2010-2011: An Exciting Academic Year Ahead

The summer is quickly winding down and the new school year about to begin next week. We welcome new and returning faces this fall, and promise an exciting year ahead for the Diederich College of Communication. A few highlights in store for our students, faculty, staff and alumni this year:

First floor construction brings big changes. Those returning this fall will notice a dramatic new look for the first floor of Johnston Hall. Specifically, the addition of a new student lounge off of our Wisconsin Avenue entrance and a new multimedia classroom across the hall, complete with surround sound and large flat screen monitors. The renovated classroom also has a series of windows that allow passersby to view classes in progress. And don’t forget the new and improved elevator, which is planned to be operational later in the year.

Recently launched student portfolio section on college website. This fall the college website begins featuring the work of our many talented students in an online portfolio. This digital portfolio features student-created videos, research projects, set designs, graphic design layouts, websites and much more, and is designed to showcase this work to both community partners (employers and internship providers) and prospective students. Work will be changed every semester, so watch for updates. View the student portfolio section of the Diederich College website.

Centennial of Journalism: a year-long celebration. As we recognize 100 years of journalism education at Marquette this year, we have many great events planned to commemorate our past and celebrate our future. Starting with the Kickoff party at the Milwaukee Public Museum’s Streets of Old Milwaukee, it promises to be an eventful year full of guest speakers and a student-produced “Centennial Seminars” television program. Stay tuned to our website for announcements and events.

An exciting Performing Arts Mainstage season lineup. Our performing arts students and faculty will present a dynamic range of shows including The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Laramie Project, and even a cooperative effort with the professional Milwaukee Chamber Theatre company. Check out the entire line-up and buy tickets at the new online box office.

New NABJ student organization. The Diederich College of Communication is proud to announce the most recent addition to our growing list of student organizations, the National Association of Black Journalists. Originally founded in 1975 in Washington, D.C., NABJ is the largest organization for journalists of color. Committed to diversity, not only in the stories that are presented by media organizations, but also the journalists who write them, NABJ has been an important part of the journalism industry for over 30 years. NABJ-MU has potential to offer opportunities to all ethnicities and areas of study and advocate for students of color by giving them a voice on campus.

We look forward to the 2010-2011 academic year, and plan to make it a memorable one. For additional calendar listings and event updates, please visit our website at http://diederich.marquette.edu.

North Korea Joins the Twitter Community

By Jennifer Janviere

Image from Uriminzok YouTube video

Twitter has a new member: the government of North Korea.

Long known for its reclusive international status and strict controls of incoming and outgoing information, the country reportedly joined Twitter last week. The country’s designated “Tweeters” posts under the name user name “Uriminzok,” which translates to “our people.” The move is somewhat ironic, since the country blocks Internet access for the majority of residents and is not exactly well known for promoting an open dialogue with the international community.

Online Data Privacy in the Digital Age

By Steve Byers

It hit me as I was reading about Facebook’s newest option, the “Places” feature that allows you to let your friends know where you are using your smart phone’s GPS signal that my reaction was different than what I, or Facebook, must have expected. It was a basic distrust of my data.

Sure, as Rob Pegoraro wrote, you have to activate the feature (Facebook seems to have belatedly realized that we want opt-in), and it’s reasonably difficult to do so it probably won’t happen by accident. But I have two big concerns immediately.

The first is that it won’t take long for someone to be assaulted by a stalker or someone else who wormed their way onto a “Friends” list (do you personally know all your “Friends”; I allow former students to “friend” me and don’t keep up with many of them). We’ve already read of homes being burglarized by “Friends” who learned on Facebook that someone was on vacation.

The second is my long-time paranoia creeping through.  Sure, we have to turn the feature on — supposedly. But how do we know it isn’t being misused by Facebook itself (or some of its employees). We know IRS workers have accessed politicians’ files, and that’s a felony. We know of the school in Pennsylvania that used the laptops it handed out to spy on students.

It’s the same as providers (or Google) tracking my keystrokes. Sure most people won’t misuse these powers. But if something’s possible, it will be used.

We’re well past the point where we need legislative action to protect our privacy. I’m contacting the offices of Senator Kohl and Senator Feingold, and urging them to push for privacy protection before any of my concerns become real.

Steve Byers is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism at Marquette University’s Diederich College of Communication.