TABLE OF CONTENTS |
FRONT PAGE
| NEXT ARTICLE |
PREVIOUS ARTICLE |
UNC HOMEPAGE
Few people who have spent a lifetime climbing to the top of their profession
would ever think to step down from it to return to school.
Rich Landesberg did, he said, not so much because he had more to learn, but
because he has so much he wants to teach. Because of a Park Fellowship that
Landesberg has been awarded at the University's School of Journalism and Mass
Communication, he has been able to do both.
Landesberg has spent 25 years in broadcast journalism since graduating from
American University in Washington, D.C. His career began in a small radio
station in Brunswick, Maine, and would eventually take him across the world
working for the Mutual Broadcasting System.
His work took him from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles to London before he
took a job in Atlanta with CNN as a writer for Primetime News.
Three years later, when he told his friends at CNN of his plans to return to
school, they questioned how he could leave a profession that meant so much to
him. "How could you ever give up this wonderful job that is at the top of the
craft?" they asked. "How can you just leave that to go back to school?"
Landesberg said he began to think about teaching while covering the Monica
Lewinsky scandal. "It was about that time that I decided that maybe we need to
train the next generation of journalists to think critically about what goes on
the air, how it goes on the air, (and) I might be able to play some modest role
in that as a teacher."
The Park Fellowship has made returning to school possible for Landesberg and 23
other Park Fellows now on campus teaching and studying. The fellowships are
named after Roy Park and are financed by the $5.3 million gift from his
estate.
Born in Dobson, Park began his career at two weekly newspapers and became the
first broadcaster to own seven television stations, seven AM radio stations and
seven FM radio stations, the legal limit allowed by the Federal Communications
Commission at that time. Park graduated from N.C. State University but later
served on Carolina's School of Journalism and Mass Communication Board of
Visitors.
"The Fellowship is one of the most important foundation gifts that the UNC-CH
institution gets each year," said Richard Cole, dean of the School of
Journalism and Mass Communication. "We're delighted at the Park Fellowships'
(generosity), and I am personally delighted to have it."
The fellowships provide full tuition, fees and health insurance to each Park
Fellow. Master's students are awarded a $10,000 stipend each year and $4,000
over two years for travel and research. Doctoral students receive an $18,500
stipend and $6,000 over three years for travel and research. Park Fellows are
required to work 15 hours per week as a graduate or research assistant.
Stacie Green, a second-year master's fellow, applied to the University because
of its well-known journalism program. The Park Fellowship, she said, has
allowed her to return for her master's without financial worries. Without it,
she probably wouldn't be here, she said.
Cyndi Soter, a first-year master's fellow from Greensboro, said she almost fell
off the couch when she found out the tuition was paid for in addition to the
$10,000 stipend.
Many doctorate fellows said they intend to become teachers. Among them are
Timothy Bajkiewicz and Susan Westcott Alessandri.
Timothy Bajkiewicz, a third-year doctoral student with a broadcasting
background, hopes to use his degree to teach while maintaining a foothold in
broadcasting. "I think anybody, in most professions, if (they) really end up
loving it, (they) end up teaching it to others, informally or formally," he
said.
Susan Westcott Alessandri, a second-year doctoral student, worked as a
teacher's assistant last year. This year she teaches an advertising class on
her own. "I thought this would be a good opportunity, even though it's a little
scary, teaching 52 students for the first time," Alessandri said.
LaHoma Smith Romacki, a second-year doctorate fellow, has bachelor's and
master's degrees in public health but decided to pursue her doctorate in
journalism and focus her research on the effects of mass media on individuals'
health. Romacki fulfills her 15-hour requirement as a research assistant to
Professor Jane Brown.
"One of the reasons that I came here was because Professor Jane Brown was doing
exactly the kind of work that I wanted to do," Romocki said. Her research with
Brown studies the effects of mass media on adolescents and teens and where they
get ideas concerning sexual orientation and sexuality.
Career choices
Master's fellows, on the other hand, choose between the professional or
research tracks. Students following the professional track intend to get jobs
in journalism. Many students in the research track eventually pursue
doctorates.
With a degree in education, Soter taught high school English for four years and
advised a high school newspaper. Working with the newspaper prompted Soter to
pursue her interest in journalism. She entered a nine-month program in magazine
journalism at the University of Wales where she realized she wanted to pursue a
career in journalism.
Soter is interested in both writing and graphic design. She would like to
create materials for a company or non-profit organization as her master's
project.
The Park Fellowship is meant to be a one-time gift. Students who use the
fellowship to obtain their master's are expected to gain journalism experience
before they apply to enter a doctorate program.
Landesberg is the exception to this rule. He entered the master's program as a
Park Fellow in Fall 1998 and finished the two-year program in 18 months.
Because of his journalism experience and desire to teach, Landesberg's Park
Fellowship was renewed for the three-year doctorate program. Landesberg is, as
he says, "double-Parking."
"I would like [the Park Foundation] to see that this was a great investment on
their part," Landesberg said. "I think their giving us this money gives us the
opportunity to pursue the journalism-education profession, which will allow us
to give back to the business that obviously meant something to Roy Park."
TABLE OF CONTENTS |
FRONT PAGE
| NEXT ARTICLE |
PREVIOUS ARTICLE |
UNC HOMEPAGE