What's Love Got to do with It?

Less than two weeks before Valentine's Day, and I'm working on every angle I can think of: what happens to our brains when we fall in love (that's one for the biology dept.), and what's the history of love? I've contacted Philosophy and English profs and my colleague Amy Cranston is trying to figure out when giving a rose became a Valentine's Day tradition. Last year one of professors who teaches a course on the philosophy of love was interivewed by KYW Newsradio. The first writer in English (or an early form of it) to write about romantic love was Geoffrey Chauder (this fact courtesy of Kevin Harty, chair of La Salle's English dept.). Then again, there's the 'business' of love; I've heard that restaurants do more business on Valentine's Day than any other day of the year, including Mother's Day. Amy is looking for some business profs to discuss that angle.

In the meantime, a British film crew is coming to town tomorrow to film Matthew Quick, a La Salle alum whose novel, "The Silver Linings Playbook" will be featured on an English TV program (akin to Oprah's book club). Inquirer columnist Mike Klein has something about the film crew in his column today, and the Courier-Post is interested (Quick lives in South Jersey).

Every Little Bit Helps

Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Michael Klein and Daily News columnist Dan Gross are possibly the most-read writers in the city. I've had good luck getting La Salle in their columns, but many of those items have little to do with education. Klein once wrote that first person to throw off the mound at Citizens Bank Park was a pitcher for La Salle's baseball team. Gross recently wrote that Phillies 3B coach Sam Perlozzo was coached in high school by none other than Br. Gerry Molyneaux (I've known him for 12 years and not once has he said anything about baseball to me). While neither item featured academics or student achievements, the key point is each one mentioned "La Salle." That's the important thing.

Big Sisters

One of our students, a senior psychology major who is on an athletic scholarship here (and has a 3.6 gpa) has been involved with Big Sisters since she arrived at La Salle. She's been a "buddy" to a student at a nearly elementary school since her freshman year, and a writer with one of the Philly papers is interested in doing a story about her relationship with the "little sister" who's now in 5th grade. In an email between the two, the fifth grader wrote that she was lucky to have someone (her big sister) to care about her. This could appear in print in a few weeks if all goes well. One of the first things I have to do is get the proper OK from the fifth grader's parents, teachers, etc.

They Still Love Him!

With Haiti being in the news again (more aftershocks), Channel 3 returned to campus to interview Geology Professor Hank Bart.

KYW Newsradio also interviewed Social Work Professor Donna Fiedler, who studies and treats emotional trauma. She discussed how parents can talk to their children about the tragedy and how seeing the devastation and tragedy can affect viewers young and old.

Several people told me that when they watched TV all they saw was coverage of Haiti. That can't be true, but it probably felt like it. What has the coverage been like? I went to Richard Goedkoop, who studies TV news and broadcasting. He had several insightful comments, which made their way into the Inquirer in today's edition. Here's a link:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/82230522.html

Above and beyond the call of duty

It's late on a Friday, so that's my excuse for writing "above the call of dity..."

Have a great weekend everyone.

Above and beyond the call of dity

Kudos and thanks to Geology Professor Henry "Hank" Bart; he happened to be in his office the day the Earthquake devastated Haiti, and got a call from Channel 3 asking if he'd go on air for an interview to discuss Earthquakes. Bart was wearing an old shirt and hadn't shaved in a few days, so before the TV cameras showed up he bought a La Salle shirt and razor from the book store and spruced himself up. Channel 3 was so impressed by his commments that they used them on their noon, 4 and 5 pm broadcasts that day.

The local media will be out in force on Monday to cover MLK events around the city and region. There's much going on at the campus, but whether any press shows up depends on factors beyond our control, including weather and attendance. Some of our students are working on a Habitat for Humanity project not far from campus; the University donated a house to the organization, and it's being repaired for a family to move in, sometime in April. If we don't get coverage on Monday, there are additional work days scheduled, so perhaps then we can generate some media.

Taking the Time

Yesterday Ch. 3 in Philly interviewed John Dolan, VP for Enrollment Services at La Salle, for a story on college graduation rates. Ch. 3 isn't sure when the story will air, but they spent close to 20 minutes speaking with Dolan and the max face time he'll get will be 30 seconds (and that's pushing it).

It's easy to get frustrated in that scenario: one professor was interviewed for 45 minutes for a story and one sentence was used with the professor's comments. On many occassions faculty are interviewed for 30 minutes or more and none of their comments are used. This is life in the pr business. I'm lucky to have faculty who are willing to take time to do interviews, and are still willing to do them even after they aren't quoted or broadcast in the segment.