our mission statement: contact the department...the newest addition to the faculty of the...

The Communications Media Department 121 Stouffer Hall

1175 Maple Street Indiana, PA 15705-1058

Phone: (724) 357 2492

Fax: (724) 357 5503

http://www.coe.iup.edu/cm

Contact the department

FOR THE ALUMNI OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA’S DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA

Inside this edition: ♦ Faculty Spotlight Dr. Mark Piwinsky ♦ COMM 249 Basic Audio ♦ Featured Alumni Laura Durant ♦ Alumni Connections

Our Mission Statement: As a professional and theoretical emphasis area of higher learning, the Department of Communications Media of IUP is committed to the creation, preservation, expansion and transmission of knowledge. The Department has the responsibility to include, within its concern, the needs of the profession as a whole and the society at large as its resources allow. In meeting these responsibilities, the department is committed to preparing students for com-munications professions. In doing so, it offers quality undergraduate pro-grams in which students learn to design, produce and evaluate media messages.

FALL 2007

The newest addition to the faculty

of the Communications Media Depart-

ment is Dr. Mark Piwinsky. Dr. Piwinsky

has worked in the Provost’s office at IUP

since 1996. Mark says that he is excited

about transferring to the Communication

Media Department and having the oppor-

tunity to work with the students. He also

enjoys working with his new co-workers

within the Comm Media Department.

Dr. Piwinsky grew up with his

younger brother not too far from IUP, in a

little town called Slickville, Pennsylvania.

Mark’s parents worked at the local Post

Office.

Dr. Piwinsky earned his Bache-

lor’s degree at St. Vincent College in Po-

litical Science.

Later, he furthered his studies at Ohio

State University where he received both

Masters and Doctorate degrees in political

science.

Dr. Piwinsky also began his career

at Ohio State University where he con-

ducted research, and did planning and

analysis. In 1996, he was hired as Asso-

ciate-Provost for Academic Administration

at IUP. In 1999 he was promoted to Vice-

Provost for Admissions and Technology

where he remained until he transferred to

the Communications Media Department.

Dr. Piwinsky sees many similarities

between political science and communica-

tions media. Political science conducts in-

depth-research on which mediums work

well for political campaigning.

In his free time Dr. Piwinsky likes

to experiment with his audio equipment

and enjoys playing the guitar. We asked

him “what is his favorite song to play on

the guitar?” He told us with excitement,

“Ashoken Farewell.” However, Mark said

“you can’t go wrong with playing acoustic

rock songs from the 60s and 70s.”

Currently Dr. Piwinsky is in his first

semester teaching Basic Audio. He is en-

joying his new position he loves working

with the students the fact that he gets to

teach them one of his favorite hobbies.

Dr. Mark Piwinsky

The main objective for the basic

audio class is to learn to record and mix

different kinds of music and sounds. The

class instructs students to use software

called Cubase. This innovative software

allows students to cut music, change the

sound of the original piece, and blend

different songs together. Dr. Piwinsky

also teaches his students the importance

of obeying the copyright laws, and what

the copyright laws permit.

This is a wonderful opportunity to

gain hands-on experience with audio

equipment. All of the students will be

taught how to use a variety of audio

equipment within the classroom. Stu-

dents learn how to set up microphones,

choose the best microphone for the pro-

ject, and the various ways to record

sound.

The class is divided into four

group projects. Each one tests the stu-

dents on their new found skills and how

well they can incorporate the new infor-

mation into their projects.

Dr. Piwinsky encourages the stu-

dents to be creative when working on

their projects, and he really enjoys re-

viewing and grading their projects.

Throughout the course, students will learn

about the history of audio recording and

the advances in technology that have

made audio recording an art form.

Currently the students are working

in teams, where they record musicians and

alter the separate tracks of music in order

to hear ultimate results. These alterations

include removing the sound of a musician

taking in deep breaths and changing the

volume of certain instruments so that they

all blend well together.

Mark says, “While the audio field is

moving steadily forward towards digital,

there is still a significant analog compo-

nent. In this course, we try to provide stu-

dents with the basic skills needed to func-

tion in both analog and digital realms.”

Comm 249: Basic Audio

Laura Durant Durant Communications, LLC 602-956-6183 www.lauradurant.com

Laura graduated from the Indiana Uni-versity of Pennsylvania in1983 and has been a friendly Alumni ever since. She has faithfully kept in touch with her faculty friends. Laura obtained her Bachelors Degree in Communications Media with a focus on Broadcasting. Even though the Comm Media Deptartment has changed quite a bit since Laura has graduated, the skills that she gained are still proving to be useful in her career. Laura’s extensive resume includes film, voice-over work, and press publicity/photography along with nearly two dec-ades of stage acting. She is represented by the Ford Robert Black Agency with a long list of film, broadcast and voice over credits.

Recent film credits include The Governor (an official selection in the 2007 Phoenix Film Festival), Netherbeast Incorporated, starring Darrell Hammond, Steve Burns, Dave Foley, Jason Mewes, Judd Nelson, Amy Davidson and film legend Robert Wagner, and the award-winning Little Victim, with co-stars Robert Wagner, Lori Singer and Brian Ronalds. She is an Emmy-nominated co-host of the IFP/Phx television show SCREEN WARS on KAZ-TV. Laura is the driving force behind Durant Communications, providing promotional support to actors and producers in Phoe-nix, AZ since 1997 but is probably best known to thousands of cybercitizens as "DurantCom". Her website, www.durantcom.com, is the most widely used actor resource in metro Phoenix and is listed Acting Is Everything: An Ac-tor's Guide for a Successful Career in Los Angeles. The DurantCom site posts local audition notices as well as distribut-ing them to an ever-growing listserve. Some of the direct services she offers to actors are headshot photography and the popular actor marketing consultation known as "The Actors Toolbox".

Laura Durant Durant Communications, LLC 602-956-6183 www.lauradurant.com

Q: Is there any advice that you would like to give to the undergrads? ~ “Keep up with the new technology

and know how to use it before everyone else.”

~ “There is no job guarantee with a

diploma. You can become almost casual with

what happens, you can’t let that happen.”

Laura has worked in Corporate Commu-

nications for 15years. She told me, “You always

have to be ready for the next phase in your life.

You may have what you want for now, but there

is always some project that should be moving

forward. You constantly have to be thinking of

your next job.”

During my interview with her, Laura

suggested students take a few business classes

as electives and that they would be extremely

helpful once you get out in the job market.

Miss Durant also recommended that

undergrads need to develop a relationship

with at least one professor. “They can be so

helpful in guiding you in the right directions

throughout life.” Laura also stressed that eve-

ryone should have a basic understanding of

how to build a website. This skill can be used

to promote your-self to the world. She said

that “The more your name is on the web the

more legitimate you start to become.”

Laura Gives Advice

George Konetes Graduate Assistant Communications Media Department Indiana University of Pennsylvania George is currently enrolled in the Masters of Adult Education and Communications Technol-ogy program here at IUP. As a Graduate Assis-tant he manages the Portfolio Assistance Cen-ter in Davis Hall and does a lot of technology work and support for the Adult and Community Education office. After doing a lot of close work with professors George plans on using his AECT degree as a springboard to pursue a Doctorate in Communications. When reflecting on his education George said, “Communications Media has provided me with hard skills that are second to none, but even more importantly the faculty have instilled in me a sense of confidence, professionalism, excel-lence and vision. These things have inspired and motivated me to remain at IUP for my graduate education so that I can absorb as

Aaron P. Graham Account Executive WPCW/KDKA-TV * One Gateway Center * Pittsburgh, PA 15222 Office: 412-575-2350 * Fax: 412-575-2500 * Email: [email protected] While at IUP, Aaron majored in Communications Media and took some marketing courses to un-derstand business and advertising. He is cur-rently working as an Account Executive for KDKA/WPCW-TV Pittsburgh. Aaron has been there for three years now and has lead new business transactions designating himself as a creative services and diversity specialist. Aaron is married with two young healthy boys and lives east of Pittsburgh. A code that he has always gone by is “being true”...true to himself, his career and his family. “I have always kept my options open, stayed persistent and had an entrepreneur spirit... to take risk.” He would sug-gest that those coming up in Comm Media do the same. He left us with this last quote “Young minds are the diamond in the rough that compa-nies are searching for so everyday don't sell your self short and stay driven,” says Aaron.

Chad Sherman Graduate Assistant Communications Media Department Indiana University of Pennsylvania Chad is currently going for his Masters in Adult Educations and Communications Technology at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Chad Sherman is the graduate assistant to Dr. Jim Lenze. Together, they are studying the effects of 3D environments on distance education. Their study focuses on the program Second Life. The goal is to offer college courses in a unique way that will maintain the student's in-terest. He plans to continue his education by obtaining a Doctorate; however he is still unde-cided which school he will be choosing. I am sure wherever Chad goes he will do just fine.

Got Alumni?

Jennifer Black General Assignment Reporter Fox 8 and ABC 23 Recent graduates are sure to remember the name “Jenny B”. Jenny was a very active student as she was Station Manager, on many WIUP-TV shows, in the National Broadcasting Society, and a proud member of IUP dance team, Dance Ex-plosion. She knew right away that she was going to be a Communications Media student, but didn’t get involved in the TV station until her junior year. Currently Jenny is a News Reporter for Fox 8 and ABC 23 in Johnstown. Jenny is working the late shift from 3pm to midnight and doesn’t have much free time in her busy schedule. “Knowing how to use your professors for help and to get advice on how to network and get resources really can help your success,” said Jenny. She expressed that her favorite IUP memory was working with the different TV shows, News center 20 and In a Nutshell.

Greetings to all the Alumni from

the COMM Media Department. Dr.

Richard Lamberski has started inter-

viewing Alumni who return to IUP on a

regular basis; the series is called

“COMM Alumni Perspectives”. He is

particularly looking for those alumni

have graduated at least 10 years ago

(previous to 1997). The purpose of

these Alumni interviews, which are

about 20-45 minutes in length, is to fea-

ture COMM Media graduates and what

they are doing in their professional field.

So far, 6 Alumni have come to IUP in the

last year to be interviewed.

Coming to Campus?

These include: Will Chapman, Lori

Ratay Patten, Bert Graul, Matt Zinicola,

Melinda Hughes-Wert, and Carl

Flamm. If you are planning to return to

IUP in the next 1-2 years, contact Dr.

Lamberski to see if we can arrange a

possible television interview to be

broadcast on WIUP-TV. His email is

[email protected].

The Communications Media Department 121 Stouffer Hall

1175 Maple Street Indiana, PA 15705-1087

Phone: (724) 357 2492

Fax: (724) 357 5503

http://www.coe.iup.edu/cm

Contact the department

This edition of “the LINK” was designed and edited by Brian D. Scarpiniti, graduate student in the Adult Education in Communications Technology program. Nicole Novak was our writer for this edi-tion of “the LINK.” Nicole is graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Communications Media this De-cember 2007. The Pictures of the IUP buildings were taken by the official IUP photographer Keith Boyer. For information on the AECT program, please visit:

http://www.coe.iup.edu/aect/

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