And we’re back…

Dana Rosengard here, the new Assistant Dean for Career Development. I arrived on campus September 14th and hope to spark this blog bag up with the help of two student assistants. Please stand by for new and hopefully regular posts here to keep you in-the-know about life on campus. Wishing you the best from Hamden—

Quinnipiac alumnus wrote tonight’s ‘How I Met Your Mother’ episode

George Sloan ’04 wrote today’s episode of “How I Met Your Mother,” set to air at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. It is the third episode of the hit sitcom that Sloan has written. In addition, several Quinnipiac alumni will appear in the episode.

Click here to preview the episode

 

Professor Sang Nam: Facebook is putting many vulnerable teens at risk by lifting ban on gruesome videos

According to Facebook’s new policy, now users can post gruesome videos as long as users do not celebrate the action or they can post gruesome videos to condemn the action.

Sang Nam, associate professor of communications in the department of film, video and interactive media in the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University, is available to comment.

“”I’m deeply concerned about our youth who will be exposed to these videos. These gruesome videos online, especially on Facebook, are just a click away from our teens. It only takes few seconds to view such graphical videos, but the psychological damage might be permanent. These videos are harsh to adults, and it can leave a permanent trauma on our youth,” said Nam.

“Facebook’s decision seems to be based on its belief that responsible users can decide what to watch and what not to watch and Facebook doesn’t intervene on people’s freedom of speech and people’s right to have access to information online. However, these gruesome videos are just a click away, and one click can hurt our youth, who might be too young to fully understand the consequences of online actions.

“Some might say the Internet has a self-correcting mechanism and gruesome videos would be removed by concerned users. It is true in a sense, but Facebook is risking many vulnerable teens by lifting its ban on gruesome videos. A self-correcting mechanism still takes time and effort to put aside these graphical materials. Facebook might not want to be seen as a company that strips someone’s freedom of speech and intervenes or controls users’ access to information online, but it is wrong and irresponsible for Facebook to lift its ban on gruesome videos without creating a proper warning. Again, with one click, our teens could be exposed to these videos, and it can leave a permanent damage in their mind.

“It’s ironic that Facebook still bans the children breast-feeding images due to exposed woman’s breasts, but you can watch the videos of decapitations on Facebook. Which leaves more damages in youth’s mind? I think we all know, except Facebook.”

To speak to Nam, please call John Morgan, associate vice president for public relations at Quinnipiac, at 203-206-4449 (cell) or 203-582-5359 (office).

Professor: Focus on the violence afflicted on America’s children when covering death of Adrian Peterson’s son, not the ‘good man’ narrative

Molly Yanity, assistant professor of journalism in the School of Communications, is available to discuss NFL running back Adrian Peterson’s decision to play two days after his two-year-old son died in an alleged case of child abuse.

“The greatest thing that can come from the tragic death of Adrian Peterson’s young son is that a light will be shined on the violence that is afflicted upon this nation’s children every day,” said Yanity. “It is not, however, the story of a great athlete performing under the emotional duress of needlessly losing a child.”

“I wish it was, and the media — of which I was once a willing and excited member — will have you believe that. This is part of the ‘good man’ narrative that, at the turn of the 20th century, gave us biographies of the great, white athletes like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Mickey Mantle — without the sexism, racism and alcoholism that plagued these humans. This is the problem we are faced with when we hear of these narratives. We want to believe Peterson, a back of such unique skill, is also a great man. He may be. In this case, I sympathize with him, his family and, more so, the family of the woman he impregnated. I would rather read about the truth of this matter — a single mother whose boyfriend beat and murdered her child —  than about a privileged athlete who may have ignored a responsibility.”

Molly Yanity teaches, among other things, sports-media-culture and reporting for the Web. She covered sports for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from 2001-2009, was a regular on sports talk radio in Seattle and Spokane, and received her PhD in mass communication from Ohio University in 2013. She has also been published in the International Journal of Sport Communication and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

To schedule an interview with Yanity, please call John Morgan, associate vice president for public relations, at 203-206-4449.

Professor Rich Hanley: ‘Apple may move into the phablet space if only to neutralize Samsung’

Rich Hanley, associate professor and director of the graduate journalism program in the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University, was quoted in an E-Commerce Times article on Apple’s reaction to the uprising of the phablet, the combination of a smartphone and a tablet.

“Apple may move into the phablet space if only to neutralize Samsung as much as it can in the growing Asian market for the latest fad in mobile devices,” said Hanley

Apple is too much of a fanatic of high-quality design to settle, he said.

“In the final analysis, the company’s fidelity to design aesthetics suggests it will not transform the iPhone into the clumsy is-it-a-fish-or-fowl form factor of the phablet,” he said. “Apple’s form simply does not follow the phablet’s awkward function.”

Please click here to read the full article which also appeared in MacNewsWorld.