes to the wonders of television journalism. In the process I got to meet a few celebrities, interview fellow Butler colleagues and help the Web team with Twitter and Facebook endeavors. My work aired on the evening and daybreak newscasts and I developed a portfolio reel of 10 news packages. It was exhausting and always busy - but definitely rewarding. 

4. Creating an internal GPS. Whether scouting out a story for WISH or visiting friends around the state, I've come to develop a stronger sense of direction - although I still can't always tell N/W/S/E on my own. My many adventures took me to a wedding in Attica, a few outdoor concerts in Fishers, and various news stories in Edinburg, Columbus and Carmel.

5. Field trips. Living in Indianapolis this summer was like a series of mini field trips. I had an extended period of time to enjoy the beautiful campus, eat Yats (a local Cajun favorite) and venture to new places like the White River State Park. The creative spirit in me indulged in many trips to Mass. Ave - the theatre and arts district of Indianapolis. Another guilty pleasure was the library. I not only learned about borrowing entire TV series (I highly recommend "Veronica Mars"), but I got to enjoy the snazzy new downtown location that feels like a hip new museum more than a city library. 

My summer was jam-packed. It was flavorful. Freeing. And, if you couldn't tell, it was fun.

Convergence Does Not Signal "End Times" for Journalism

It's near the end of the semester, and I'll be finishing up a pilot course in the Eugene S. Pulliam School of Journalism. It's a course I was super-excited about: Online Journalism. The result was pretty cool. The department bought enough Flip Cameras for everyone in class, which we used to go out and get "man on the street" interviews, and then uploaded to the computers. We learned about writing for the online medium, and ended the courses with a multi-media project about how the recession has affected Butler University.

Next year will be a year of transition for the department. There will be new course offerings like Convergence Journalism and Web Design. For the first time in Butler's history, our two news media, The Butler Collegian (print) and Dawgnet News (online) will follow the industry trend and converge to become one staff.

I began at Butler as a media arts major, with a video production emphasis. Then I decided to sharpen up my writing skills, so I added journalism as a secondary major. In doing so, I've found many similarities between the two departments. True, they each have their own uniqueness and wonderful faculty, besides. 

But in an effort to better understand why the two departments have not come together as a college of communications (see Ball State University's and University of Missouri's programs as examples) I wrote an editorial about it. I interviewed Dr. Nancy Whitmore, head of the journalism department and Dr. Ken Creech, head of the media arts department. Their responses accurately reflect the state of media today and the dilemmas it faces.

Written for Marc Allan's Editorial Writing class (JR317) on Tuesday, February 10:

All that separates the Media Arts Department and the Journalism school is a flight a stairs in the Fairbanks Center. There shouldn’t even be that much separation. Merging the departments would strengthen academics and keep curricula up to date with the real world.

Journalism is part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, while Media Arts is considered by some to be the “stepchild” of the Jordan College of Fine Arts. Journalism seems lost within a college of many different majors, while TV producers don’t bear any resemblance to ballerinas or musicians. 

Attempts have been made in Butler’s history to merge the two departments. In the early ’90s, former President Geoffrey Bannister encouraged monthly meetings to discuss the possibility. Former Provost Bill Berry organized a task force to examine how other universities were embracing changing media and technology.

Neither effort led to anything of substance. 

If we examine the curriculums of both departments closely, it is evident there is an overlap of courses. Journalism offers JR426 – Mass Communication Law – while Media Arts offers MDA432 – Law and Regulation of the Electronic Media. Sound the same? Maybe because they are.

Both departments also offer core classes in ethics, as well. This repetition forces students, who want to learn from both areas, to take repetitive courses. The separation of the two departments puts students at a disadvantage when trying to explore the convergence of print and broadcast journalism.

One step has been taken, however. This semester, the journalism department is offering online journalism, a pilot course that will get students acquainted with the basics of writing for the Web and demonstrate how to incorporate video into the new medium. 

Larger schools, which benefit from more resources, have been able to create individual colleges that encompass public relations, advertising, radio, TV, print journalism and online journalism. However, as Media Arts Department Chair Ken Creech pointed out, creating a whole new college would cost a lot of money – something that is not available in these tough economic times.

Creech said there has been discussion about how to best accommodate students in both curriculums, and said the best way might be to create a collaborative program that would allow students to more freely take classes between departments.

“Both [departments] went our own ways and so it’s hard to bring things back,” Creech said. “We all agree with keeping curriculum fresh, especially given [the industry’s] changing nature. At least media and journalism should be looking for ways to collaborate more formally.”

Both departments worried that a merger would eliminate job security. Creech said his staff would be worried about not earning tenure, and Dr. Nancy Whitmore, head of the Journalism department, said both departments develop faculty with different mindsets. 

Still, with more traditional publications being revamped with video and websites, Butler curricula needs to reflect the changing industry. If the cost of hiring a dean for a brand-new communications college is too much to ask, then the departments should still find a way to implement each other’s material into the classroom. Convergence is the future, and if the curriculum isn’t preparing students for the reality of that, then it isn’t doing its fundamental job.

Photo Credit

Is This Friday Really 'Good'?

Today marks Good Friday, the day in the Christian tradition when Jesus died on the cross. 

In honor of this day, Butler University's group of ministries offered a combined ecumenical service at noon in Robertson Hall.

I think I've gone the last year or two, and it has been an enriching experience each time. What's neat about it is that it brings together students from the Butler Catholic Community, Campus Crusade for Christ and Grace Unlimited (Episcopal faith). The service is usually a combination of hymns, a message and  time of reflection. 

In a sense it brings me joy to see that, despite our different worship styles and 'differences' we are bound together by Christ's sacrifice for us. It's times like this when I wish there were no barriers between denominations. Why can't we just live under the same umbrella of God's love? 

Pastor Jeff Krajewski, of Common Ground Christian Church, asked of us, "Do you trust the pattern of the cross?" I guess what he's saying is, "Do I trust that God is faithful?" Fr. Charles Allen, of Grace Unlimited, said that most of the time we don't trust the pattern of the cross.

"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Wow. Until Jeff read those words aloud, I didn't really understand the weight of that statement. To listen to a friend's troubles means to help carry their burden. But God calls us to do that. Part of carrying those burdens allows us to enter into a deep relationship with fellow Christians - and that's what Go calls us to do!

So the final question Jeff left us with: 

Do we trust the pattern of the cross?