SOJeUPDATe

Dear SOJ Alumni and Friends,

Greetings from the frozen tundra, formerly known as “Morgantown.” Despite the long winter, our students, faculty and alumni continue to remain active, engaging in meaningful projects and reconnecting with their alma mater. We look forward to sharing our recent success stories with you in this month’s SOJ eUpdate.

Sincerely,

Maryanne Reed
Dean
WVU P.I. Reed School of Journalism

When a powerful earthquake devastated the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, NBC News cameraman Andrew Scritchfield (BSJ, 1998) boarded the USS Bataan in Morehead City, N.C., and sailed to Haiti with 2,000 marines to document U.S. military relief efforts there. “Seeing people who had eaten very little in a week or two was heartbreaking. But to see the spirit of the [Haitian] people when we came in [with aid], they were all smiles,” said Scritchfield. Read the Q&A and watch his videos.

SOJ student Frank (Chip) Fontanazza got a jump on his broadcast career with his live debut on ESPN. Fontanazza participated in the ESPN live telecast of the Louisville at WVU mens’ basketball game on Saturday, January 30, 2010. As part of ESPN’s Campus Connection Week, Fontanazza co-hosted a short segment in the opening sequence with ESPN personalities Mike Patrick and Doris Burke. Read the full press release and watch Fontanazza’s ESPN debut on YouTube.com.

Earlier this month, student members of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) teamed up with Morgantown’s Underground Printing to produce t-shirts for the WVU versus Villanova basketball game. Proceeds from the sale of the shirts will be donated to relief efforts in Haiti. Shirts for the fundraiser were purchased using a grant that was awarded to PRSSA for outstanding community service during the last school year. The club will present proceeds to the local American Red Cross. “We chose the Red Cross because they’re kind of the big (charity) for distributing funds. So rather than giving to just one organization, they will help out a lot of different organizations,” said Justin Hough, PRSSA president.

John Temple’s book, “The Last Lawyer: The Fight to Save Death Row Inmates,” continue to gain national exposure. Temple, an associate professor and associate dean at the Sc hool of Journalism, was interviewed when the C-SPAN bus visited campus in October. During the interview, Temple discussed the book’s main characters and the challenges he faced while writing it. The interview aired on C-SPAN earlier this month. Watch the interview on C-SPAN’s website .

SOJ alumni from the Atlanta, Ga., area are staying connected to their Mountaineer family. Graduates gathered at Dantanna’s in downtown Atlanta on Feb. 18 for a School of Journalism alumni reception. Members of the WVU Peach State Alumni Chapter were also invited. Dean Maryanne Reed and Director of Development Luella Gunter hosted the gathering.