Lane Zyvoloski

Three Minnesota State University Moorhead mass communication majors, Lane Zyvoloski, Sauk Rapids, Minn., Bryce Haugen, Moorhead, Minn., and Kaitlyn Teske, Fargo, N.D., were honored nationally by the Society of Professional Journalist’s 2012 Mark of Excellence Awards.

Senior, Zyvoloski, won a national award for Online Feature Reporting from a medium-sized school for her “Being Queen: Life in Drag” story she wrote for the MSUM blog “Doing it Downtown.”

“I am humbled and extremely thankful to the people who made this possible,” Zyvoloski said. “The drag queens allowed me into their lives and they didn’t have to. My professor helped me edit and edit again and again and I couldn’t have done this without her.”

Bryce Haugen

Haugen, a senior, was a national finalist for Breaking News Reporting from a medium-sized school for his “Sanford gives $2 million to Dragon Athletics” article he wrote for “The Advocate,” MSUM’s student-produced newspaper. The national winner from this category was a student from the Ivy League school, Brown University.

“It’s validating to know that reporting work done at MSUM can get acknowledged at this level of competition,” Haugen said. “This is the most exciting thing that has happened to me so far in my reporting career.”

Kaitlyn Teske

Teske, a 2012 graduate, was a national winner for Feature Photography from a medium-sized school for her “Kaffestua: Sunburg Man Serves Authentic Norwegian Food” photo story that was published in MSUM’s “Horizonlines.org” “To Be Different” edition.

“I think the hands on approach that MSUM gives to its mass communication students really helped me blossom as a photographer,” Teske said. “Guidance from the photo professors and being able to work on projects like “Horionlines.org” gave me the opportunity to explore projects like this that I otherwise probably wouldn’t have found.”

SPJ’s Mark of Excellence awards honor the best in student journalism. Judges were directed to choose only the entries that they felt were worthy of a national award. If the judges determined that none of the entries met the level of excellence, than no award was given.

In addition to the contest, the students attended several technical presentations and discussions. One of these was given by CSIS professor Michael Haugrud on his experience using Microsoft Team Foundation Service to oversee large-scale student software engineering projects.

Lean more about Positive Reactions.

left to right: Kyle Wahlberg, Stian Michalsen, Macy Egeland, Ezra Van Den Einde, Carly Lehmkuhl, Kenny Buck, Rebecca Lebak, Collin Boyles, Chelsey Smith

Campus News Wins NATAS Award in College Newscast Category, wins most of the SPJ Awards

Campus News, MSUM’s student produced newscast, took home a Crystal Pillar Award in the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Upper Midwest Chapter Student Awards of Excellence in the newscast category. Campus News was the only newscast honored with a Crystal Pillar out of six nominees from five different schools. The NATAS-Upper Midwest region includes Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and western Wisconsin.

Two students also won Crystal Pillars for individual news stories. LaurelLee Loftsgard won in the Light News category for “Toy Train Collectors” and Robert Swansen won in the photographer category for “The Advocate.” Recipients were announced at a ceremony on Sunday at the Theaters at Mall of America.

Campus News also won numerous awards over the weekend at the Midwest Journalism Conference in Minneapolis. In the Society for Professional Journalists (SPJ) Mark of Excellence Awards, MSUM students took home first place in both the Television Breaking News Reporting and Television Feature Photography categories. First place winners in each category advance to the national round of judging. Campus News also won second place in the newscast category. In all, MSUM students won 11 awards in the television categories, the most of any school in the contest. SPJ Region 6 includes the states of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Campus News also took home several Eric Sevareid Awards, which are given out each year by the Northwest Broadcast News Association. LaurelLee Loftsgard won first place in the Student Photojournalism category for her “Toy Train Collectors” story. The Campus News Sportscast also won an Award of Merit in the college sportscast category. The NBNA region includes the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Iowa.

Campus News airs weekly on Prairie Public Television at 7:00 AM during the spring semester and is repeated on the cable access channels in both Fargo and Moorhead.

Watch the award-winning newscast.

“Toy Train Collectors”

“Dairy Farming” Wins Best Documentary Award

“Dairy Farming,” a 2012 television documentary produced in the broadcast documentary class at MSUM and broadcast on Prairie Public Television, won first place in the student documentary category in the Northwest Broadcast News Association’s Eric Sevareid Awards. The documentary takes a look at the rewards and struggles the come with a life devoted to dairy farming.

“Dairy Farming”

“Doing It Downtown” Named Best Online Student Publication by SPJ

“Doing It Downtown,” the mass communications department’s newest student publication, won first place for Best Independent Online Student Publication in the Society for Professional Journalists (SPJ) Mark of Excellence Awards. The multimedia blog-style magazine is published daily during Dr. Deneen Gilmour’s MC 405/Writing for the Web class. Student editor is Meredith Wathne.

Lane Zyvoloski won first place for Online Feature Reporting for her photo-and-word essay, “Being Queen: My Life in Drag,” which looks at a group of young Fargo-Moorhead men who become drag queens on certain Saturday nights.

“Doing It Downtown” came to life four years ago as downtown Fargo-Moorhead morphed from a place where pesky panhandlers hung out to a place where nightclubs, coffee houses and a vibrant music scene flourished. The publication brings fresh content to new readers using Pinterest, SoundCloud, Facebook, Twitter and Storify.

“Doing It Downtown”

Lane Zyvoloski’s awards winning story.

Horizonlins.org Honored by NBNA and SPJ

Horizonlines.org received an Award of Merit in the student website category in the Northwest Broadcast News Association’s (NBNA) Eric Sevareid Awards and took second in the Society for Professional Journalists (SPJ) Mark of Excellence Awards for Best Independent Online Student Publication. Kaitlyn Teske, who took photos for horizonlines, also took home two awards for her work on the online magazine, including first place in the Feature Photography category.

Horizonlines.org is an online magazine produced each spring by the students in MSUM’s Journalism Workshop class. The winning issue is titled “To Be Different.” Students interviewed and photographed families, couples, and individuals who have unique stories to tell, including a Vietnam war veteran, a lesbian couple, and a Special Olympics competitor.

Horizonlines.org

Northwest Broadcast News Association Eric Sevareid Awards MSUM Winners

Documentary/Special
1st – Documentary Class, “Dairy Farming”

Photojournalism
1st – LaurelLee Loftsgard, “Toy Train Collectors”
Award of Merit – Robert Swansen, “The Advocate”

Sportscast/Program
Award of Merit – Campus News Sportscast from 4-30-11

Website
Award of Merit – www.horizonlines.org

Spot News
Award of Merit – Kim Kressin, “New Year’s Fire”

General Reporting
Award of Merit – Kristin Kirtz, “Sweet Study”

left to right: Kayla Van Eps, Jessica Fleming, Ezra Van Den Einde, Lane Zyvoloski, Meredith Wathne, Breann Lenzmeier

Society for Professional Journalists MSUM Winners

Best Independent Online Student Publication
1st: Doing It Downtown
2nd: Horizonlines.org

Online Feature Reporting
1st: Doing It Downtown – Lane Zyvoloski
2nd: Doing It Downtown – Meghan Feir
3^rd: Doing It Downtown – Jasmine Maki and Lane Zyvoloski

Feature Photography
1st: Horizonlines.org – Kaitlyn Teske
2nd: Horizonlines.org – Kaitlyn Teske

Breaking News Reporting
1st: Advocate – Bryce Haugen

Feature Writing
1st: Advocate – Jasmine Maki
2nd: Advocate – Becki DeGeest

General News Photography
1st: Advocate – Lane Zyvoloski
2nd: Advocate – Jessica Fleming

General News Reporting
1st: Advocate – Charly Haley
2nd: Advocate – Meredith Wathne
3rd: Advocate – Kayla Van Eps

Best All-Around Television Newscast
2nd: Campus News

Television Feature Photography
1st: “The Advocate” – Robert Swansen
2nd: “Toothpick Bridge Competition” – Robert Swansen

Television News Photography
2nd: “MSUM Cancer Research” – Megan Havig
3rd: “EMT Class at M-State” – Kristi Larson

Television Breaking News Reporting
1st: “Apartment Fire” – Kim Kressin

Television General News Reporting
2nd: “The Study Drug” – Zach Denzer

Television Feature Reporting
2nd: “Pow-wow at NDSU” – Zach Denzer

Television Sports Photography
2nd: “Dragon Dribblers” – Garrett Matteson and Andreas Foreid

National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Upper Midwest Chapter Student Awards of Excellence

Newscast:
Campus News

Photography:
“The Advocate” – Robert Swansen

Light News:
“Toy Train Collectors” – LaurelLee Loftsgard

The minutes of the College of Education and Human Services Curriculum Committee meeting of April 26 are now posted.

The minutes of the College of Business and Industry Curriculum Committee meeting of April 29 are now posted.

Moorhead, MN (WDAY TV) — A retired Fargo-Moorhead attorney has found a new career. Author.

Dick Jeffries practiced law in our region for 37-years before retiring. But when MSUM asked him to teach a Para-legal Class, he jumped at the chance. That’s when he realized there was no book out there that focused on personal injury law. So, Jeffries wrote one.

MSUM hosted a book signing today, as a way to honor Jeffries for his work.

Read more.

The agenda is posted.

On Friday, April 19 an induction ceremony was held for Twenty-Five MSU Moorhead students joining Beta Gamma Sigma. The School of Business at MSUM congratulates the 25 students so honored this year. They join an expanding worldwide network of more than 625,000 outstanding business professionals who have earned recognition through lifetime membership in Beta Gamma Sigma. This is a very selective honor as only students ranking in the top 10 percent of the baccalaureate and top 20 percent of graduate programs at schools accredited by AACSB International are eligible for this invitation.

The following is a list of the 2012-2013 class of new Beta Gamma Sigma members:

Fall 2012 Inductees:

MacKenzie Barry, Steven Conley, Nicholas Enger, Brenden Forte, Nadin Ibrahim, Nancy Iverson, Jeffrey Johnson, Kelsey Metz, Logan Romines, Bret Sheeley, Danielle Stiller,

Jacob Wallner

Spring 2013 Inductees:

Steven Boese, Yi-Hsun Chang, Chien-I Chao, Prabal Dangol, Austin Friesen, Christopher Kvale,

Alexander Nicolay, Dang Pham, Jodie Seelye, Lindsey Thomas, Lindsay Thompson,

Tyler Walsh, Morgan Zabel

In addition, Mark A. Anderson, CEO of Blackridge Financial, MSUM alum, and MSUM Adjunct Professor was inducted as the Chapter Honoree as a professional who has furthered the ideals of the Society through outstanding business and managerial leadership.  Kelsey Metz, a Business Administration major with an emphasis in Marketing, was selected as the Beta Gamma Sigma scholarship recipient for 2013-2014. Kelsey and Dang Pham, a Finance major, were both selected to attend the Beta Gamma Sigma Student Leadership Forum to be held in Tampa in early November, 2013.

There will be an organ donor panel on April 30th at 7 p.m, in the Comstock Memorial Union at MSUM. At the event local families will speak about how organ and tissue donation has affected them. This event is free and open to the public. To learn more about organ donation, or Alexa’s hope and LifeSource visit www.unos.org,  www.alexashope.org, and www.life-source.org.

PRSSA would like to thank Treasure Island Coins, and Vision Bank for their sponsorship for this event.

Positive Reactions is a student run PR agency at MSUM.

FARGO – Marv Bossart, whose broadcast career spanned more than four decades and made him a fixture on TV screens in the Red River Valley, was remembered by family and colleagues Tuesday as a consummate journalist who also knew the importance of a good laugh.

Bossart, who died Tuesday at the age of 79, had battled Parkinson’s disease for several years.

He joined the news department at WDAY-TV in Fargo in 1958. Five years later, he took over the 6 p.m. and what was then the 10:15 p.m. newscasts and was an anchor at WDAY until retiring in 2000.

Over the years, Bossart shared good and bad news with his viewers, earning a permanent place on TV dials by connecting with a sea of viewers, many of whom he would never meet.

‘A great heart’
Kevin Wallevand, a longtime reporter at WDAY, said Bossart’s appeal was due in part to his genuine interest in people.

“He had a great heart and he really empathized with people who were affected by our news. And that’s rare,” said Wallevand, adding that even more than presenting the news, Bossart loved writing stories and getting them just right.

At the same time, Wallevand said Bossart was quick to play the clown. He recalled how Bossart would do things like stomp on pop cans until they clung to his feet and then clomp around like he was wearing a heavy pair of tap shoes.

Meteorologist John Wheeler joined WDAY in 1985 at the age of 24.

He said Bossart became a mentor to him and many others at the station, but he was also something more.

“He was a father figure,” Wheeler said. “He just had a way of softening the hard days. He didn’t get rattled.”

Kerstin Kealy, a current WDAY anchor and a former co-anchor with Bossart, described her colleague as larger than life, a person to whom people were naturally drawn.

“He thrived on that,” she said of the attention Bossart received.

“Right up until the end, he was performing, in some sense,” she added. “He loved to walk around and talk to people.”

William Marcil Sr., chairman of Forum Communications Co., which owns WDAY TV and The Forum, said the company and the WDAY viewing area are better for Bossart’s contributions.

“A community has only one Marv Bossart,” Marcil said.

“Marv was a world-class newscaster that we were lucky to have on our air for 42 years. His spirit will live with all that saw him on TV or ran into him at the grocery store.

“He was as delightful in person as he was on the air. An era has ended today,” Marcil added.

When home, he’s home
Bossart’s wife, Betty, described her husband as a dedicated professional, who, in addition to his anchor job, taught for many decades at what is now Minnesota State University Moorhead.

The couple raised four daughters, and Betty said there were days she felt she could have used a little more help at home. But she understood the demands placed on her husband.

“There was a time when he wouldn’t even come home for supper,” she said.

But, she added, when he did come home, Marv devoted his time to his family.

Daughters Sherry Stoa and Laurie Bossart recalled how the family would pile into the car on Friday nights and drive to the TV station to pick up their dad after his final newscast for the week.

From there, they’d drive to the family cottage on Battle Lake in Otter Tail County, Minn., where they’d spend the weekend together, with no phones or doorbells to answer.

“When he was home, he was so committed to home,” Sherry Stoa said.

But, the sisters added, when their father was home he was also at risk – like the time he got his hand caught in the snow blower and had to go to the hospital. And the time he was mowing the lawn wearing a tie because he didn’t have time to change out of his work clothes and the tie got caught in the branches of a tree.

They said their father laughed when the stories were retold. Laughter, Laurie Bossart said, “was huge for him.” As was music, she added.

“He was a very talented musician. He played a beautiful piano,” she said.

Sherry Stoa said her father had other abilities as well. “He was a wonderful chef and cook,” she said.

‘A real journalist’
Martin Grindeland, a mass communications professor at MSUM who worked with Bossart for 25 years, described his friend and colleague as “a real journalist who kept his opinions to himself.”

He said Bossart was also a wonderful co-worker and instructor who “taught so many students to be great story tellers.”

Colan Hanson, the department’s chairman, said Bossart made him feel very welcome when he came to MSUM from North Dakota State University in the early 1990s.

“He certainly had a way of putting people at ease,” Hanson said.

“We’ve always had really outstanding reports from students,” Hanson added.

“I’ve run into students out in the community who say: ‘Thirty years ago, I had a class from Marv, and he’s the one who inspired me to continue on in mass communications.’

“Always good things you’d hear from people about Marv,” Hanson said.

Laurie Bossart said her father had a way of making students feel passionate about journalism and she said he showed his own passion for the job every night on the air.

“He always showed the person he was,” she said.

Important dates in the life and career of Marv Bossart
1952 – Marv becomes a staff member at KFJM, a radio station at the University of North Dakota. He works as an announcer and reporter.

That summer, he spends two months touring Europe.

1956 – In August, Marv marries Betty Brown, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fargo. He also graduates from UND that year and leaves for Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

1958– Marv receives a master’s degree in journalism and takes a position with the news department at ABC in Chicago. Later that year, he joins WDAY-TV in Fargo.

1963 – Marv is named newscaster for the 6 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. newscasts.

1999 – Marv receives the Mitchell Charley award for outstanding contributions to the field of broadcast journalism.

2000 – At the age of 66, Marv signs off as news anchor at WDAY-TV after 42 years with the station.

2006 – Marv retires from Minnesota State University Moorhead after 37 years of teaching.

Mr. Jeffries received his B.A. in Business Administration from MSUM in 1965 and his Juris Doctorate with distinction from the University of North Dakota. He spent 37 years practicing law concentrating his practice in the areas of civil litigation personal injury. He was named a Leading Minnesota Attorney, received an “av” rating (the highest available) from Martindale Hubbell. Mr. Jeffries is licensed to practice law in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Florida. He is currently serving as a consulting attorney to an Arizona law firm practicing in the area of construction defects.

Mr. Jeffries is currently co-teaching the Personal Injury class with his former long-time paralegal, Terri Bourcy Smith.

The panel will be held April 25 from 6 – 8 p.m. in CMU 227.

Professors from various departments including: Psychology, Speech Language Hearing Science, and Business will address the evolving workforce and give their perspectives of how to successfully respond to the diverse work environment. Pizza will be provided!

www.facebook.com/events

There will be an organ donor panel on April 30 at 7 p.m, in the Comstock Memorial Union at MSUM. At the event local families will speak about how organ and tissue donation has affected them. This event is free and open to the public. To learn more about organ donation, or Alexa’s hope and LifeSource visit www.unos.org,  www.alexashope.org, and www.life-source.org.  PRSSA would like to thank Treasure Island Coins, and Vision Bank for their sponsorship for this event.

Positive Reactions is a student run PR agency at MSUM.

AICPA honors top CPA exam performers with Elijah Watt Sells Award

Bradley Ostendorf, a 2012 Minnesota State University Moorhead accounting graduate and Melrose High School graduate, was one of 39 winners of the 2012 Elijah Watt Sells Award, announced by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).

The award is given to candidates who have obtained a cumulative average score above 95.50 across all four sections of the Uniform CPA Examination, completed testing during the 2012 calendar year and passed all four sections of the examination on their first attempt. More than 92,000 candidates sat for the examination in 2012. Thirty-nine candidates met the criteria.

This year’s winners were from schools such as University of Illinois, Texas A&M University, Brigham Young, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Michigan, American University, Boston College and Georgetown University. Twenty-four of the 39 winners had earned master’s degrees in professional accountancy or financial planning.

Ostendorf credits MSUM’s professors and the rigorous accounting curriculum for preparing him so well for the CPA exam.

“We had to do the homework and really understand the material before a test. Intermediate (accounting) one and two were probably the biggest similarities from my college career to the actual CPA exam,” Ostendorf said. The difficult courses were tempered by small classes averaging 20 to 25 students. “Because the classes are small, it’s easy to get questions answered and to build relationships with the professors and other students.

“I can’t say enough about the professors; they are by far the greatest strength of MSUM,” Ostendorf said. “The accounting professors are top notch, they know their stuff and they care about you. The friendships I developed with them are a big reason I knew I wanted to go into accounting.

Ostendorf interned with McGladrey LLP during spring semester of 2011 and was offered a job there before returning to MSUM to finish his degree. He is an international tax associate with the largest U.S. provider of assurance, tax and consulting services focused on the middle market. McGladrey has 75 offices nationwide.

Ostendorf is the son of Dave and Sherry Ostendorf, Melrose. He and his wife, Amy nee Hellickson (MSUM 2012, exercise science), make their home in Blaine.

The Elijah Watt Sells Award program was established in 1923 by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) to recognize outstanding performance on the CPA Examination.

Read the AICPA release.

“Compete at the expense of responsibility? Firm’s alliance responsibility in innovation process for SMEs,” co-authored with Shuyi Zhang from Shanghai Finance University, was accepted by International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal.

“Family Satisfaction and Entrepreneurship among Chinese Women: The Moderating Role of Self-Efficacy”, co-authored with Christopher Neck from Arizona State University, Jeff Houghton and Amanda Pozzuto from West Virginia University, was accepted by International Journal of Business and Globalization.

The article was co-authored with Associate Professor, Tracy Gompf, Paralegal, and was published in the International Journal of China Marketing, V.3(1)2012.

Geib is currently on sabbatical and teaching and researching at Shanghai Finance University.