August 8, 2003 |
VOL. 19, NO. 36 |
| Calendar |
| Exhibits |
| FYItems |
| Job Ops |
| People at LSU |
A Pulitzer Prize winner was the first person to receive a doctoral degree from LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication. Craig Flournoy, a Shreveport native and recipient of more than 50 state and national journalism awards, received his doctorate on Thursday, Aug. 7, at LSU’s summer commencement exercises. Flournoy previously worked as an investigative reporter for the Dallas Morning News for 22 years, where he won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 1986 – the first Pulitzer Prize ever awarded to that newspaper.
The Manship School launched its doctoral program in the fall of 2000 and Flournoy was a member of the initial class. The Manship School’s program focuses on media and politics – the first of its kind in the country – and it is designed to produce graduates who excel in the research, teaching and practice of public affairs communication.
“Craig is precisely the kind of person that our program was created for,” said John Maxwell Hamilton, dean of the Manship School. “He’s an accomplished journalist, and we believe he now has the tools to be an equally accomplished journalism educator. He will be the first of many doctoral graduates who are equipped to conduct scholarly research and to master real-world public affairs problems.”
Flournoy’s dissertation examined media coverage of two seminal events in the civil rights movement: the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 and the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955-56. He compared coverage by three publications aimed primarily at white audiences – Life, Look and the New York Times – with two aimed primarily at black audiences – the Birmingham World and Jet.
Flournoy’s study showed that, during the first half of the 20th century, mainstream news organizations largely ignored black people or presented them as criminals. However, this changed during the Till murder case and the bus boycott. The dissertation found that, in reporting these events, Life, Look and the New York Times adopted new frames by first presenting blacks as the innocent victims of deadly racial hatred and, later, as nonviolent protesters.
Flournoy’s investigation also found that the black-oriented publications produced the most accomplished journalistic coverage of the Till case and the bus boycott by providing a greater range of sources, broader context, more depth and a clear statement of the central problem. The finding challenges the widely held opinion that the New York Times provides the best journalistic source of information on key historical events.
Flournoy is now an assistant professor of journalism at Southern Methodist
University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University
of New Orleans in 1975 and a master’s degree in history from SMU in 1986.
He won the 1986 Pulitzer with fellow reporter George Rodrigue for an investigation
into subsidized housing in East Texas, which uncovered patterns of racial discrimination
and segregation in public housing across the United States and led to significant
reforms. In 1997, he was one of three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for beat
reporting.
—Rob Anderson
Mary Evelyn Baszile has been appointed interim vice provost for equity and diversity at LSU by Risa Palm, the university’s provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. Baszile replaces Gregory J. Vincent, who took a position at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center on July 1.
Baszile has worked at LSU for more than 25 years and has held several positions, including counselor in the University College and assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs. Earlier this year, she was appointed to serve in the chancellor’s office as assistant vice chancellor for equity initiatives. She received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and science from Southern University in 1962 and earned a master’s in counseling education from Southern in 1972.
Baszile is a Louisiana licensed professional counselor and has a national counselor certification. She is a member of the Louisiana Counselors Association, the Louisiana Personnel and Guidance Association and the American Personnel and Guidance Association.
“I am especially grateful that Ms. Baszile was willing to step into this very important role,” said Palm. “She is particularly knowledgeable about LSU and the entire Louisiana community, and will be a very effective leader for equity and campus diversity.”
In her new position, Baszile will oversee the areas of the Office of Multicultural
Affairs, the Office of International Programs, the Cox Communications Academic
Center for Student Athletes and the Women’s Center. She will also work
closely with the provost and executive vice chancellor, as well as deans, department
heads and directors on diversity issues and response to faculty and employee
concerns.
At one time, a popular notion existed that, once married, women were the property of their husbands. This idea was so popular in fact that, until recently, 33 states still had laws on the books that made it legal for husbands to rape their wives. Archaic and long forgotten though they were, the laws still remained intact.
But on June 18, after months of lobbying by a group of 17 students from the LSU School of Social Work, Gov. Mike Foster signed off on Senate Bill 756, which amended Bill R.S. 14:43(A) and the introductory paragraph of R.S. 14:43.1(A), and removed the spousal exemptions from the Simple Rape and Sexual Battery Laws.
Previously, under 14:43(A), the law stated that “simple rape is ... deemed to be without the lawful consent of a victim who is not the spouse of the offender ...” In essence, by virtue of other existing state laws, sexual abuse by one’s spouse was grounds for a divorce, but not for prosecution.
Enter graduate students Erika Keller and Tina Raab. Both came across the law while working on a project for their “History of Social Welfare and Policies” class. The assignment called for students to pick a law in Louisiana and then show how it affects people.
At the time, Keller was conducting her internship at a women’s shelter and decided to look into the state’s rape law. What she found was a surprising remnant from earlier administrations.
Both Keller and Raab put together their findings in a 20-page report, and with the help of their classmates, began lobbying members of the legislature for support in amending the bill. After approaching a couple of senators, the group enlisted the help of Sen. Fred Hoyt of Lafayette, who authored the bill. In the meantime, Keller said the group of students tried to raise awareness by speaking to classes on campus, and lobbying outside of the Capitol every day for nearly three months.
Their efforts finally paid off when the bill passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate.
The group’s instructor, Jill Murray, encouraged them to enter their work into the national “Influencing State Policy” contest. The group did and consequently shared first place with Tulane.
Their next challenge is to raise $5,000 to send 11 of the group’s members
to Charleston, S.C., where they will be recognized for their efforts on Aug.
25. For those interested, donations can be made by check to LSU Foundation #160-05-F002,
and forwarded to Jill Murray c/o LSU School of Social Work, Baton Rouge, LA,
70803.
At 93.4, the Louisiana consumer confidence index remained virtually unchanged from June, according to figures released late last month by the Division of Economic Development and Forecasting in LSU’s E.J. Ourso College of Business Administration.
A consumer confidence survey conducted by the division revealed that low interest rates led a near record 64.5 percent of Louisiana consumers to say that now is a good time for a major household purchase – the highest level observed since Sept. 11, 2000.
However, this news was offset by less optimism about the future prospects for individuals and the nation, said M. “Dek” Terrell, director of the division and Freeport-McMoran Endowed Chair of Economics in the Ourso College. For example, 39.5 percent of Louisiana households now expect their family to be better off financially in a year, down from 49.6 percent in May. The proportion expecting to be worse off in a year rose from 9.8 percent in May to 10.4 percent in July, while those consumers expecting their financial position to be the same climbed from 35.3 percent to 44.2 percent. Louisiana’s index continues to exceed both the national and southern indices, which also moved very little in July, according to the University of Michigan’s preliminary figures.
From January 2000 to June of this year, the consumer confidence survey and index was produced through a cooperative effort of LSU and the Louisiana Department of Labor. As of July, LSU will conduct the survey, complete the analysis and release the data to the public.
For more information, contact Terrell at 225-578-3785.
The Orlando Magic signed one of the most sought-after free agents of the offseason, in forward Juwan Howard. Howard will join All-Star Tracy McGrady in Baton Rouge when the Magic take on the New Orleans Hornets, led by their tandem of Baron Davis and Jamal Mashburn, at LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Wednesday, Oct. 8.
This will be the first-ever NBA preseason game in Baton Rouge.
Howard led the Denver Nuggets in scoring last year, averaging 18.4 points per game.
“We are thrilled to bring the NBA to Baton Rouge and the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. We have two outstanding teams playing, with All-Star players and coaches, as well as two of the best players the NBA has to offer, in Jamal Mashburn and Tracy McGrady,” said David Gardiner, the game’s organizer and president of Blue Ridge Sports & Entertainment, Inc.
Tickets are on sale now, and are available at the PMAC Box Office, all Ticketmaster locations or by phone at 225-761-8400. LSU students who present a valid ID to the PMAC Box Office will receive a $25 ticket for only $10.
Tickets start at $15.50 with a limited number of VIP seats available.
Using sport in pursuing racial equality will be the topic discussed by an internationally recognized human rights activist as part of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Lectureship Series.
Richard Lapchick, endowed chair of the DeVos Sport Business Management Program at the University of Central Florida, will speak at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 18, in the Bo Campbell Auditorium in the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student Athletes.
His lecture is titled “Sport as a Bridge Across the Racial Divide.”
The DeVos Sport Business Management Program at UCF focuses on the business skills necessary for graduates to conduct a successful career in the rapidly changing and dynamic sports industry. The program utilizes a core curriculum based on a foundation from the UCF College of Business Administration and then supplements that baseline with additional sports-industry learning.
Lapchick brings his internationally recognized expertise in the field of sport and social issues to the program and also influences the primary business curriculum used in the program.
With a a background as a human rights activist, pioneer for racial equality
and scholar and author, Lapchick also serves on the Diversity and Inclusiveness
Council at UCF.
Photo Gallery |
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| Recently students from the Summer Undergraduate Research Forum presented their research during a poster session. Of the posters that were presented many featured research on cancer drugs, potential Alzheimer’s disease treatments, the use of sesame oil as a repellant for Formorsan termites and the effects of mercury contamination on fish in Monroe’s Black Bayou Lake. |
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| Recently Louisiana high school students entered the LSU gates for Boys and Girls State. |
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