A Day in the Life of a VCU Student

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What's in a Name?

As Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Mass Communications undergoes an entire curriculum revamp, both creative and strategic advertising students will be met with surprise when they no longer see the familiar titles of their required courses listed on their schedules. Classes that were once called “Art Direction” and “Media Graphics” will now be known as “Completeness” and “Technical Prowess.” Since the description of the courses will see just minor adjustments, if any at all, the only noticeable difference to the students will be the course names documented on their transcript.


The new course names are the brainchild of VCU’s Mass Communications department, and has stemmed from the belief of department heads that the university should, and needs to be able to keep pace with the rapidly changing advertising industry. VCU believes that the change is needed not only to comply with the ad industry’s growth of new technologies, new techniques and new mediums, but also to prevent a decline in advertising education.


Newly instated department objectives can also be deemed responsible for the replacement of the advertising course titles. The Advertising Department is now dedicated to offering a course load that personifies the essence advertising and will better prepare students for success in the ad industry after graduation. VCU Professor Bridget Camden would like to see the change emphasize the importance of a well-rounded advertising curriculum and distinguishes the new course names as being a step in the right direction. “We are trying to focus more on broadening the student’s overall understanding of the advertising industry. With the new brandcenter, we are trying to make the undergraduate program cohesive with the graduate,” Camden says. Camden, who will be teaching classes next semester such as Imagination and Invention, (which were once known as Advertising Art Direction and Advertising Portfolio Development respectively), believes that the new inventive names will also contribute to VCU’s aspiration of solidifying a place as a top advertising school. “Our graduate program is one of the best in the country and the world; and now we are striving to give our undergraduate program the same accolades.” Camden says.


For the university, the new names will provide the School of Mass Communications with the ability to supply integration of both undergraduate and graduate curriculums. However, for some students the new names just provide an obscure look into their future classes. While the conversion of the course names won’t officially be effective until the beginning of the 2008-2009 academic year, current advertising students have already begun vocalizing their opinions about it. Strategic advertising student, Benjamin Turner, 22, believes the names have been implemented solely so VCU can stand out among other advertising programs. “I think the department wanted to sound different, and wanted a way to lure in prospective students. They wanted to be like ‘Oh look, we offer classes like “empathy” and “judgment” you can’t get that anywhere else.’ They want to sound unique, but they really sound ridiculous. I don’t want to put that I took a class called ‘Truth and Honor,’ or ‘Imagination’ on my resume, it just sounds childish.” Creative Advertising student, Elizabeth Marshall, 21, agrees with Turner and believes the different names will not be beneficial to the advertising department, and will just discredit the validity of the class. “I think the new names are a load of crap. I think that they just make everything unnecessarily confusing. The names are not straightforward, and you don’t really get a good sense of what the class has to offer. I don’t know what ‘Completeness’ is, but I do know what ‘Campaigns’ is.”



Whereas students like Turner and Marshall look at their newly titled courses with disdain, others seem particularly indifferent to the change. Creative Advertising student Katherine Wright, 20, was initially surprised to see that her classes had different names, but later discovered that it wasn’t something she would worry about. “At first I was like whoa, what is this nonsense? But after I looked up the classes in the course description, I realized it wasn’t really any different then it is now. I don’t think changing the name of a class is that big of a deal, you still learn the same things you would if the class was called something else,” says Wright.



Despite the negative feedback from several students, the Advertising Department believes that changing the names of the courses will be an advantageous way to stay on top of the evolving ad industry, and cites that as another one of the school’s primary purposes for replacing the course names. The intention of the Mass Comm Department putting forth the course modifications is not to confuse or anger its students, but as an attempt to stay competitive among other universities and as a way to force the ad students to familiarize themselves with adjusting to new methods and techniques of business as they would in an ad agency.


Although the entire Mass Comm Department has undergone several curriculum changes, including the creation and implementation of brand new courses, and a set of strict and rigorous graduation requirements for each of the three sequences, no concentration has seen more change than VCU’s Advertising Department. While other concentrations have employed unique changes of their own, advertising has become the first concentration in the School of Mass Communications to begin completely restructuring its curriculum. The renaming of the courses and the addition of new courses are just some of the initiatives the Advertising Department has made in order to remain consistent with VCU’s current objective plan. According to VCU’s Mass Communications Department, it’s the school’s intention to revamp the entire Mass Comm. Department in order to maintain a modern program of study, and will only be a matter of time before the Journalism and Public Relations concentrations begin to go through a massive reconstruction of their own.




The ’08 fall semester will mark the beginning of the newly instituted curriculum for the Mass Comm Department. The department heads feel as though the changes will help the university acclimate its students to the changing world, and to ensure the students get the most up to date information so that they are equipped with the knowledge they need to succeed in the post graduation world.
For VCU’s Mass Comm. Department, especially advertising, the objective isn’t to make sure the school doesn’t fall behind; it’s to make sure they’re one step ahead.


SOURCES:
Benjamin Turner, Strategic Advertising, 22- turnerbw@vcu.edu
Elizabeth Marshall, Creative Advertising, 21- marshallec@vcu.edu
Katherine Wright, Creative Advertising, 20- wrightkt@vcu.edu
Bridget Camden, Advertising Professor- bkcamden@vcu.edu

Are We Really Safe?

Are We Really Safe?


Days after the Virginia Tech tragedy, officials at college campuses around the country asked themselves: “Are we really safe?” In reality, no reasonable amount of security can prevent an incident such as the Virginia Tech massacre to occur elsewhere. At the same time, campuses must ask themselves how they can install security measures around their university without infringing on the privacy of their students.




Virginia Commonwealth University is among several colleges to implement a campus-wide text message alert system that notifies students, faculty and staff of on campus emergencies. VCU has also invested thousands of dollars in an emergency siren that makes people aware that there is a situation on campus and to seek refuge. Although these tools are designed to make the campus a little safer, and to spread knowledge of an incident quicker in order to prevent further disaster, it does not prevent a disaster from happening in the first place. The siren and the texts, merely alerts students of an incident that has already happened, or is happening. The real problem is trying to figure out what they can do to avert a crisis in the first place?



Should schools resort to dead bolting doors? Should schools have restricted access to buildings? Although these ideas may stop unwanted intruders from entering buildings, what is stopping a registered student from walking into his own classroom with a gun? Anyone can conceal a weapon and use it at their will. Will the installation of metal detectors be of benefit? Or will students protest their second amendment rights? Where do you draw the line between safety and civil rights? Some students believe that in order so ensure safety, you have to be willing to sacrifice some of your liberties. Brian Atkinson, a 21-year-old junior studying homeland security believes that there is no way you’re going to satisfy everyone. “Some people will argue that safety implications hinder their freedoms, but it’s better to be safe than to be sorry. Honestly if a metal detector is what it takes for people to feel secure, so be it. I’d gladly walk through one to know if someone has a gun. I don’t feel like it invades my privacy at all,” says Atkinson.



VCU Housing Security Coordinator Emily Hanisch believes VCU is doing everything it can in order to ensure safety in campus housing. Hanisch believes that, “Although nobody can really prevent a shooting, we do have restricted access to dormitories and security guards on duty 24-7. We are well equipped to handle intruders or any sort of on site emergency.”



Willie B. Fuller, Chief of the VCU Police Department, says that crime at VCU is at a low in recent years. “Crime around campus has decreased substantially. VCU Police works very closely with the Richmond City Police Department, in order to ensure the safety of all of our students. With VCU being an urban campus it is important for both departments to oversee campus activity and protect the students who live in the city.”




VCU has implemented several security measures that will potentially decrease the risk of violent activity on campus. Although nobody can be sure when or where a crime will occur, VCU has taken necessary precautions in order to prevent such disasters. Whether the safety devices will help, officials at VCU believe that they are doing all they can to protect their students. “At the end of the day, the main objective is to make students feel safe, and we are doing everything in our power to do that,” said Fuller.

Sources:
Brian Atkinson, junior, Homeland Security: atkinsonba@vcu.edu
Emily Hanisch, VCU Housing Security Coordinator: hanischec@vcu.edu
Willie B. Fuller, Chief VCU Police Department: wbfuller@vcu.edu

VCU DINING

VCU DINING

When Alisa Sweeney walked in the dining hall at Virginia Commonwealth University, all she wanted was some french fries, but all she got was a bad attitude. Sweeney, a 20-year-old sophomore said that she did not expect to get treated the way she did. “I asked the man serving for some fries, and he just gave me this awful look like I was interrupting something and turned his back on me without saying a word. It was kind of surprising because it’s their job to serve us; it wasn’t like I was asking him to clean up after me.”

Several other students echo the sentiments made by Sweeney. Eric Byerley, 21-year-old junior and business major said, “I’ll be in Shafer and all the employees just seem to be in a bad mood, like they slam the food down and act all grumpy, it’s really disheartening. It’s like they can’t wait to get rid of me.” Frustrated students who feel as though they are being neglected by their own school wonder why is it that the staff at VCU seems to be overwhelmingly unfriendly towards their customers. “Maybe they’re just tired, but it seems that most of them don’t care about their job and are just waiting to go home,” said 20-year-old junior public relations student, Maddie Brady.

Although students may feel as though the employees at Shafer are not trained properly in customer service, associate vice president for facilities management, Brian Ohlinger, assures that the employees go through extensive training before they begin work. “Our employees, upon hiring must complete training that teaches them the basics of customer service. Now it is their responsibility to implement that training into their jobs, but we do offer our staff that knowledge.”

Still, VCU students are not pleased with the job the school is doing when offering friendly service. 20-year-old advertising junior Liz Marshall said, “I think students would have a better opinion of VCU if the people that work here were nicer. It really puts you in a bad mood when you’re trying to pay for your food and the people are being rude or disrespectful.” Christa Temple, 20, a junior criminal justice major and an employee at student health services feels as though the respect between students and staff is mutual. “I see both sides of it because I am a student, and I’m also an employee that works for the school. Sometimes I feel like I get disrespected by people who work at Shafer, or in the Commons, but when I’m at work I deal with people that try my patience and disrespect me, so I see where other employees can get a little aggravated.”


Students here feel that if the customer service had some fine tuning it would make for a better environment. 23-year-old senior biology major, Richie Gallanosa agrees that in his four years at the university, he has never really received a good vibe from VCU employees. “VCU would really step up in my book if everyone who worked here got a lesson in customer service.”

For many, consideration toward their students adds to the perception of the campus, if students are being treated with terrible service, it reflects poorly on the university. “I know better than to judge the campus on how a few employees treat the students, but I really have a hard time saying anything nice about most of the food preparation staff here. It makes me have a negative opinion on VCU because of it,” says 18-year-old freshman Matt Binck.


Several students can cite at least one time where they’ve had a negative experience with VCU dining. Whether it is in the dining hall, or in the Student Commons, students agree that the university has a problem with the way their staff handles the transactions of their students. Said 20-year-old finance junior Alex Del Guidice, “VCU would be much better off with employees who knew how to deal with customers in a professional way. I think that if one person was courteous to the students, it would change the opinions of a lot of the students, maybe the other employees would follow suit.”

Sources-
Eric Byerley, junior- byerleyej@vcu.edu
Maddie Brady, junior- bradymj@vcu.edu
Alisa Sweeney, sophomore- sweeneyal@vcu.edu
Liz Marshall, junior- marshallec@vcu.edu
Christa Temple, junior- templecj@vcu.edu
Richie Gallanosa, senior- gallanosams@vcu.edu
Matt Binck, freshman- binckmj@vcu.edu
Alex Del Guidice, junior- delguidiceac@vcu.edu
Brian Ohlinger, associate vice president for facilities management bjohling@vcu.edu

The Millennials

Dubbed the millennials, people born anywhere from 1980 to 2000, are being characterized as the first generation to grow up surrounded by digital media. Described by the generation before them as sociable, optimistic, talented, well-educated, collaborative, open-minded, influential, and achievement-oriented, millennials are considered to be as different as their parents as they can get. Maury Safer's segment on 60 Minutes showed a generation of young adults who are being thrusted into the corporate world with a new insight on how things should be done.

Being a part of the generation of the millennials, I feel as though we are somewhat misrepresented. While I feel that we are more resourceful and are able to accomplish tasks in a more efficient way than our parents’ generation, there are qualities about us that contradict the general opinion. We are more resourceful because we’ve had those resources handed to us since we we’re children. We’ve grown up with a computer, been reliant on cell phones since we were in high school, and have adapted to the newest forms of technology almost as soon as it was invented. We can multi task because we’ve been forced to acclimate ourselves to a world where efficiency is a top priority. We are described as a generation of children who are too dependent on emotional support from their parents. We need to be told that we’re doing a good job, be encouraged through positive reinforcement and that we are incapable of handling our own affairs without the intervention of our parents.

The fact that many of these assumptions are true is no fault of our own. It is not our fault our parents tend to baby us, or that we’ve become dependent on moral support for success. It is not our fault that we’ve been handed the advantages we need to prevail in our society. We simply know how to use what we have to our benefit.

Another distinction between the millennials and baby boomer generation is that we are more exposed to ethnic and cultural diversity. We are surrounded by a diverse population more so than our parents were, and are more open to interracial interaction. We have been taught to be more inclusive of other races, and to be more tolerant. Thus we have learned the life skill of being able to work with different types of people faster than our parents would have. We are also more politically active than our parent’s generation. Politics are discussed more frequently and with more passion than before partly because the millennials feel as though they can do more to change the world than our parents felt they could.

We’ve learned to be interdependent on those around us, on our friends, family and our technologies. We are more attached to our computers than our TV’s. We tend to Instant Message and text instead of calling or talking face to face. We’ve learned to be team players, and how to work for the greater good.

I do not believe that the millennials are ignorant to the reality of the corporate world. Many of us have had jobs since we’ve been in high school. We work full time over the summer; take on internships and a full time class schedule at the same time. I believe that we are a generation of determined individuals who know that they are living in a dog eat dog world, where if you don’t strive to do your best, you will be left in the dust. We are a generation that knows what it takes to get to the top, and won’t stop until we get there. We are a generation that believes they can do whatever they want to do as long as they work hard. Our generation is full of determination, perseverance and resilience. We are a group that knows how to use the resources given to them in an effective and efficient way. We are the generation who knows how to get exactly what it wants.

A Day in the Life of a VCU Student

Profile on: Devin Peyton

When Devin Peyton was 11 years old her and her family suffered an unimaginable loss when their house burned down. Despite this tragedy, Peyton looks to it as a source of inspiration. “My mom never gave up after the fire; she just worked harder to give her children a better life.” Peyton said. Peyton uses her mother’s persistence and resilience as inspiration to work hard to achieve her goals.

A 21-year-old junior studying Mass Communications with a concentration in broadcast journalism, Peyton wants to be the face of an entertainment news company, such as Black Entertainment Television. Peyton says she’s drawn to entertainment news because of its lighthearted nature. “I don’t know why, but I’ve always been interested in entertainment news, it’s a passion,” she says. “I don’t really want to focus on hard news, it’s too depressing.” One of Peyton’s ultimate goals is to become a well known face in the media industry, and then use her power to give back to her community. She believes that she can use her celebrity to reach out to others. “When my house burned down, so many people in my community reached out to my family to help. People we didn’t even know. I want to be able to give back the community for what they did for me,” she said.

Along with entertainment news, Peyton is also passionate about education. With a minor in Spanish, Peyton hopes to use her skills to more effectively communicate with others. “I really enjoy educating people on what they don’t know. I love spreading knowledge and enlightening people on things they are unaware of,” she said. Not only does Peyton enjoy educating people around her, she also is very active in the community. A devoted volunteer, Peyton is a member of Habitat for Humanity, is a big sister at the International Children’s Hospital and also finds time to volunteers with the NAACP.

Danielle Wilson, Peyton’s friend, describers her as a good friend who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Wilson believes that Peyton is one of the hardest working people she knows. “Devin is always determined and focused. I’ve never seen her sit back, when she wants something she goes for it,” Wilson said. Wilson also describes Peyton as a serious student with a comical side. “She can turn any situation into something funny. She really knows how to make you laugh,” she said.

Peyton, a self-proclaimed “go-getter” says that she doesn’t let anything stand in her way of seizing an opportunity. Currently an intern at IPOWER 92, a local Richmond radio station, Peyton landed the gig completely on a whim. “I was at a friend’s birthday party at a club, and there was this DJ there, so I went up to her and asked her information about internships, and the next thing you know I got it.” Peyton believes that you have to do what it takes to achieve success. “I don’t let anything stand in my way,"Peyton said. "If I want something, I go get it.”

Source- Danielle Wilson, wilsondl@vcu.edu