Janet Marie’s MessageDeath, Dying and Dr. Sutton pgs. 2-3

Auburn E-mail Switches to Windows Live: Tigermail Live pg. 8

Nicole Emmett: A Reporter You Can Count On pg. 7

Planes On The Plains pg. 9

The Minority: Getting to Know A Male PR Student pg. 4

‘Tis The Season To Be A Tiger pgs. 10-11

Wrapsody Hope To Help Breast Cancer Float Away pgs. 6Studying On The Gulf pg. 5

Dr. David Sutton is a favorite among students in the Department of

Communication and Journalism. They swap stories of his jokes. They praise him when new students need advice on professors. Few people would believe that instead of teaching a fun, upbeat course, Sutton is teaching “Death, Dying and Communication.” While putting the summer and

fall course schedules together in 2008, Sutton realized he already taught most of the courses available at Auburn University. He wanted something new and different for his students. Sutton knew of death and dying courses taught at other universities for psychology or sociology majors and thought, why not make it a communication course? “On the first day of my first class

I thought ‘I have no idea if this is going to work,’” said Sutton. “That class was very excited though. They participated and vocal about what they did and didn’t like about the

class.” How would someone go about

finding material for a class like this? Sutton’s class has not one book, but five this semester, surprisingly. Two are textbooks he knew were used by faculty at other universities, the other three he described as a “hit or miss.” “I started out with a book called

How We Die. It wasn’t good,” he said. Through some trial and error, Sutton got it right. He feels like students find the readings interesting. Based on numbers, Sutton must

be right. Each semester “Death, Dying and Communication” is taught, he has to add students to the class because it fills up. Sutton believes it’s because students are curious about the topic of death. It is a taboo in today’s society and is not often talked about, whereas past centuries had guidebooks and death was an event all members of

the family were a part of. Sutton chose his assignments with the hope that all members of his class would be more open to the death discussion once class was complete. The first assignment given

is to write a paper on your first experience with death. According to Sutton, this is meant to be

a therapeutic process for his students. Though there’s a word limit, he doesn’t mind if they go over it because he knows it is probably the first opportunity people have been given to talk about it. His next assignments are

reviews of a movie and a children’s book with death as the main theme. Many of today’s movies have death in them, but Sutton

Death, Dying and Dr. Sutton

“On the first day of my first class I thought “I have no idea if this is going to work.

“Students Flock To “Taboo” Class

By: Janet Marie Gunnels

feels that reading about death in a book written for a child will be an enlightening experience. “It turns out there’re quite a few

[children’s] books about death,” he said. “I’ve always gotten a positive reaction from that assignment.” Sutton has students interview

a member of another generation about death and visit both historic and contemporary cemeteries and write about the differences. He came up with the idea of interviewing someone in another generation because he thought it would be a surprising learning experience. The cemetery assignment came to him one Halloween. Sutton participated in Auburn’s historic cemetery tour one year and thought it would be a good experience for his students to have. One assignment students may

find weighty is the simulation exercise. Sutton will assign five groups and one member of the

class to “die.” Each group will study a specific part of the death process from legal issues to conducting a funeral. Sutton borrowed this

assignment from a former Auburn University student. When she went to Mercer for graduate school, she took a “death class” and was given an assignment to show the class how she wanted to be buried. According to Sutton, a boy in her class put ashes symbolizing his own into a Nerf rocket and shot it into the air. Sutton enjoyed hearing the story, but wants his students to take the assignment seriously. This semester’s final

assignment is a summary of a journal article of Sutton’s choosing. It is a new assignment, but one he feels particularly tied to. The article he chose is about the Vietnam War Memorial and all the things people write on it. It is one of Sutton’s favorites and he is very interested

to see how his students feel about it when they write their

papers in November. Death is a scary subject that

people don’t talk about in today’s society. We hear about it, but Sutton feels that Americans have become “desensitized” to the idea. Teaching “Death, Dying and Communication” gives Sutton the opportunity to educate students about a taboo subject. It gives students the opportunity to indulge in their morbid curiosity while learning from a man described as “fun and entertaining” by members of this semester’s class.

Stephen Sprayberry didn’t decide to attend Auburn to major in public relations. He

had no idea how few boys would be in the major with him once he made his choice. Both decisions have proved positive though, and he’s not too concerned with the boy-to-girl ratio either. Pharmacy was Sprayberry’s

desired career when he applied to Auburn, but he hated chemistry and changed majors. Sprayberry always found ad promotion interesting and also thought working in the entertainment industry could be fun. He did some research, saw that public relations would give him the opportunity to do both and decided to “give it a shot.” “Once I realized that’s what

I wanted to do, I started taking classes and working on my application,” said Sprayberry. He began the major cores

last year and was accepted to the program in the summer 2010 semester. Sprayberry is taking

two trilogy classes this semester and Introduction to Public Relations. He was surprised to see how few boys were in there with him. “I walked in and was like,

‘Whoa, ok…only three other guys,’” he said referring to his Introduction course. “I think there’s only seven in my trilogy classes.” His Intro to PR class talked about how the major is female-dominated.

No one really understands why it’s that way, but they think it might have some-thing to do

with public relations’ “wedding plan-ner” reputation. Sprayberry said no one has ever made judgements about him and the other guys or thought they were weird because they were public relations majors. Sprayberry wants to work

for a booking agency doing entertainment public relations for

musicians and smaller actors. He’s willing to travel anywhere for work as long as he can make friends. Sprayberry feels like he’d work better on the East Coast where he has connections, though. His dad has a contact at TNT, the company that represents Alan Jackson, and Sprayberry hopes to get an internship in either their Atlanta or Nashville offices. “Most of the guys in my classes

want to do the same kind of thing,” said Sprayberry. “Either entertainment PR or sports.” Sprayberry enjoys all his classes

now. One particular aspect he enjoys about his Intro to PR class is when he learned about the public relations ethics that dictate what practitioners can and can’t do. “It gives PR people more credit

than we’re usually given. It’s not all spin like people think,” he said.

The Minority:

Getting To Know

A male PR Student

The Boys Are Back In Town

By: Janet Marie Gunnels

“I walked in and was like, ‘Whoa...only three other guys.

“

Students at Auburn University study abroad to enhance their college experience or

add something extra to their degree and resume. Marine biology majors stay in the country and participate in the Summer Field Program. Everyone majoring in marine

biology is required to do 16 hours of summer research and an internship before they can graduate. Auburn offers two location options: Dauphin Island, which is off the coast of Alabama, and Gulf Coast Research Lab through the University of Southern Mississippi. Stephanie Cox, senior in the major, likes going to the Gulf Coast Research Lab. “Most Auburn students go

to Dauphin Island,” she said. “There were five or six at Southern Mississippi this year, though.” This summer was Cox’s second

at GCRL. She took one class during the summer 2009 semester and two during summer 2010. The first

half of the day at GCRL is a classroom lecture to learn about what students would be doing in the field during the second half of the day. Cox’s classes this past summer were about sharks, so when she was in the field she collected and identified species. They also long-lined the sharks for

measurements. Cox mostly measured Bull or Black Tip Sharks that were 7-8 ft, but she found a 9 ft Hammer Shark too. She thought it was “very cool,” but also said that it is important to have a level of fear. “If you’re not

afraid, you’ll get hurt,” said Cox. “You need to respect the animal.” Her class also looked at Cow

Nose Rays. It is virtually impossible to distinguish between the natural and invasive species unless you’re looking at their genes. The classes measured them to see if the two species differed in that area. The one topic on everyone’s

minds this past summer was what the oil spill was doing to animals in the Gulf of Mexico. Cox and the members of her class were excited

to host Jeff Corwin on one of their field collections so he could film a study about the effects the oil spill had on local shark species. Though Cox never actually saw any oil, she knew that some of the islands further out in the Gulf were

affected. “We were fortunate,” Cox said.

“But you know it’s there.” Cox interned in the shark lab

this semester in addition to taking classes. When she wasn’t in class, Cox went into the Gulf of Mexico with the marine biologists to collect data. Her specific project for the lab was to check the blood perimeters in sharks. “Blood samples aren’t always

taken back to the lab immediately to be analyzed,” she said. “My job was to check samples in storage and compare them to new samples to see if there’s a difference.” Cox always wanted to work

in marine biology, but never saw a reality in it until she took classes. Learning at the Gulf Coast Research Lab opened her eyes. Cox’s goal is to work for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a government-run research facility.

Studying On The GulfBy: Janet Marie Gunnels

Marine Biology Majors Have Hands-On Experience

“If you’re not afraid you’ll get hurt. You need to respect the

[shark].

“

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Wrapsody is hosting

its 2nd Annual “Hope Floats” Campaign in conjuction. The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that nearly 200,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed among United States women in 2009, according to a website dedicated to the cause. Wrapsody created their “Hope Floats Campaign” to be a part of the fight to cure breast cancer. Vera Bradley has a foundation

for breast cancer and a one-day special in October each year. They always encourage their carriers to get involved so Merri Logan, a manager at Wrapsody, brought up the “Hope Floats” idea to owners Sarah Brown and Terri Shea last year. The 2009 campaign donated half the funds to the Vera Bradley Foundation, but this year they are donating locally because it is more tangible for the community, according to Brown. “Wrapsody is just very

passionate about helping out the community,” said Kadie Crowell, a manager at Wrapsody and event coordinator for ‘Hope Floats.’ “We’re just so excited to be able to help out because we see how

many people are affected [by breast cancer].” Throughout

the month of October, Wrapsody is asking for $2 donations toward “Hope Floats.” Wrapsody will give each donator a tag and a balloon. Donators can write “sentiments of hope” or the name of someone they know on the tag. A special step Wrapsody takes is to display the tags in their store window so the

community can see and unite with them in the cause. Wrapsody

is keeping the money

they raise local by giving it the East Alabama Medical Foundation (EAMF). EAMF has several causes for which it receives money, but Wrapsody’s donations will go towards the division of the foundation that provides free mammograms to those whose insurance won’t cover them. EAMF also uses the money donated to educate the surrounding community about breast cancer.

“They provide educational classes ... they work with women throughout their entire process of going through breast cancer,” said Crowell. Wrapsody ends the campaign

with a special event. All tags are tied to the balloons and released into the air to celebrate hope and the lives of survivors of breast cancer. This year, the balloon release is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 22, during downtown Auburn’s Friday Night Block Party. The release party is from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. and Wrapsody will release the balloons at 5 p.m. Breast cancer is the second

leading cause of cancer death in women and the ACS stated more than 40,000 women died from the disease in 2009. Wrapsody’s Hope Floats Campaign is an active community effort to lower the number.

Wrapsody Hopes to

Help Breast Cancer Float Away

“Wrapsody is just very passionate about helping out

the community.

“

Things are different at Auburn University, and it’s not just the #1 status of the football

team. The Office of Information Technology (OIT) is in the process of switching all students and faculty to a new email system called Tigermail Live. The switch has caused many

complaints among students that miss the old email system but Brian Anderson, manager of user services, thinks that there are more benefits to the new system. “Tigermail Live is a part of

MicrosoftLive@edu so users get all the benefits that Windows Live offers,” said Anderson.

These benefits include a Skydrive, which allows users to share information across the system without saving to a USB or the student H drive. Users can create spreadsheets and other documents that would normally need a Microsoft Office program

while on Tigermail Live, and then open them up on other computers, simply by saving online. The OIT decided to make the

switch two summers ago. Auburn University couldn’t afford to provide what students had come to expect from their email accounts and needed to find something different. “We have to compete with

providers like GMail,” said Anderson. “But the old system could only hold 100MB worth of memory and was slow when people tried to use it on their mobile phones.” Now students have access

to 25GB of storage. Another bonus is that graduating seniors can keep their Auburn email accounts after they graduate, an option not available before. Some students still aren’t sure, though.

“I probably wouldn’t keep [Tigermail Live] after graduating just because I feel like it’s more professional to have a GMail or Hotmail account than to be applying for jobs still using my college email,” said John Griffin, a senior graduating this December.

Griffin can see the advantages of Tigermail Live. He likes that it looks like Outlook, a program he’s used to, and that all your emails are displayed with part of the message so he can quickly delete the junk.

Everyone has to change by February 1, 2011, whether they like the idea of it or not. The first people to have Tigermail Live were most of this year’s incoming freshmen. Then, the OIT started switching seniors that were about to graduate so they could make sure they’d have the account after they finish school. Juniors and sophomores are the next to switch, and the faculty will follow last. When people switch, they have two weeks to make sure all their contacts and information are present before the old account is deleted. If people wait to the last minute though, they will lose all of their information because the OIT would have too many to switch at once to worry about it. “We’ll all be there anyway, so

we encourage everyone to switch or they’ll lose everything,” said Anderson.

Auburn Email Switches

to Tigermail Live: Windows LiveBy: Janet Marie Gunnels

Students Aren’t Excited About The Change

“I feel like it’s more professional to have a GMail or

Hotmail account.

“

All majors in the department of communication and journalism require students

to intern one semester before graduating. Nicole Emmett scored an internship with Atlanta’s number one local news station, Channel 2 Action News. Journalism students doing

their internships have to work a certain amount of hours each week to receive the three credit hours necessary to get a diploma. Once the internship is obtained, students create a work contract with their employers, sign it then send the contract to Ed Williams, the internship coordinator of that department. Throughout the

internship, students keep logs of what they do each day. They turn in journals that include the daily logs and clips of anything they write to Williams every two weeks. At the end of the semester, interns write a final essay about their experience and how prepared they felt for the working world. Emmett’s obligations at

Channel 2 range from working at the assignment desk to running scripts for the noon news. While at the assignment desk, calls come in

from people wanting to share something newsworthy they witnessed or reporters call to check in. “We get lots

of crime stories like shootings and burglaries,” said Emmett. “Interns aren’t allowed to be at the more graphic crime scenes though.” When she’s not in the office

keeping things organized, Emmett goes out to do “stand-ups,” which

is what a reporter says to the camera when they’re on-scene. According to her, the stand-up involves the story’s introduction, the story, a bridge that links everything and then the outro when reporters send the story back to the newsroom. “There’s a lot of

jargon. I’m learning a whole new vocabulary,” said Emmett. Emmett is also learning how

to speak on camera. She’s always wanted to be a reporter because they write all of their material and are active in the field. They might spend eight hours for a segment that takes up one minute on the air.

“Reporters even write what the anchor says,” said Emmett. “It’s called an ‘anchor toss.’” She never realized how

intimidating it could be to talk on camera, though, and feels that is one area that the program at Auburn could improve. Students in the RTVF major have broadcasting classes, but there aren’t any available to journalism students interested in the broadcast journalism field. “Auburn definitely prepared

me to do well reporting and how to act ethically as a journalist, but not necessarily for talking live about stories,” said Emmett. Working in Atlanta is one of the

best experiences Emmett has ever had. Every day, she’s happy to go into work. “I hope I get the job I want so I

can do this the rest of my life,” she said.

Nicole Emmett:

A Reporter You Can Count On

By: Janet Marie Gunnels

Internship Provides Real-World Experience

“Auburn definitely prepared

me to...act ethically as a journalist.

“

Students at Auburn University know most of the businesses in the area. They go places

to eat, shop and socialize. One business students may not be aware of is the Auburn Opelika Robert G. Pitts Airport, but it’s an important one. “We support the community

and university,” said Bill Hutto, director of the airport and of Auburn University Aviation. “People want to do business with us because of what the airport offers.” There are three departments

within the Auburn Opelika Robert G. Pitts Airport. The air transportation department provides flights for various people connected to the university and is run by Ron Pilz. The aviation department, headed by Hutto, keeps things running smoothly and safely. The flight school for aviation education is the largest of the three departments. Though Auburn University owns and operates the airport, it is a “public use facility that serves the community,” according to the airport’s website. “It’s unusual for a university

to own an airport, and that is a distinction we have,” Dale Watson, director of aviation education, said. The flight school

wasestablished in 1939, became an academic program at Auburn University in 1942 and is the second oldest university flight program in the country. The Wright brothers came through Auburn

in 1907 to meet with staff in the aerospace engineering program to discuss new plane technology. Those associated with the university airport are proud of its history and prestige. The aviation education

program was originally a part of aerospace engineering but joined the College of Business in 1992. The three programs offered under aviation education are supply chain management, aviation Management, and flight management. The first two don’t have flight classes as part of their curriculum, but the latter trains its students to become professional

pilots. There are more than 100

students currently enrolled in the professional flight program. They leave Auburn University with the right certifications but need more flight experience before they being

their careers, according to Watson. All students are required to have a certain amount of classroom hours to learn what they will practice in their flight labs. “We have other students

besides people in the aviation program,” said Watson. “We encourage anyone interested to take the courses.” Aviation is always changing,

which Watson believes is what makes the career so exciting. He hopes that more students will show interest in pilot training and that awareness of the airport will spread around Alabama and neighboring states.

“It is unusual for a university to own an airport, and that is a

distinction we have.

“

Planes on the PlainsBy: Janet Marie Gunnels

Auburn Students Learn To Fly

Everyone in the Auburn family knows that tradition is of great importance to its members.

This value isn’t just when it comes to school spirit. It also extends to our non-Auburn related lives, or that’s the case with me at least. Auburn is always involved, though.Thanksgiving in particular

is a time when traditions are upheld. My family has quite a few traditions that we continue each Thanksgiving. We all stand together and hold hands before we eat to bless our food. Everyone draws a name for the secret Santa also. The cousins draw from each other’s names and the adults do the same.

It’s a running family joke that we call it a secret Santa, though. We all find out who has our name, that way we can make sure we get what we want.Our Thanksgiving dinners used

to be held on the white, sandy beaches of Destin, Fla. Dad would deep-fry two turkeys, my aunt would make the casseroles and Mom and I were in charge of desserts. The responsibilities are still the same, but the location of Thanksgiving dinner has moved closer to home on Lake Harding.Why the move you ask? Only for

the most important game of the year: The Iron Bowl.

Auburn University and the University of Alabama signed a three-year agreement with CBS to play on the Friday after Thanksgiving rather than Saturday. Some would be angry because they couldn’t make the game. Not my family. All it took was a slight bend in plans to ensure that we could all continue to attend the biggest game of the season.Though my family didn’t actually

go to Tuscaloosa, they didn’t have tickets, they knew I had one and would want to go. Until the game moves back to Saturday, we’re not moving Thanksgiving dinner back to Destin. Sometimes this makes

By: Janet Marie Gunnels

‘Tis The Season To Be A TigerA New Holiday Tradition

me sad because the beach is so beautiful at that time of year, but I’m happy to be a short drive away from the game. It allows me to spend as much time as I can with my family.Making the decision to move

our holiday celebration closer to Alabama got me thinking: would other families be willing to do this? Silly question. This is Auburn University and we are all dedicated to the family.My roommate lives in

Birmingham, so she was lucky this year to be close to Tuscaloosa.“It wouldn’t have mattered,” said

Mallory Whiten. “I would have

driven days to watch the Tigers win.”

Her family had a big dinner as well, all gathering in one place to enjoy it together. When dinner was over, she took a quick nap, packed up her bags and got on the road. She is happy to live close to both Tuscaloosa and Auburn so no matter where the game is, she’s

able to go.

“Holidays are important and I would never miss an opportunity to spend them with my family, but fellow Auburn fans are family too and I need to be there for them,” said Whiten.I feel the same way. Football is a

part of all my family’s fall holiday festivities, and it’s even better when it’s Auburn football. Thanksgiving just wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t followed by the Iron Bowl.

“Fellow Auburn fans are family too...

“

Janet Marie Gunnels835 W. Glenn Ave, Apt H

Auburn, AL 36832(678) 6325647

www.janetmariegunnels.com

This newsletter proves my knowledge of InDesign. I created it as part of my final project for Robert French’s Style & Design in Public Relations Messages class. The articles in Newsletter were written

for The Corner News, the Auburn Reporter, Auburn Family and WarEagle.me. The latter 2 are social media sites for Auburn University and Auburn public relations majors respectively, The Auburn Reporter is an online publication for the department of communication and journalism and The Corner News is a local entertainment newspaper.