The Daily Plan-it / Dean of Students Blog, Columbia J-school

Message from Dean Sreenivasan

Dear Students:

We are going to be doing more webcasts in the weeks ahead. Coming soon: Sheila Coronel, who heads our investigative journalism program; Betsy West, who teaches in the broadcast program; Joe Cutbirth, who teaches reporting and writing (and is a PhD candidate himself); Larry Fried, dean of technology and his tech team; LynNell Hancock, who teaches education reporting (and is finishing up her term as interim academic dean); and Bill Grueskin, our new academic dean.

Meanwhile, our next session is later today:
MEET THE J-SCHOOL: Judith Matloff, adjunct professor, author and war correspondent. Her new book, “Home Girl: Building a Dream House on a Lawless Block,” is about her setting up a new life in Harlem.

TODAY, Monday, June 23, 3-4 p.m. NY time
See local time in your city here: http://snurl.com/2nese

Listen live at the link below (or by dialing a NYC number, 646-915-9583) or listen to a recording later: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ColumbiaJournalism/2008/06/23/MEET-THE-FACULTY-Judith-Matloff

You can send your questions in advance: dos[at]jrn.columbia.edu (subject=webcast) and you can also ask questions via the live chatroom there (another chance to meet some of your new classmates, too).

Judith Matloff has been teaching reporting and writing; covering conflicts and other courses at the J-School for several years. Her latest book: “Home Girl: Building a Dream House on a Lawless Block.” She worked as a staff foreign correspondent for 20 years, specializing in areas of turmoil. She covered a total 62 countries, heading the Africa and Moscow bureaus of The Christian Science Monitor. Previously, Matloff spent a decade at Reuters in various positions in Europe and Africa. She has reported on major world matters including apartheid’s demise, genocide, EU expansion and OPEC.

YOU CAN LISTEN TO ALL OUR PREVIOUS WEBCASTS AND SEE ALL OUR RESOURCES AND FAQS FOR NEW STUDENTS at http://deanstudents.blogsome.com/2008/04/18/prepping/

You can also access all the recordings of all our webcasts at
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/columbiajournalism

These are also available as downloadable MP3 files for your personal
collection. If you want to subscribe to these as podcasts on iTunes,
go to “Advanced” within iTunes, then select “Subscribe to podcast” and
type in http://www.blogtalkradio.com/columbiajournalism/feed and hit OK.

Message from LynNell Hancock, Interim Dean of Academic Affairs

Dear Students and Colleagues:

I am pleased to announce three major additions to our new media
efforts at the Journalism School.

The first is the appointment of one our most popular adjuncts, Duy
Linh Tu, to the full-time faculty. Duy (pronounced “Do” - see bio
below) joins us as new media coordinator and an assistant professor of
professional practice. As you know, he has been teaching here for
several years in the new media classrooms. He will intensify his
efforts to “webbify” our fall classes, and to integrate new and
compelling ideas in multimedia storytelling throughout the curriculum
in the years to come. Duy will continue to work with Dean Sree
Sreenivasan, who, as you know, has increased administrative
responsibilities at the school.

In addition, we have created two new post-graduate New Media
Fellowships starting this year. These July-June fellowships will
employ two students who will work closely with the technology staff to
help students and professors alike navigate the world of new media
journalism.

Our inaugural fellows are Kenan Davis and Dave Mayers (see bios
below). Part-teaching assistants, part-technologists, this year’s
fellows are both smart journalists with terrific reporting, writing,
editing and production skills. They will report to Duy.

Please join me in congratulating them. Kenan and Dave officially begin
their duties on July 1, but I am sure you will have other
opportunities to greet them before then.

(more…)

HOW TO FIX YOUR E-MAIL IDENTITY
One of the more frustrating things with our e-mail system is that Cubmail doesn’t automatically put your name in the “from” lines. So faculty and administrators end up getting e-mail from, say,
“srt2879@columbia.edu” and we have no idea who it is (especially when there’s no signature file in the message itself). Worse, some e-mail programs treat such senders as spammers and dump the message automatically into junk-mail folders. There’s a one-time, two-minute solution, and it is explained below. Please take time to do this.

If you try this and it doesn’t work, please e-mail consultant@columbia.edu explaining what you did. Also, while the problem is being fixed, please write your name and affiiliation in the subject lines of messages you send to DOS, faculty, etc. eg, “Marie Jones - M.S. print - with question about housing.”

Lauch CUBMAIL at https://cubmail.cc.columbia.edu

Go to OPTIONS

Go to PERSONAL INFORMATION

Go to EDIT YOUR IDENTITIES

Choose DEFAULT IDENTITY

Add your full name there, and any other details you wish.

[You can have a different “reply-to” address, add auto signatures, etc].

You need to do this only if you plan to use CUBMAIL (which almost all
students do at some point).

And please don’t forget to routinely sign your messages with your full
name in the body of the message - and to include a phone number, too.

Thanks and good luck with your e-mail (or if you prefer, email).

- Dean Sreenivasan

Q: What discounts on digital cameras can I get?

URGENT UPDATE FROM ALEX 5/11/2006:

Unfortunately, the discounts that B&H have been offering to students and
faculty/staff at Columbia, are no longer available. They were built into a
contract arrangement with University Purchasing, and were designed to expire
after a certain time. That time has come. Currently, the only discount
available from them, is free shipping for any purchase up to 70 pounds.
Simply announce that you are a student, or that you work at Columbia
University when you call in an order.

A: An answer from Alex Krengel in the Equipment Room.

We have a contract with B&H, the legendary photo store. Students, faculty and administrators
are are all entitled to an educational discount. The discount varies by the product you purchase (e.g. the discount will be minor for a consumer digital camera, but may be substantial if you want to get a Sony PD 170).

You need to purchase ahead, and send an email for a quote at:
biddept[at]bhphotovideo.com.

Identify your status at Columbia to get the price quote; it may take 1-2 business days to get a response. Include product, model number, quantity, etc. and any relevant details.

You cannot get the discount at the store. You need the quote first.

B&H’s web site is at:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com

Also see: FAQ: What computer discounts can I get through Columbia?

See below for a terrific opportunity. Many thanks to Prof. Kent for offering this course, which covers many topics we don’t usually get to cover during the academic year. You have to attend BOTH sessions (the first at Columbia, the second at the AP) in order to participate. Please see instructions below. Only 20 slots are available, first come, first served.

The Modern Newsroom: How It Works… And How to Survive In It
A two-session mini-course led by TOM KENT, deputy managing editor, The Associated Press - and adjunct professor at Columbia J-school.

A special two-class session on how modern newsrooms are organized and how to work most effectively in them. The first session, at Columbia, focuses on how to make the most of your first assignments, managing your time, accomplishing your biggest goals and avoiding some common stumbles. Since you’ll be a boss one day, the course also covers some effective techniques for leadership.

The second session, at the multimedia headquarters of The Associated Press in Manhattan, is a guide to organization of modern newsrooms: breaking down the walls that hinder coordination and multimedia production, the special writing demands of the Web and new ways of carving up work and assignments.

Any student this May is welcome to sign up (all concentrations welcome).

The sessions (you have to attend both) are:
Tuesday, April 25, 7-9 pm at the J-school - room 607a
Tuesday, May 9, 6-8 pm at the AP.
Sign-up info below.

Tom Kent bio: B.A., Yale. With The Associated Press: newsman in Hartford (Conn.), New York, Sydney (Australia) and Moscow; NATO and European Community correspondent, Brussels; chief of operations in Tehran; chief of bureau, Moscow; deputy World Service editor; World Service editor; international editor; deputy managing editor; adjunct professor, Harriman Institute, SIPA; juror, Pulitzer Prizes.

To sign up, please follow these instructions carefully.

If you haven’t registered on this site earlier, follow these instructions to post a comment - in this case, your interest in attending. If you have already registered, just go ahead and log in and indicate your interest, using your full name and Columbia e-mail address.

* To register for this blog (you only have to do this once for all future comments), go to http://deanstudents.blogsome.com/wp-register.php (once you are registered - includes a password being sent to you via e-mail), go to step 2.

* Click on the “Comments” at the bottom of this post and fill in your FULL NAME - first and last - and Columbia e-mail address (just fill it in once, typing in just “N/A” in the URL section if you don’t have a site.

* Please write in that you are able to attend BOTH Kent sessions.

Your name WILL NOT show up there immediately, but will be there when we approve the comment within a few hours.

If more than 20 people RSVP, those 21 and higher will form the wait list for any dropouts. Confirmations will be e-mailed to those who will be attending by the day before the event.

Cheers, Deans Sreenivasan & Huff

From Dean Klatell.

Please consult your biographical listing on the web site’s “faculty”
page. If you want an email address associated with your name on this
page, send a message to web-request@jrn.columbia.edu, providing your
Columbia e-mail address, which will be the only one listed and the
only one to which the school will send messages from now on.

The school provides easy-to-follow instructions on how to “bounce”
your messages to a secondary account (i.e., hotmail, yahoo,
roadrunner, gmail or another business address) at
http://www.columbia.edu/acis/email/delivery.

Regards,
DK

From: Dean Klatell:

I am pleased to announce that Alexandra Peers has agreed to teach Feature Writing this spring. Since 2002, Ms Peers has been Features Editor for The Weekend section of The Wall Street Journal; she was a founding editor of the section, formulating editorial policies, designing and editing recurring features, and substantially increasing the paper’s coverage of arts news, entertainment, plus food and travel stories. She also has been principally responsible for the hiring and training of young employees and identifying talented young reporters. From 1996-2002 she was Senior Special Writer/Art Editor at The Journal.
Ms. Pool earned her B.A. from Wesleyan University and the M.S. for this school in 1981.

Students interested in signing up for her course will be able to do so through the normal add/drop procedures.

o o o o o

From: Dean Klatell:

I am pleased to announce that Linda Steiner, Professor of Journalism and Mass Media at Rutgers University, has agreed to teach our Journalism History elective next term. Professor Steiner is a very experienced and lively teacher, with particular interests in public journalism, the role of women in news organizations, and the changing characteristics of the readership and audience for news and information. She has published widely on subjects ranging from journalism research to major ethical issues confronting newsrooms.

Linda earned her B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania, and her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois.

REMINDER/UPDATE: Professors cannot access the student evaluations of classes until the professors submit their evaluations of the students.

From Dean Melanie Huff.

Dear Fall 2005 Journalism Faculty,

Two reminder items:

1. Grades
2. Evaluations

1. The online grading system is now open for your Fall semester grades.

Please note that the Master’s Project is a two-semester class. You must submit a grade for the Fall semester even though the projects are not completed (corrected adviser assignments for broadcast students will be in the system before Dec. 5).

To submit grades, you must have activated your Columbia e-mail address/UNI. Information on how to do so can be found at http://www.columbia.edu/acis/accounts/create/current.html.

Once your e-mail is activated, you can proceed to https://ssol.columbia.edu/

There you will be asked for your UNI and password. Once logged in, please click on WEB GRADING. It is the last item on the right side of the page. You will then see a list of the classes you are teaching.

The deadline for grade submission is Tuesday, December 27.

2. Final evaluations (for RWI, RWII electives, and M.A. seminars) must be given to the students (with copies sent to dos@jrn.columbia.edu) ASAP, but no later than Tuesday, January 17.

If you have any questions, please contact me at mgh2@columbia.edu

KUDOS to Tom Kent, our first professor to turn in all his grades and evaluations.

Melanie Huff
Assistant Dean of Students

If you haven’t read it yet, please read the incredible NYT Magazine cover story for Sunday, Nov. 27, by adjunct professor Barry Bearak (he’s a Pulitzer Prize-winning former NYT co-South Asia bureau chief). It’s called “The Day the Sea Came,” and looks at what happened to six survivors in Indonesia during the tsunami and in the months since. According to an editor’s note, it’s the longest piece ever published in the magazine. At 18,000 words, I imagine it’s one of the longest stories by a single writer in the history of the entire paper (in fact, I’d like to hear of anything that was longer). If you missed the hard copy, there’s the online version at http://www.nytimes.com/magazine (at least through the end of this week).

On that site, you can also see an archive of the NYT’s multimedia coverage from Dec. 26, 2004. They did a very good job of covering the tragedy as it happened. Now, with Bearak’s piece a year later, you get to see the devastation in context.

Because of the holiday weekend, I was away in Baltimore and didn’t see the magazine till Monday night. I did something I had never done before: read an NYTM cover story at the first sitting, beginnning to end. Usually, when the Sunday sections arrive on Saturday, I pick up the magazine and start with The Ethicist, William Safire, Lives and flip through the mag, eventually coming back to the bigger stories later in the weekend. Not this time. What an amazing piece of journalism - as someone who followed the tsunami coverage closely, I thought I knew what happened that day, but he showed me so much more and took to me places I never thought I’d go and made me experience things I had no idea about. I urge you to put away a copy, printed or electronic, for your files.

//Sree//

Dec. 3, 2005: ALUM SARAH BACHMAN RESPONDS: I, too, read the whole article at first sitting. Bearak’s byline always signals great content, writing and heart.

Signature Bearak anecdote: The poor fisherman who survived by his
wits and grandfather’s instruction pleading with an official. The
official says only the landlord who owned the fisherman’s humble
rented shack deserved full compensation for his lost property. The
fisherman and his family get nothing. Many writers would say, in so
many words, that the tsunami changed everything and nothing.

(Reminds me of another signature Bearak anecdote in a story from
Bangladesh about a village trial of a man who threw acid on the face
of a married woman who had turned down his romantic advances. The
village elders let the man off lightly. The woman remained horribly
disfigured. The woman’s husband was despairing, thoroughly disgusted
with the village version of justice but unable to change it. In the
story’s last line, he says, ‘But have you seen her?’)

I also appreciated the first person account at the end of the tsunami
story saying exactly how long Bearak had been in Aceh, how many
people he interviewed, etc. Usually, that stuff is buried in an
editor’s note, but this time, it was integrated into the article.
Putting a human face on the story-teller made both him and the story
more down-to-earth, puncturing the epic feel of his great metaphors.
Another instance of heart.

I wonder how the editor decided to run the story? Was the decision
made mostly on the take-your-breath-away writing, or because of the
unusual and utterly devastating nature of the disaster produced
unusually compelling stories, or for some other reasons? What would
it take to get more long narratives like this one in print?

Sarah