Fifteen years ago, Dr. Jane Elmes-Crahall, while on sabbatical, decided to start a student-run public relations agency at Wilkes University. Some said it would never happen at the undergraduate level. One-hundred fifteen clients (and count-ing) later and with over $80,000 raised for local non-profits, it is stronger than ever.

In 1999, Zebra Communications was founded at Wilkes University. Since its in-ception, Zebra has been serving nonprof-its, start-up businesses and local govern-ment agencies in the Wyoming Valley.

Dr. Elmes-Crahall, professor of Com-munication Studies, says it really has been a labor of love since it has begun.

“When I was told an agency could not work with undergraduates staffing it, I thought—we’ll see. From day one, Wilkes was supportive of Zebra.” Elmes-Crahall said, “Now, 15 years later we are highly re-garded by much of the community. We are proud to say that we have nearly a 100% media placement rate for our press releases and media relations. We never have to pro-mote Zebra to get clients. Word-of-mouth

recommendations come in and we usually have more clients than we can manage,” said Elmes-Crahall.

Zebra has served numerous non-profit organizations and businesses throughout the region. The firm has worked with Sal-

vation Army, Children’s Miracle Network, Jewish Family Services, Victims Resource Center, Candy’s Place, the American Red Cross, Relay for Life, Embrace a Child in Tanzania, Wilkes-Barre Educational Im-provement Foundation and many others.

THE MEDIUMCommuniCation StudieS department September 2014Volume 2

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a quarterly newSletter Serving wilkeS univerSity StudentS, faCulty, alumni, and friendS.

Communication Studies Department Welcomes AlumniBy: Dr. Stine

Zebra’s 15 Years of “Student-run…Professionally done” PRBy: Shawn Carey

Continued on page 5

The Homecoming Edition

Shown are members of Zebra’s first Board members in 1999:Seated: “Jazz” Richardson, Dr. Jane Elmes-Crahall. Standing: Heather Webb and January Johnson

Welcome back! It’s a pleasure for our department to

welcome returning alumni during this exciting Homecoming weekend. We’ve a lot to brag about and a lot to celebrate!

For starters, our beloved Beacon newspaper is celebrating eighty years of continuous publication. Starting out as the Bucknell Bison in 1934, the Beacon, as we know it today, is stronger than ever and on the forefront of covering campus and com-munity news. Be sure to take time to chat with Dr. Kalen Churcher (class of ’97), the

paper’s new faculty advisor. We’re also celebrating more than forty

years of WCLH, our campus ratio sta-tion. Kristen Rock (class of ’06) is the new manager there, and she has some exciting ideas for broadening programming and community outreach for the station.

We are beginning the celebration of Ze-bra Communication’s 15 years of “student-run and professionally done” PR at Wilkes. I also hope you’ll chat with some of our great students who will be attending the alumni events.

Many are involved in doing exciting re-search for their senior projects, while still others will want to share their experiences of studying abroad, presenting at academic conferences, and doing internships, among many other things.

I hope you enjoy Alumni Weekend, and hope you’ll visit often. And remember, it doesn’t have to be Homecoming for you to come home – you’re welcome to stop by and say hello anytime!

Junior Communication Studies and English major James Jaskolka recently received the Department of Communica-tion Studies annual Alumni and Friends scholarship for the 2014-15 academic year at the department’s annual colloquium.

The Department of Communication Studies Alumni and Friends scholarship is awarded based on three factors: leadership in the department, academic performance, and need-based.

“James is a fitting recipient of the De-partment’s Alumni and Friends Scholar-ship because he demonstrated significant need, a high degree of academic abil-ity and is a leader in our Department’s co-curricular activities,” Chair of the Department of Communication Studies, Dr. Mark Stine said in reference to why Jaskolka was most deserving among the many applicants.

The scholarship is a monetary scholar-ship put directly onto the cost of tuition. Students could apply for the scholarship in their sophomore or junior year. The applicant pool for the 2014-15 scholarship has been the largest with ten students who applied.

The applicants also need a letter of support from a faculty member on their behalf. Dr. Loran Lewis, former Wilkes Communication Studies faculty member, nominated James for the scholarship. Dr. Lewis wrote in his letter of support, “James’ enthusiasm and eagerness to learn have propelled him to become editor-in-chief of The Beacon for 2014-15.”

Jaskolka, Dean’s list student, is the Editor-in-Chief of The Beacon, campus award-winning newspaper. This is the third years he has been involved with The Beacon. He also participants on the staff of Zebra Communication, the student-run PR agency at Wilkes. He is currently has dual focuses in journalism and public relations.

“It’s an honored feeling to be recognized for all the leadership and hard work I put in the last two years,” Jaskolka said.

With writing as a passion, Jaskolka has taken many writing intensive classes. He hones an appreciation for the written word. He works in the University’s Writ-ing Center and has been published in The Manuscript, the campus literary magazine.

Going hand-in-hand with his passion for writing, music holds an important place in his life. Jaskolka performers in a handful of different local bands. One of which, “As You Will” performs frequently locally and in the tri-state area.

Jaskolka is a native of Pocono Pines Pa. and a 2012 graduate of Evergreen Commu-nity Charter School, Mountinhome, Pa. He is the son of Linda Jaskolka and Michael Butler.

With a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies earned from Wilkes University in 1990, and a Master’s degree in Instructional Technology in 1992 from Wilkes, Barbara Jamelli-Sefchik currently has a career as the Global Head, Career Development, HR Talent and Leadership Center of Excellence at SAP, multinational software corporation based in Germany.

“Wilkes provided a very strong foundation for my career, at every stage. Jane was ahead of her time in designing class work that was project-based and community-facing,” Jamelli-Sefchik said. “I wasn’t a part of Zebra Communications, which came after I graduated, but that kind of effort is priceless to a college student. Academic knowledge is great, but connecting your students with the real world of work is what helps you make that first leap.”

After Jamelli-Sefchik graduated she kept close ties with Wilkes, working at the Help Desk as manager for four years then as a director later to be the Principal Process Consultant with Sungard Higher Education, the software and services company Wilkes employs.

With a passion for technology driving Jamelli-Sefchik to learn more, she contributes much of her career success to the Wilkes Communication Studies Department.

“Being able to communicate effectively to a broad audience and in multiple formats such as spoken, written, phone vs. in-person, Word vs. PowerPoint it is critical to “building your professional brand”. While we couldn’t have anticipated all the ways in which communication comes to bear in today’s world, the Communications Department provided me with the foundation, with the confidence, with the experience to move

forward with no fear,” Jamelli-Sefchik said.Jamelli-Sefchik went on to work for

and is still currently employed with SAP, Systems Applications Products in Data Processing. SAP is one of the largest software companies in the world.

SAP serves one billion customers, works with 170 countries, and works on six continents.

Since starting at SAP in 2006, Jamelli-Sefchik title in the company has changed four times with her most recent promotion being the Global Head, Career Development, HR Talent. She works in part to predictive analytics to optimize better business performance and simplify decision making. Even though she works for a mega global software industry, Jamelli-Sefchik resides in Drums, Pa. Her work is done almost completely virtually. This makes for a “30-second commute downstairs”.

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By: Nicole ZukowskiJames Jaskolka receives Alumni & Friends Scholarship

Barbara Jamelli-Sefchik, ‘90, Speaks to COM 303 ClassBy: Nicole Zukowski

Photo Credit: Rasha Shaker

Continued on page 8

As the start of a new school year here at Wilkes begins, a new chapter for WCLH has begun. Last year, Renee Loftus retired, leaving the general manager position open. Kristen Rock, a Wilkes graduate of the class of ‘06, will take over and she has many ideas to contribute.

Q. How did you feel when the position became available?

When I found out the position was available, I got so excited. I more or less told Renee that “when it’s time, I’ll take your place”.

Q. What were you doing before coming to WCLH?

Before accepting this position, I worked for Shamrock Communications (Rock 107, ESPN, FUZZ) for six years. I also spent time working for Split Rock Resort.

Q. What was it like being a student here before becoming General Manager?

While I was still a student, I knew the value of WCLH as a co-curricular activity. One of my goals as general manager of the radio station is to promote its presence on campus. As a student, I felt that struggle of no one knowing us.

Another goal that I would like to achieve is to cross-promote each co-curricular activity (Wilkes Now, The Beacon, WCLH, Zebra) so that each one will gain more attention on campus.

Q. To expand, how did your education here at Wilkes help develop your professional life?

I came here to Wilkes for one reason – it had a broadcast/journalism track. The fact that it had a TV studio and WCLH were the two main reasons I came here because it would give me that hands on experience. My concentrations here at Wilkes were broadcast, journalism and public relations. I spent a lot of time as far as co-curriculars go here at WCLH.

When I spent time at WCLH, I was

also on the executive staff which forced me to take on a leadership role where I had responsibilities that had to be taken care of. A lot of things like that I had as an e-staff here at WCLH really transferred out into the real world as I took on my first job. It really helped my career.

Q. What’s in store for WCLH this year?

We’re going to be redesigning a new website and logo for the station. The logo we have now was actually designed while I was still a student here! Also, we will be focusing on getting more in-studio live performances.

Also on the radar is National College Radio Day, WCLH will be celebrating that this year on Oct. 3rd. Lastly, we will all be working to enter the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Awards and the College Media Association Pinnacle Awards. It has been several years since WCLH renewed their membership to IBS, so this will be something that will be really cool.

As Kristen Rock, the new general manager, WCLH’s legacy will take on a new chapter. With new goals, fresh ideas and a group of passionate students lead by an eager leader, good things will arise for Wilkes University’s student run radio station. As always, keep it locked!

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James Jaskolka receives Alumni & Friends Scholarship Meet Kristin Rock, ‘06 - WCLH’s New Director By: Rasha Shaker

Photo Credit: Rasha Shaker

An internship can be a key to clarifying career choices. When seeking a career in the future, one thing that will set applicants apart is experience in their future field. Fourteen current Communication Studies majors took advantage of interning during summer and fall 2014. Now, each intern has his or her own story to tell about the intern experience.

This past summer I was one of seven majors to intern. I interned at the Osterhout Free Public Library with the developmental director, Chris Kelly primarily with fundraising and public relations for multiple events. These events included a book sale, a party called the Brewsterhout, which was an over 21 event, a gala playing host to the 125th anniversary of the library, and a golf tournament partnered with Wilkes University. My experience working in the non-profit sector was beneficial because I gained great networking connections and experience in public relations that was unobtainable without my time and effort. As a result of the internship I was also offered a part-time job with the Osterhout.

Ashley Evert, a junior communications major, took her internship out of Wilkes-Barre to New York City where she worked at Creative Media Marketing, a beauty-orientated public relations agency. Before interning, Ashley believed that her future career would include moving to New York City in search of an occupation in beauty-oriented public relations. She learned her experience in NYC was not the right fit for her. However, the internship led to key networking opportunities in a field that she would not have had otherwise. Ashley stated, “Networking will hopefully help me find another internship or future job in a field that I enjoy even more.”

Eric Casey, senior communication studies major, took his summer and interned at WVIA/FM. WVIA is a public media radio station partnered with National Public Radio. Eric was involved in editing and promotion of programs. He gained experience in a public broadcasting that was impossible without an internship. “I have a whole new respect for public radio… No negatives from my internship.”

Rasha Shaker, head program director at WCLH, the Wilkes University radio

station, took her summer interning for WACL, an AM country radio station located in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. At her internship, she experienced working in marketing research, producing radio pieces and writing scripts for commercials. Rasha’s internship led to a part time job offer and she has thoroughly enjoyed her experience. Rasha hopes to obtain a full time position from WACL after Wilkes.

After a rigorous interviewing process, Priscilla Bonilla was accepted as an intern with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Public Affairs Office in Philadelphia. Producing a range of public relations releases for a federal agency developed both her PR skills and an awareness of why professionalism is emphasized so much on the job.

Haley Adam is interning in public relations and event planning with Boscov’s in Wilkes-Barre where she is working on business-to-business accounts.

“I am reaching out to surrounding businesses to see how they might work with Boscov’s,” explained Haley. Moving into the sports public relations arena, Macey McGuire in interning with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Stephanie Hahn chose to use the summer between her junior and senior years to gain PR experience in the nonprofit sector. Stephanie interned with the American Diabetes Association branch located near her hometown.

And, Tyler Thomas interned with the National Lacrosse League’s office in New York City. Tyler worked with the NLL Director of Business Development on researching, constructing and presenting advertising slide show “decks” to potential sponsors.

Currently, the Department has seven seniors interning, all in public relations-related areas. Shawn Carey and Alyssa Stencavage are interning in the Wilkes Marketing/Communications Office. One aspect of this internship that Alyssa Stencavage enjoys is the variety of writing assignments she gets. “Some of my favorite assignment include a short piece about people with dogs on campus, a faculty media experts bio on Dr. Mia Briceno, news releases, and an upcoming “Day in the Life” piece on Adventure Education Coordinator Jill Price,” explained Stencavage. “Just because an assignment should be serious and professional, doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun with it,” she added.

Anthony Bartoli’s internship with the Wilkes Alumni Office actually began in early August. Since that time he has worked on social media, poster designs and promoting the upcoming Wilkes Homecoming. Get an invitation to pre-register for Homecoming? Anthony designed that. See the posters for how to get Free Pizza by decorating your club’s office for Homecoming? Yes, he designed that, too.

This semester Priscilla Bonilla is interning via electronic networking. Priscilla is writing public relations releases and website content for the Center for the Advancement of Latino Media and Technology, which is based in New Jersey.

Jessica Gorts is interning with the Tom Wolf for Governor campaign office in the Scranton headquarters. Two days a week she is in the Scranton office carrying out campaign assignments. One day a week she works from her home writing for the campaign. While the pace of activity in the Gubernatorial race can be hectic, Jessica says, “I’m loving my internship so far.”

Internships are important in obtaining experience in your future field. Interning can also teach you if you have made the right career choice. Considering an internship for spring? It’s not too early to start planning by speaking with your advisor now.

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Department Places 14 Summer and Fall InternsBy: Adam Lubas

Haley Adam

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September 2014

For students it is a gratifying experience to be able to give back to their local com-munity while still being able to gain real world experience.

“It is one of the best experiences that I have had since I have been in college,” Priscilla Bonilla, 2014 Zebra Communi-cations Board Co-Chair, said. “I am not from the area, so to be able to go out in the community and give back in some way, no matter how small, is very gratifying.”

Bonilla is beginning her senior year at Wilkes. She says it is a great honor to be able to serve as Co-Chair for Zebra in its anniversary year, alongside Anthony Bartoli.

“Being Co-Chair of Zebra is an honor and great reward. I hope I can serve as a leader and role model to the new mem-bers,” Bonilla said, “Not only continuing a strong successful agency but also inspiring others to get involved.”

Anthony Bartoli also serves as Co-Chair

of Zebra and has been involved since he was a freshman.

“Going to Zebra meetings is like going home to family,” said Bartoli, “I’m so proud of everything we do; not just the things that benefit us as professionals, but it’s the things that we do to help the community that really make me the most proud.”

Although Elmes-Crahall may serve as Faculty Director and adviser to Zebra, she insists that it has always been about the students gaining the real-world application during their time with Zebra.

“A former colleague coined the phrase, ‘Student-run…professionally done’ when Zebra was first established. That still is our motto because students entering the changing field of integrated marketing communications must know how to think strategically on behalf of their clients. Ze-bra students excel in professional, strategic PR,” Elmes-Crahall said. The Zebra Board votes on whether to accept new clients after reviewing their applications and holding a “meet and greet.” Each year, up

to 40 students populate the Zebra’s various account teams. Over the years, the account teams have raised over $80,000 and have helped serve over 115 clients. Last year alone, Zebra raised $10,500 to benefit three clients—the Salvation Army, Embrace a Child in Tanzania and the Children’s Miracle Network. Zebra has even won numerous awards for their commitment to the community.

The club was given a third place award from the Salvation Army for raising $2,600 in its 2008 “Need Knows No Season” cam-paign. The club also won two back-to-back first place awards in 2010 and 2011, as well as third place wins in 2012 and 2013.

Looking ahead, the students and Elmes-Crahall are looking forward to continue Zebra’s rich tradition of serving the com-munity.

“Each year brings new challenges. But, I expect that both our PR students at Wilkes and the local community will continue to push Zebra Communications forward,” said Elmes-Crahall.

Zebra Celebrates 15 years of PR success continued...Continued from page 1

Zebra’s Executive Board, 2014-15. Front, from left to right: Nicole Zukowski, Office Co-Manager; Anthony Bartoli, Board Co-Chair; Justin Topa, Opera-tions Co-Manager; standing from left: Dr. Jane Elmes-Crahall, faculty advisor and Frank Passalacqua, Office Manager. Adbsent: Priscilla Bonilla, Board Co-Chair; Haley Adam, Director of Marketing/Social Media; Talia Pantano, Operations Co-Manager and Cameron Hinkel, Operations Co-Manager.

Dr. Mia Briceño, assistant professor of the Department of Communication Studies, has recently developed and began teaching a special topics course focusing on gender and the communication sur-rounding it.

While the course is built around con-cepts derived from the study of communi-cation, Briceño has integrated the inter-disciplinary perspective of gender studies creating a hybrid of the two. The course aims to make visible the gender dynamics that are an integral part of our society.

“The course forces us to interrogate, challenge and think critically about the role that gender plays in our lives,” said Briceño.

Briceño has a background in rhetori-cal studies and has focused much of her career in feminist rhetorical theory as well as feminist rhetorical criticism. She credits this background as part of her motivation in developing the “Gender and Communi-cation” class.

“I’ve always had a really big interest in gender studies and that has always been a focus of the research that I have com-pleted,” said Briceño. “I’m finally at a point where I can develop a class that specifically relates to all of that work and all of those interests.”

Her background and passion for the subject were not Briceño’s only driving forces, however. Upon discussion with other faculty members, she learned that students shared the same interests and yearned for a course such as this one.

Despite her passion for the material, Briceño has faced some challenges in developing the course including choosing between supplemental material so that the course could be constrained to the most important topics. She was also concerned with how students would perceive the class as it was presented.

“These can be provocative topics,” said Briceño. “To be confronted with gender as an everyday issue and something that may have real impacts and constraints on our lives can be something we have real strong

reactions to.” While there are many lessons to take

away from this course, Briceño hopes that students at least take away a sense of gen-der awareness and an understanding that it is not something that should be taken for granted. She also aims to create an understanding of the relationship between communication and gender and how this relationship relates to the experiences we all live with and that we have created culturally.

“The way we talk about gender means a lot,” said Briceño. “The messages that we engage with and we produce, whether on a small scale or a mass communication scale, mean a lot relative to how gender is shaped and how our individual views and performances of gender are expressed.”

Briceño teaches this course mostly in a discussion-based manner, in which students are encouraged to share their thoughts on a given topic and speak amongst each other in a respectable and educated manner.

Recently, I interviewed someone who inspired me to follow my career goals—Stephanie Yachim. A 2008 Communication Studies graduate with concentrations in Organizational/PR and Rhetoric, and a minor in Marketing, Stephanie is currently Head Corporate Recruiter at Crayola, where she is responsible for recruiting personnel for all positions within the organization, both domestic and internationally.

When asked how she would assess her experience at Wilkes University, Stephanie praised the intimacy of working with the faculty in Communication Studies. “I really liked Wilkes. I found that I really enjoyed being in a smaller school setting. Building relationships at a one-on-one level with professors who were engaged with their students was wonderful. I gained a lot from my professors who took their time at odd hours to help.”

She also found she could easily apply what she learned at Wilkes to her current job at Crayola. “I use my Communications degree on a daily

basis. Using my knowledge in verbal and non-verbal interactions and presentation skills, I am able to effectively act in social situations in the workplace. I learned from Wilkes that you need to understand different personalities, because working in HR you are working with everyone. As a recruiter, one-on-one interaction is so important. From the business and creative side, I feel I am stronger because of Wilkes. From creating advertisements in the Beacon to working in Zebra, I use these skills when I am utilizing my recruiting skills. Coming out of Wilkes, I am more well-rounded than other people who are lacking social skills. When looking for potential employees to hire, it is a big red flag when you lack social skills.”

Like many current Communication studies majors, Stephanie came to college with one career goal in mind and while at Wilkes found herself exploring new possibilities.

“I was originally Psychology, then at Wilkes, I had a goal to work with people. Working into the organizational/public relations perspective fit best with my personality. As well, in the business

department, I enjoyed studying marketing in my minor. At Wilkes University, Sharon Castano was a great help with my goals of obtaining internships. I had three internships as a student at Wilkes. I loved my third internship with Pepperjam where I discovered my love for human resources. It was a turning point where I found I really enjoyed working with people.

Pepperjam offered me a job after my internship,” said Stephanie.

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Alumni Update: Stephanie Yachim, ‘08 By: Adam Lubas

Dr. Briceño’s Gender and Comm. Course Sparks DebateBy: Justin Topa

Continued on page 8

Photo Credit: Stephanie Yachim

Continued on page 8

Dr. Jane Elmes-Crahall, Professor of Communication Studies, has been invited to lecture at the Susan B. Anthony House and Museum on Monday, Sept. 29, regarding revolutionary suffragists and their oratory at Chautauqua. She is the featured speaker in the Susan B. Anthony House’s Monday Lunch and Lecture Series.

Elmes-Crahall, an expert in political rhetoric, has been requested to present at the former home of Susan B. Anthony based on the research she and a team of other experts, including retired Wilkes professor, Dr. Bradford Kinney conducted within the archives of the Chautauqua Institution. Her lecture will include a look into the turn of last century and the women who devoted their lives to the suffragist movement. To help in telling their story, Elmes-Crahall will feature previously unseen texts authored by Susan B. Anthony, herself. Admission to her lunchtime lecture sold out within the first two days of ticket sales.

Chautauqua, which is located in New

York, is a famous lecture hall created in the 19th century to serve as a civil space for people to argue controversial issues. This lecture platform is a forum in which people favoring any viewpoint were able to speak without interruption or uncivil backlash.

While the platform at Chautauqua aimed for a well-rounded discussion complete with opposing views, it was not until the late 1890’s that a woman was brought onto the stage of the amphitheater to speak on behalf of the women’s suffragist movement. Recognizing the need for a more balanced discussion, “Women’s Day” was formed to open up the discussion to those striving for equality.

Elmes-Crahall, who has lectured at Chatauqua on three occasions, will focus her Susan B. Anthony House lecture primarily on three women who are among the first and most influential names within the movement as they spoke in Chautauqua: Susan B. Anthony, who served as president of the National American Women’s Suffrage Association at

that time, Carrie Chapman Catt, eventually Anthony’s replacement as president and the founder of the League of Women Voters, and Reverend Anna Howard Shaw, an ordained minister and medical doctor who was also a suffragist and served as Anthony’s vice president.

Elmes-Crahall will be drawing from research her and a team of scholars conducted within the basement archives of Chautauqua’s Library.

She explained, “I do have at least three written, spoken texts of Susan B. Anthony that her museum did not have access to.”

Elmes-Crahall is excited to be asked to present her research and speak again on the leaders of the women’s suffrage movement even after nearly 15 years have passed since conducting her research. For the expert in political rhetoric, this lecture is more than just a part of the job.

“For me, as a scholar, I have always been very interested in the historical public address of women,” said Elmes-Crahall. “There are other things I like to do, but this is where my feet are.”

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By: Justin Topa

Dr. Briceño’s Gender and Comm. Course Sparks Debate Dr. Elmes-Crahall Featured Speaker at Susan B. Anthony House to Lecture on Revolutionary Suffragists

Now working for The Times Leader, a Civitas Media company, Eileen Godin has had much success after graduating from Wilkes University.

Currently, Godin works as a business re-porter for The Times Leaders and credits these stories to all her previous jobs after college.

It all started when Godin was still a student at Wilkes, double majoring in Psychology and Communications. She completed an unpaid internship with the production department at WNEP-TV, Moosic. In addition to her internship, she worked part-time at Fashion Bug and was involved with WCLH where she had a Sunday morning radio show. On top of all this, Godin carried a full class load and she claims she did have a social life, as well.

After completing her internship, Godin wanted to continue to work with WNEP. She remembers telling her supervisor “you will be stepping over me in the mornings

because I’ll be sleeping on your doorstep until you hire me.” They hired her as a pro-duction assistant where she ran cameras and audio for commercial productions. As a production assistant she worked Satur-day and Sunday mornings from 3:30 AM to noon as the Chyron operator.

After graduation in January 1996, Godin decided TV production was not what she wanted to pursue, so she reached out to The Times Leader because of her love for writing. At The Times Leader, she had a non-paid internship and was hired after the internship ended as a part-time features writer with the Community News department. Fate stepped in, as she met her husband, Eric, at The Times Leader where she stayed for two years before moving to Mid Coast Maine.

In Maine, Godin got a job as a mer-chant services representative for Camden National Corporation, based in Rock-port Maine. However, Godin could not stay away from news and worked for a weekly newspaper, Village Soup, as a beat reporter. The life of a reporter was not

ideal when Godin’s son, Nick, was born, so she bounced from reporter to office manager to full time mom. As a full time mom, Godin was able to write and receive two awards for poems she wrote for Cader Publishing Ltd./Illain Press.

In 2006, Godin moved back to Penn-sylvania and once again approached The Times Leader. She took a job as a freelanc-er covering municipal meetings, school board meetings, and other stories on local events. Godin then added “vendors” which included The Times Leader, The Dallas Post, The Independent NEPA Magazine, The Business Journal, and Trucksville Early Childhood Education up until 2011. Opportunity struck when a business re-porter position opened at The Times Lead-er where Godin is still working, today.

Godin continues to learn and grow as reporter in her current position. For the future, she has thoughts of taking her knowledge to teach.

Godin said, “My ‘Someday’ plans are to write and publish my own fictional novel.”

Alumni Update: Eileen Godin, ‘96 By: Cara Basile

Announcements

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Jamelli-Sefchik said “The virtual workplace was crucial to developing a global career and managing a family simultaneously.”

“You learn quickly how important what you are doing and saying is, because your ability to convey electronically is everything.”

A large part of her work is also travel. She makes the drive to the Philadelphia area often to meet with people at the SAP office there. In the past couple of years Jamelli-Sefchik had made trips up to Vancouver, Canada, and in this past year alone she has been to Germany seven times. She says her job is great in the fact she can work from home, but getting to travel attracted her to SAP in the first

place, “I love to travel… I get to combine all my talents and passions here.”

Waking up every morning and going to work is easy for Jamelli-Sefchik because she finds her job and SAP inspirational.

“I believe in what SAP does, and what it stands for in the global marketplace; we don’t just want to remain the world’s top business software company, we also want to give back to the world. And we do!”

Jamelli-Sefchik is lucky enough in her life that she sees how her “day-to-day work makes a difference for employees, so that they can, in turn, be happier in their jobs, and hopefully be inspired to “pay it forward” as I try to do every day. From SAP’s Board members down to each individual contributor, everyone actually cares about what we do for the world.”

Barbara Jamelli-Sefchik Speaks to COM 303 Class Continued from page 2

When asked what was most rewarding about her current position with Crayola, her enthusiasm was clear.

“I absolutely love my job. I feel very fortunate to be working for the most colorful company in the world. We give a box of crayons to every interviewer. I engage with every single person in the company. I love developing and interacting with new people and I get an opportunity to create great connections every day.”

What had led her to apply for Crayola Human Resources was “networking.”

She explained, “I was looking into my long term future with growth and potential. Crayola was the perfect opportunity coming from the Leigh Valley area,” she said.

In her job, Stephanie also gets to review a lot of resumes and applications from recent college graduates. She has some concerns.

“From my perspective, students need to prove themselves. As a corporate recruiter,

students are often not prepared for the real world,” she said. Current students need to begin preparing better for their future careers—through internships, gaining work experience and “taking initiative and responsibility for their career.”

On a different note, considering she works for Crayola, we asked Stephanie if she had a favorite color crayon. “Every single color makes Crayola who we are. My favorite though is Tickle Me Pink, if I had to choose.”

Alumni Update: Stephanie Yachim, ‘08 cont... Continued from page 6

This is in an effort to gain a better un-derstanding of the material and appreciate different viewpoints regarding the subject at hand.

Briceño hopes that this environment will help students become active partici-pants in their learning experience.

“My hope is that students, by engaging and being held responsible for discuss-ing the course material, will hopefully get something more out of it rather than being passive receptors,” said Briceño.

While this class is currently offered as a special topics course within the Com-munication Studies Department, Briceño

hopes that it will be integrated into the curriculum for students of all departments in the future.

“There is an impact of gender in all areas of our lives,” said Briceño. “Taking a course like this is going to be helpful and illuminating to any student within any discipline.”

Dr. Briceño’s Gender and Comm. Course cont...Continued from page 6

Photo Credit: Barbara Jamelli-Sefchik

Oct. 3rd is National College Radio Day.Tune in at WCLH 90.7 FM (Wilkes University) and 89.1 WSFX (LCCC) from 1 p.m to 4 p.m.

Follow us on the department’s new Facebook page at:http://www.faceook.com/wilkescommunicationstudies

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CommuniCation StudieS department September 2014

Shawn Carey, Social Media Director of The Beacon, has a very optimistic outlook on The Beacon’s online and digital pres-ence this year.

According to Carey, “The Beacon’s website is going very strong” after recently undergoing a redesign to reflect the most modern incarnation of the paper.

This year the paper was able to expand into new territory by printing the first ever Summer Edition of The Beacon under the direction of a fairly new editorial staff and new faculty advisor. The first issue of the semester was released on September 9th.

The Beacon currently maintains a strong online presence. Since the semester has started, over 50 people have liked The Beacon’s page on Facebook. Carey informs that The Beacon will also be launching an Instagram page in the near future. Addi-tionally, Carey plans to use Twitter for live tweeting at Wilkes sporting events.

Carey, a senior Communication Studies major, plans to be adding new programs to the social media pages. He states, “Each Monday, our followers will get a chance to meet our staff in “Meet the Staff Monday.” It will give students an opportunity to meet the amazingly talented staff we have here at The Beacon. We will also be doing “Where Are They Wednesday?” with alumni. This gives followers of the paper a chance to get to update what our alumni are doing with their lives after Wilkes,” said Carey. The Opinion section run by Opinion Editor, Frank Passalacqua, will offer a question of

the week based on an article for that week.The official website for The Beacon is

www.thewilkesbeacon.com. Carey states, “everything is up and running great.”

Carey notes that the old website wilkes-beacon.com is no longer active.

“We are going to be adding a lot of online exclusives to our website, includ-ing video, picture galleries, or articles only printed online”.

Two new blogs will be added to the Beacon Blog section of the website. Zach Benedict will be writing his blog, “Auto Talk” in conjunction with his radio show

on WCLH. Also, Haley Adam will be doing a fashion and beauty blog for the web. Carey states, “we are very excited to have them join our team and we welcome anyone who might be interested in writing for us”.

“Overall, this is going to be a fantastic year for The Beacon. With James Jaskolka and Ashley Evert leading our team, we are in fantastic hands with them. In terms of online presence, again, it will be a fan-tastic year. I am very excited about our potential for this year. I hope it is a year full of growth and learning for everyone

Check Out the New Interactive, Online BeaconBy: Michael Kapolka

Zebra Announces Board and Fall 2014 Clients By: Ashley Evert and Priscilla Bonilla

Zebra, Wilkes University’s student run non-profit public relations agency, is looking forward to a successful semester working with a few continuing clients from the spring and some new oncoming clients as well.

Zebra will continue working with the Salvation Army, Embrace a Child, Bepa Studio, and Comm Studies.

Two new clients consist of F.A.C.E.S, the Wilkes University public history program, and co-sponsoring a screening of “Bride-groom.”

Zebra’s Executive Board, 2014

Board Co-Chairs: Anthony Bartoli Priscilla Bonilla

Office Managers: Frank Passalacqua Nicole Zukowski

Director of Marketing: Haley Adam

Operations Co-Managers: Cameron Hinkel Talia Pantano Justin Topa

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CommuniCation StudieS department September 2014

Ken Carbone Lectures at Wilkes University, Facilitates Workshop with StudentsBy: Justin Topa

Ken Carbone, co-founder and creative director of the Carbone Smolan Advertis-ing and Branding Agency, gave a lecture and facilitated a workshop for members of Zebra Communications and the Integrated Media and Design department at Wilkes University on Sept. 17 and 18, respectively.

Carbone, whose agency is based in New York City, gave a presentation titled “Fame, Fortune, Fun & Freedom: What Drives an Entrepreneur”. This free event was open to the public and was held in the Henry Student Center Ballroom last Wednesday evening.

Carbone, who has been in the graphic design field for nearly 40 years, has represented such clients as Mandarin Hotels, Canon, Leica and The Louvre in Paris, France, as well as a number of other companies globally. He is a recipient of the 2014 AIGA Medal, awarded to individuals in recognition of their exceptional achieve-ments, services or other contributions to the field of design and visual communica-tion. His lecture was centered on his belief that, in the world of entrepreneurship, there must be a motivational balance be-tween fame, fortune, fun and freedom.

While chairs had been set up in anticipa-

tion of the event, the influx of those inter-ested in hearing Carbone speak created a need for many more to be brought out and quickly filled.

Within these seats sat professors, stu-dents, faculty and staff representing several departments within Wilkes University, as well as a number of people from within the Wilkes-Barre City community.

Carbone also conducted a small work-shop on the following day, Thursday, Sept. 18, for a selected group of Communication Studies and Integrated Media students. These 16 students had the opportunity to exhibit their own presentations to Car-bone, who then offered advice and helped the students with creatively brainstorming other ideas.

This workshop helped demonstrate the close relationship shared between public relations and the field of design, a study many in the Communication Studies De-partment look to improve on.

Those that participated were asked to make a 20 minute presentation and, in return, received a lifetime worth of advice from Carbone, a globally recognized figure.

Photos Courtesy of Steve Husted (From left: Amanda Kornak, Josh Solarczyk,

Alec Wizar and Rasha Shaker)

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CommuniCation StudieS department September 2014

Dr. Mark Stine, the Chair of the Com-munications Studies Department and Dr. John Hepp, co-chair of History and Global Languages recently presented their paper, “The Art of Documentary Meets Oral History”at the Warnborough College Conference on the Arts help in Canterbury, England. They also screened their documentary film, “The Osterhout Free Library: A 125 Year Legacy of Public Service” at the film festival hosted by the WCCA Conference.

Dr. Stine and Dr. Hepp have collaborated for fifteen years, beginning in 2003 when they merged advanced history classes and video production classes to create documentaries on historical aspects of the Wilkes-Barre community.

Over the years, they have collaborated on 11 documentaries, including films on Boscov’s, The Osterhout Free Library, and pharmacists.

Getting involved with Warnborough College Conference was a new experience for Dr. Stine and Dr. Hepp.

The international conference at Warn-borough focused on the artistic perspective behind different film styles and forms of communication. First, they presented their paper on how oral history and documen-tary film-making blends. Dr. Stine noted

that while they had presented research at other conferences in the past, the artistic focus of this one was different.

“Going into the film festival, there was a bit of trepidation on our part. I don’t see myself as a film maker, more as a documentarian. I did not know how our presentation was going to be accepted in front of other artistic films and members of the artistic community. At the end of the day, there was a very positive reaction,” said Dr. Stine.

Dr. Hepp noted that it was a new experi-ence for him as well. “If I go to a history conference, we whine about it not being historically accurate.

With the artistic perspective, it really

made me think about the future documen-tary plans, and composing them as a piece of art,” said Hepp.

Because the conference drew people from around the world, they were encour-aged to pursue more films in the future. According to Dr. Hepp, “The people at the conference had no idea where North-eastern Pennsylvania was, but it did not matter. It never occurred to me to work on both levels, in the artistic and historical perspective to reach different audiences.”

Dr. Stine and Dr. Hepp plan on moving towards more documentaries in the future because of the conference. “We plan on moving towards bigger documentaries that are not just 30 minutes long, such as one on John Wilkes,” stated Dr. Hepp.

Dr. Stine explained, “John Wilkes is on the horizon, but may not be the next documentary, it will require grant funding, and will require travel. The next stop that we plan on visiting is highlighting the oral history of military experience, where we highlight World War II veterans, Korean War veterans and so on. Regardless where you go a solider is a solider.”

We can all look forward to the next documentary that is an artistic collabora-tion between Dr. Stine and Dr. Hepp.

Dr. Mark Stine and Dr. John Hepp Present Paper and Screen Their Documentary at Arts Conference in Canterbury, EnglandBy: Adam Lubas

Photo Courtesy of warnborough.org

Dr. Stine (left) , Dr. Hepp (right)

Ken Carbone Lectures at Wilkes University, Facilitates Workshop with Students

The Wilkes Speech and Debate teams anticipate a busy and exciting year in the works.

The Debate team currently boasts 12 students and the Speech team currently holds eight.

Some highlights for the Speech Team this semester include going to competi-tions at Cedar Crest College in Allentown in October and Lord Fairfax College in Virginia in November.

The Debate Team is preparing for com-petitions in Las Vegas, Nevada, in October and a tournament in New York City in late November. This year the Debate team will be debating the affirmative and nega-tive arguments for the US Government

legalizing: marijuana, online gambling, physician-assisted suicide, prostitution, and the sale of human organs.

Both teams will attend the International Collegiate Forensics Winter Tournament in Montreal, Canada, in January of 2015. This event occurs every other year and this will be Wilkes’ third time compet-ing. Previously, individuals on the teams achieved: 1st Place in Informative Speak-ing, 3rd Place in Informative Speaking, 4th Place in Duo Interpretation, 5th Place in Impromptu Speaking, and 6th Place in Prose Interpretation.

Communication Studies Professor Christine Mellon, advisor for both teams, stated, “This year, the speech and debate team is working toward the International CFA Tournament in Montreal, Canada.

Our students will be competing against students from George Mason University, Bloomsburg University, Binghamton University, Randolph Macon College, and many others. It is our goal to continue a winning tradition.”

Mellon notes that most of the students on the Speech and Debate teams come from a variety of disciplines includ-ing Communication Studies, Pharmacy, Political Science, Education, Psychology, Criminal Justice, English, and Marketing programs at Wilkes.

If interested in joining the Wilkes Speech/Debate teams, contact Prof. Christine Mellon at 408-4210 or email at Christine.mellon@wilkes.edu.

Speech and Debate Team Updates for 2014By: Michael Kapola

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CommuniCation StudieS department September 2014

What A Comm. Studies Major Should Consider When Picking a Minor

Minors are an important asset to un-dergraduate students. In many cases, they can expand your pool of knowledge and complement your major.

Because Communication Studies is such a versatile major, there are several different minors that many students take to expand their skills, including Integrative Media, Women’s and Gender Studies, English and Marketing. We met with representatives of these areas to see what they saw as the advantages of minoring for Communica-tion studies students.

At 21 credits, the Integrative Media minor may seem intimidating, but Eric Ruggiero, Chair of the Integrative Media department, believes that it is a very valu-able addition to Communication Studies majors.

“If you’re interested in a design-oriented career, you can’t really get a portfolio out of one class. You have to have a breath of courses to do that portfolio.”

The “breath of courses” he refers to in-cludes the core requirements of the minor: IM 101, 201, 320, 391 plus either 301 or 302 and two additional electives. Ruggiero stated, “When I was putting this minor together, I didn’t know what areas to leave out because they are all valuable areas of design.”

Ruggiero believes that IM complements almost any major, but especially Commu-nications Studies majors because, “Those who are working in Communication ori-ented fields that have creative components can definitely have the flexibility of going between those that are hands-on jobs and those that are less-hands on and more communicative.”

Chances are, if you look at the courses you’ve taken, many of them have WSM at the end of the course title. The Women’s and Gender Studies minor (previously called the Women’s Studies Minor, hence the WSM) is easily attainable and a great way for students to market themselves to employers.

The minor consists of 18 credits, 15 of which are any course that has the /WSM plus the WGS 301 course that students should take in junior or senior year. Many general education requirement classes already have WMS tacked on, including

Communication Studies, History, English and Psychology.

This minor is unique in that it is the only minor that requires a capstone. Dr. Jennifer Thomas, director of the Women’s and Gender Studies program stated, “The capstone experience has always been a presentation at the Women’s and Gender Studies conference every spring.”

Thomas believes that the minor is helpful to Communications Studies majors. “Our understanding of the world is enhanced when we have multiple perspectives. I think that Communications majors would benefit from this because we all have biases.. and when you’re communicating information, the first step in creating a just world is to recognize those biases.”

Thomas encourages any students who are concerned with social justice and hu-man rights to take on the minor.

“It’s great for people who want to be empowered, people who recognize that be-ing in college is a privilege and they feel a responsibility to give back in some way to make themselves, or their community, or their country or the world a better place.”

Pairing a Communication Studies degree with a minor in English may seem like an obvious move, especially for those pursu-ing a journalism concentration -- ulti-mately, studying literature will improve a student’s writing skills.

Dr. Thomas Hamill, an English professor at Wilkes, noted that an English minor will be helpful to all communication studies students, as the two disciplines share a large amount of fundamental concepts.

“English classes from a composition perspective all the way through a literature perspective are going to be grounded in classical rhetoric in some way or another,” Hamill said.

“That includes your ability to make evi-dentiary claims, to illustrate arguments, to negotiate subtleties of qualification in ar-gument, to analyze a text argumentatively and critically based on textual evidence...I think all those dynamics are going to be kind of bedrock skills you’re going to be honing across the minor.”

Hamill said there are several different variants of the minor that can suit the particular needs of a student, including minors in literature, creative writing and professional/workplace writing.

To fulfill the minor, students need to take ENG 101 and 120, as well as fifteen credits in literature, writing or language studies above the 200 level. Additionally, Hamill noted that both fields of study are flexible enough to allow for two majors, which he said would permit a greater range of knowledge.

Communication Studies students, espe-cially those interested in public relations, may want to consider pursuing a market-ing minor.

Dr. Kathleen Houlihan, a marketing professor at Wilkes, illustrated why the two pair well.

“Obviously, [public relations] is about getting the message out,” she said.

“Companies want to be promoting the business through their messages, so under-standing that marketing idea and knowing how to get the right message to the right individuals is really important.”

Dr. Houlihan also mentioned that,“You should find what it is you want to do and match it up [with marketing]. Look inside yourself and say ‘where do I want to be, and how am I going to get there?’”

To fulfill the Marketing minor, students must take MKT 221, in addition to fifteen credits marketing related credits approved by the department chair.

Communication Studies majors also of-ten minor in History, Spanish and Psychol-ogy. Dr. Jane Elmes-Crahall, Professor of Communication Studies strongly recom-mends that our majors select at least one minor.

“Our majors can build expertise in a related field—like business, IM or political science–and apply their communication skills in those settings. Many graduates have,” said Elmes-Crahall.

“Graduates are editing an environmen-tal magazine, writing web content for a hospital and managing an agency that represents theatrical productions in NYC. Each student picked a minor in an area they loved—environmental science, IM and theatre, and their careers blended both Communication Studies and that second-ary area of study,” she added.

As you approach pre-registration for spring semester, consider discussing de-claring a minor when you see your advisor. It could open exciting opportunities.

By: James Jaskolka and Ashley Evert