Meet the Professors June 30, 2008

One of the best things about Quincy University is the fact that you really get to know your professors. It’s not like bigger universities where the classes are so large you just get lost in the crowd and to your advisor you become just a number. From the moment I declared my major, my advisor has known who I am, what classes I’m taking, what classes I’m not looking forward to, and takes a genuine interest in my schoolwork and life. It’s so such a better learning environment, at least for me, getting to know the person that you’ll be learning from and actually being able to do this.

Here’s a little bit about some of the professors of Communication (and some of the programs associated with Communications):

Dr. John Schleppenbach: Dr. John, as we like to call him, is in charge of the internship program at QU so classes with him generally start off with him placing a sheet of paper full of the latest internships on the overhead projector and saying “Here are some of the internships we have available…” and going on to explain some of the reasons why every person in the entire world should have an internship while they’re in college. He’s from Canada so he’ll tend to compare situations regarding how they would be handled in Canada vs. the Midwest and then add an “eh?” to the end of the sentence just for kicks. The whole reason he came to Quincy in the first place was so he could work with Henry Hyatt on the Folklore of Adams County and he continues to work with that today.

Dr. Barbara Schleppenbach: Yes, that’s right- she’s Dr. John’s husband (and also the reason we call him “Dr. John”- having 2 Dr. Schleppenbachs makes it very tricky to communicate). Dr. Barb is actually my advisor and she’s one of the nicest women I have met at QU. She will go out of her way to make time for students’ needs, which sometimes can be tricky since she is the Chair of the department as well as taking on some of the duties of the Vice President of Academic Affairs for a short while. She actually went to Stanford to earn her Ph.D. on a full scholarship (which Dr. John will brag about more than she does).

Travis Yates: So he’s actually in charge of Marketing and Public Relations for the school but hey- who better to teach PR than the local PR guy? He took on the job of teaching the two classes in public relations about a year ago, when the professor who used to teach them left suddenly for another job. He’s one of the biggest animal-lovers I have ever met, and even cancelled class twice when his dog had to be taken to St. Louis for surgery.

Bob Mejer: Aka “Mejer Bob” (his last name is pronounced “Major”) is one of the funniest men you will ever meet simply because of the random things that come out of his mouth. He’s one of the art professors here and he’s definitely qualified for it. The man has been a part of a lot of art shows here in Quincy as well as elsewhere, plus he’s the curator of QU’s Grey Gallery. He is frequently spotted by students at Steak n Shake late at night, usually not before 11:00.

Karl Warma: Karl is one of the newest additions to the art department and also one of the quirkiest. “Just say yowza!” is just one of his common catchphrases. He oftentimes will come to concerts and other events on campus just to sketch the singers or bands or the scenery. Oftentimes he can be found in his office until past midnight. With an intense passion for both photography and graphic design, Karl is one of the most interesting teachers you could ever have at QU.

Those are really just the main ones. Obviously there are other Communications professors that aren’t around as much or a couple that just started teaching who I don’t really know so much. It kind of seems weird that students can get to know teachers on such a close-knit level but really, it’s great. Anytime I need help with anything I can just walk into Dr. Barb or Dr. John’s office to complain or talk or whatever. In fact, I ended up talking to Dr. John just today about how the summer has been going just because I walked past his office on the way to my summer school class. Such is life at QU.

The Town June 27, 2008

Something that scared me the most about coming here was the idea of moving from Chicago to a small town surrounded by corn fields. I’ve come to realize that it’s really not that bad, especially since Quincy is surrounded by a number of even smaller towns so it’s actually the hot spot of the area. Plus, it’s been growing in the 3 years that I’ve been here which makes me even happier (we just got a Buffalo Wild Wings. Yes!). Besides the corporate chains, though, does have Quincy a lot to offer. It’s fun just to take afternoons and explore the coffee shops of Quincy or take random walks through South Park and venture along the creek that goes through it. Some of my favorite places that I’ve found in my three years of exploring here are:

Clubs… Stuff to Do June 23, 2008

New students coming in to QU sometimes come in with a negative attitude, hating the school and the town and everything that goes with it. The trick to not getting stuck in this trap or rut, at any school, is to get involved. You aren’t going to enjoy a school if all you ever do it just sit in your room, go to class, and sleep. It definitely helps to get out there, meet new people, and try new things.

My freshman year I didn’t do much of anything and I was all set to transfer to St. Louis University for the start of my sophomore year. But something changed towards the end of the year and I started getting involved more and asserting myself more around campus. I went to the movie nights at the Campus Ministry house and went to events put on by some of the clubs on campus; basically I just started to get to know more people. When the end of the school year came along about a month later I was actually sad to be leaving.

That’s when I decided that transferring wasn’t the best idea and that all I really needed to do was get involved. Sophomore year I joined clubs, starting going to more SPB events, and trying more things that I hadn’t the previous year. It made my experiences at school so much better and I stopped wishing I could leave and I started enjoying QU for what it really is.

Some of the clubs and stuff that QU offers are:

Student Senate: Got a problem with something on campus or in school? Student Senate is the place to bring it. Every club is supposed to have a representative to vote on various issues around the school that we as students want to see changed. A recent proposal that was put into action involved purchasing textbooks. In previous years the ISBN numbers of any textbook was not released to the students until they actually were in the bookstore so it was impossible to be sure that you were buying the right book if you got it online. Student Senate just recently passed a proposal that requests teachers put the ISBN numbers on Moodle (our online class management system) before the class starts so students have the option of buying their books from places besides the bookstore. This may not seem like a big deal but books are a lot cheaper at half.com or amazon.com.

Alpha Omicron Pi/Phi Sigma Sigma: Yeah, so these are the two sororities on campus. I’m not in either of them so I don’t have an insider’s view of what they do but I do know they have a lot of events to raise money for their specific philanthropies and to kind of get their name out there so people want to join. I do know that it’s nothing like how TV portrays sororities- no hazing, no petty girlie-fighting.

Delta Tau Delta: The only fraternity currently on QU’s campus. There was another one that got shut down the year before I started here but oh well- we take what we can get. They do a lot of things with the sororities plus a couple of random other events that they throw by themselves. They have barbeques in their backyard sometimes that a lot of people like to go to.

Brother Sun, Sister Moon: Aka the drama club. They put on plays and other shows throughout the year. QU Idol is usually one of the more popular events that they put on but that’s not the only one.

Circle K: Circle K is pretty much the college version of Key Club, if you’ve heard of that. It’s a service club started up and sponsored by Kiwanis International so they do a lot with them as well as other service projects and fundraisers.

The Falcon: That’s our student newspaper. I think it’s actually a requirement now that Communication students have to work on the Falcon for at least a year. It’s actually pretty versatile though- not limited to just writing. I was a photographer/writer last year plus you can also be a copywriter, editor, layout editor, and other jobs if you qualify and are interested.

Pep Club: The club for pretty much anyone who likes to go to sports games and scream their head off. They get T-shirts, throw t-shirts to the audience, make noise makers and I don’t even know what else.

Student Programming Board: Anytime a band or comedian or anything else comes to campus it’s because of SPB. They go to conventions and pick out the best entertainment to come to school on the weekends. They host Rock the Nest (an acoustic series) on Thursday nights and Friday Night Live on Fridays, plus other events throughout the year.

So, those obviously aren’t the only clubs and activities that you can take part in but I don’t really have the attention span to sit here and write every little thing you can do at QU. Plus you probably don’t have the time or attention span to read all that. But if you really want to know more about what we have you can go to the School’s Clubs and Activities Page.

You can also form your own club if you don’t find exactly what you want. Two years ago a couple of freshmen started the Ultimate Frisbee Club which is still going pretty strong. All you need is ten members and a faculty advisor and you’ve got yourself a club.

It’s not difficult to get used to college as long as you come in with the right attitude, get to know people, and get used to the idea that you can have so many great experiences no matter where you end up.

Location, Location, Location June 20, 2008

I drove over the river yesterday. It looks pretty terrible- my favorite gazebo by the river is almost completely covered. Now where am I supposed to sit and eat chicken nuggets when I have nothing else to do?

Alright, so I guess that’s really the least of the problems caused by this flood but looking at the water level on the Illinois side vs. the Missouri side is… weird. The land in Missouri right off the river is so much lower it’s not even funny. They’re the ones who are in danger more than Quincy just because looking across from West Quincy in Missouri to Quincy you can see that Quincy is built on a huge bluff that looks over the Mississippi River and into Missouri. It is soo much higher and therefore there is just no chance that the water will even come close to reaching the school or even the downtown area. Lucky for us.

People from home are still constantly e-mailing me and calling me to make sure I’m alive. Oh well… at least they care, I suppose.

So this happened before in 1993… the Mississippi River flooded to a little bit higher than it is now and there were sandbagging efforts and it seems like it was pretty much the same thing that’s been happening now. Well, according to an article I read in USA Today, I think it was, they did all their sandbagging and piled them on the levees and everything was great- it didn’t look like any of the water was going to get into West Quincy or Quincy or anywhere in this area. But then, a man decided to take some of the sandbags out of the levee, which caused a leak and eventually worn down the sandbags and the levee until it broke and flooded West Quincy and Missouri with a couple feet of water. His reasoning for doing this? He wanted to keep partying and not have to go home- if the bridges were flooded over he wouldn’t be able to go home. Needless to say he ended up going to jail and that explains why members of the National Guard are constantly just sitting by the flood walls not doing much of anything. They’re just making sure it doesn’t happen again.

That story kind of shocked me. One man caused so much destruction just to stay at some party? Sometimes I don’t understand people but what can you do? At least now they can take precautions against that happening again along with any other disasters that may occur.

Random note- I just saw Quincy on CNN… That’s always kind of cool just because CNN is national and Quincy is… well… Quincy. But I guess that’s what happens when Quincy is the main place where sandbagging is taking place and four levees have breached this week so far. What a crazy time to be in southern Illinois, that’s all I can say about that.

The Flood of ‘08 June 16, 2008

It’s definitely a crazy time to be in Quincy right about now. All summer it seems it has been raining and storming and just crazy weather altogether. It never really occurred to me until like the middle of last week that excess rain plus river means risky business. The Mississippi River right now is just ridiculous. Apparently there was a giant flood in 1993 that I didn’t even know about because it just wasn’t as bad in Chicago but it’s supposed to be worse than that this year. It’s funny though because I was home this past weekend and nobody even really knew about the crazy flooding here it until it came out on the news that Barach Obama was in Quincy over the weekend to help the sandbagging efforts. Figures- I leave for two days and suddenly a potential presidential candidate shows up. Oh well, story of my life. A friend of mine actually met him because he works at the airport and was there when Obama’s plane came in. Some people just have all the luck.

I digress… a lot. Anyway, I guess some people from the school and the campus ministry department went and helped sandbag too over the weekend. Too bad we’re not in school. That would probably be something a lot of people at QU might do to help, or at least students in Circle K or service groups (or for extra credit… you never know).

I actually just learned what sandbagging even means. They fill up bags with sand and use them to keep the water from flooding over the levee and stuff. They need all the sandbags they can get I guess because the water is projected to go up another couple feet in the next few days. One of the bridges into Missouri is already shut down because the water is THAT high. I should really go ride my bike and look at it… I’m kind of curious because last time I was down there it didn’t look that high at all and that was just 2 weeks ago or so. Thank you, global warming.

How I Found QU June 13, 2008

I had always wanted to go to a big state school. That’s kind of weird, now that I think about it, as I’m sitting here in Quincy, IL across the street from the exact opposite of a big state school- a small private school.

I looked at so many colleges and universities my junior and senior year of high school. My dad dragged me all over the state of Illinois and the surrounding area looking at schools like Eastern Illinois University, University of Illinois, U of I- Chicago, and so many more I can’t even remember them all.

But then one day I received a letter from a school called Quincy University saying that I was eligible for a scholarship based on academic performance. I tossed the letter aside but my dad found it and decided that we should look there. So, on one of my precious days off from school we packed up the car and took a little road trip down to Quincy, IL.

We took a tour, talked to some of the professors, and talked to the admissions counselor. Let me tell you, it was the most personal college visit I had ever been on. Never before had the teachers been so available and the counselors so passionate about their job and school. Sure, the school was significantly smaller than any other I had looked at but soon that became one of the perks to the school- that and the kindness of the students. As we walked around on our tour with one of the student admissions workers, everyone that we met said “Hey” or “How’s it going” (and that’s not even an exaggeration).

Basically, what I’m trying to say is that even though Quincy University may not seem like your typical concept of a great university, you shouldn’t judge its abilities and strengths based on its small exterior. I made my decision to come here soon after I was accepted and while maybe I’ve regretted it once or twice, I still love the school, my new friends, the town, the professors, and everything about it.

Concentration? On What? June 9, 2008

I suppose I’ve talked more about events and general school information than the actual Communications program at this point. It’s just tricky to really be able to write about it seeing as we’re not really in school and therefore not much has been going on in terms of what the program has been doing.

I was in Dr. John’s office on Friday and he showed me the most recent Communications magazine that the Publication Workshop class puts together each spring semester. It looks pretty good although there’s one picture of me that’s in there that’s absolutely terrible. Oh well, nothing I can do about that, right?

Anyway, I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m a Public Relations and Professional Communications concentration within my major. I figured now would be as good a time as any to explain a little bit about what I mean by that.

QU offers five different concentrations for the Communications major. They are:

Broadcast Communications- If you want to work in news or any sort of video production this is probably the concentration for you. One of my friends is concentrating in this and she has an internship at KHQA (one of the TV stations in Quincy) where she actually gets to film the news stories, interview people, and edit the film so it’s TV-ready.

Journalism- Probably speaks for itself but Journalism prepares you for newspaper, magazine, and online news writing. We have a student newspaper called the Falcon that a lot of the Journalism students work for, plus a couple of people work for the Quincy Herald-Whig or other newspapers.

Professional Communications- I just added this concentration to my degree sometime during the middle of last year. It puts business and marketing aspects into the communications mix, preparing students for working not only in communications but also in an executive-type position. It’s a good one for people who don’t necessarily have that business savvy mind but are still interested in it.

Public Relations- Near and dear to my heart, public relations is the communications aspect of Marketing. It’s more about selling a company’s image than selling their actual product or service. But the good thing about this is you can do almost anything with it. A degree in PR can get you a job in PR, naturally, but it can also prepare you for being a campaign manager, event planner, sales person, or a number of other things.

Sports Communication- Well, this is obviously for people interested in sports- definitely not me. Basically, it’s a lot like broadcast only it emphasizes more on the sports side of broadcasting, including radio. A couple of the current Sports Communication students have a sports talk radio show on WQUB, the school’s radio station. It’s actually been pretty successful, especially considering that WQUB doesn’t have a huge listener rating to begin with.

I know that probably wasn’t the most informative little blurb ever written but it’s enough to kind of give a background on the individual programs.

You can also go to the QU Communication website (don’t worry, they’re working on updating it. Right now it doesn’t really look that pretty) or the QU website for more information.

Yup, it’s summertime June 2, 2008

Being summer and all there isn’t really much I can say for what’s going on around Quincy. Normally I’d just go home for the summer but this summer turned out to be a little different. For starters, I took a summer school class that just ended on May 30 (it was a 2-week class… but I had to sit in class for 4 hours a day… that’s always fun). It’s weird though because it turned out that nobody else signed up for the course that I was in. Normally they would just cancel it but the teacher e-mailed me and asked if I would want to take it independent study so I went for it. It was a lot better than I thought it would be. The teacher isn’t someone that I know like my usual communications or art professors so that was awkward at first but we pretty much got used to everything by the second week. The class is called Introduction to Information Technology. I’m not entirely sure why I need that for Communications but oh well; it’s one less class that I’ll have to squeeze in during the school year.

I’m also working at my internship this summer. I don’t really know how to describe what I do so I hate when people ask me. I’m sort of a research assistant to a judge but that’s not all that I do. He’s a very active man so he’s not only working on his law books but he also has a number of web sites and other projects that I’m largely a part of. So that’s what I do in summary but, I don’t know- I have a lot of random little jobs that he has me doing.

Summer around here is funny though. It’s so obvious that everyone knows everyone here, even if you aren’t good friends. My house right now is next to one of the sorority houses and a couple of the girls are also here for the summer. They had a barbeque over the weekend and the result was a mesh of everyone left here at school, all in one group. People that normally don’t hang out during the school year were acting like best friends at this barbeque. It was great community and it made me look forward to the summer more than I had been before. To think… I was worried that I’d be spending the entire summer with just my housemates.