Elijah Jones: It takes hard work to bring people together

My name is Elijah Jones and I am a 22-year-old senior at the University of Illinois Springfield studying communication. I plan on finishing my education at UIS on Dec. 16. I am a first-generation college student and the oldest of eight siblings.

I have been in Springfield since 2016 and the growth I have experienced is like nothing I could have ever imagined. I helped establish my university’s first modeling organization which I was president of for two of the three years since its foundation. Our organization was built on uplifting and pushing college men to succeed plus offering a support system of brotherhood. After college I plan to stay in Springfield to save up some money in order to move to Nevada and begin working with Habitat for Humanity while working toward my goal of becoming an event planner.

During this fall semester, I have worked as an intern for the Faith Coalition for the Common Good. I have learned a lot about what goes into community organizing to bring about systemic change. I have also learned that organizing an event is more than just “event planning.” It takes hard work to bring people together and for them to understand why it is in their self-interest to work together to build power for change. These are skills I will be able to use in the future."

This profile was published in The State Journal-Register on December 13, 2020.

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UIS Professor pens book: 'Fake News Battle' makes case for regulation

Ha Jae-sik's book "Fake News Battle" is a fresh update about fake news and its irreversible, devastating consequences on the community. The fallout of fake news goes far beyond what we can possibly imagine and what's worrisome is that the entire globe is grappling with the phenomenon, according to the author.

Ha, an assistant professor at the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois Springfield, voices his concerns about social media, claiming it has become a conduit for misinformation, and encourages those who are involved in the media to stand up against fake news. "It's regrettable that social media has become the epicenter of fake news," he wrote. "Conspiracy theories are rampant on social media and they are out of control. It seems inevitable that all members of society, including policymakers and journalists, start a debate about how to regulate disinformation and draw up measures to redress the victims."

According to him, content creators are not the only people to be held accountable. "I think social media companies are not directly responsible for fake news," he told The Korea Times in a recent interview. "Broadly speaking, I think there are three groups of people who are responsible for manufacturing and disseminating misinformation ― social media users who created and uploaded misinformation, internet users who selectively choose information they are to consume in favor of their political orientation and some media outlets that are trying to profit from fake news.

This story appeared in The Korea Times on December 6, 2019.

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Susan Koch: Communication skills key to success in life

The following is an excerpt from a column by University of Illinois Springfield Chancellor Susan Koch. This column appeared in The State Journal-Register on September 22, 2018.

Thousands of Illinois residents headed off to college this fall — most not at all certain how best to navigate these pivotal years. 

A recent op-ed piece in the New York Times by longtime reporter and columnist Frank Bruni offered wise advice to new collegians about how to best shape a college life that yields success and satisfaction beyond the higher education experience. 

The suggestion that most caught my eye in Bruni’s piece was that students should insist on acquiring specific skills while in college— skills that “transcend any particular career.” Such skills, he argues, include communication, clear writing and cogent speaking, as well as storytelling, the ability to explain an idea with “shape and logic” – the art of persuasion. 

I had an opportunity to explore Bruni’s premise recently with three faculty who live these convictions every day at the University of Illinois Springfield. 

Elizabeth Ribarsky, from the Communication department, teaches and studies interpersonal communication. Missy Thibodeaux-Thompson, a professional actor and director, teaches in the Theatre program and is directing the campus theatre production Silent Sky this term. Stephanie Hedge, Assistant Professor of English, teaches rhetoric and composition, does research on writing in digital spaces and directs the University’s first-year writing program. 

“During the first week of the semester,” Hedge says, “I taught a session on ‘Critical Reading and Writing’ where I explained to my students that good communication skills will empower them to affect change in the world.” 

“Well-expressed language,” she continues, “whether oral or written, whether used in a class assignment, blogging online or messaging on your phone, is powerful! It’s about having your ideas read, understood and respected.” 

According to Thibodeaux-Thompson, one thing she finds so interesting and challenging in today’s age of electronic devices is getting people to make eye contact.

“I encourage all students regardless of major to take an acting class during college,” Thibodeaux-Thompson continues. “You’ll walk out of the class a little taller, stronger and more comfortable with yourself.” 

In Ribarsky’s “Oral Communication” class, she explains that the class is a requirement for first-years because it’s where they develop confidence to share their ideas.

“Communicating well – speaking, listening, being able to understand and make an argument —is the number one reason people get hired,” she says. “Communication is not a soft skill. It’s intrinsically linked to effectiveness in your job and your profession.” 

A report in the Washington Post a few months ago summarized Mr. Bruni’s and my UIS colleagues’ convictions: Even in high-tech environments like Google, the story explains, evidence shows the top characteristics of success include skills like communicating and listening well, possessing insights into others, and being able to make connections across complex ideas.

I’m proud to say that with the support of faculty mentors like Ribarsky, Thibodeaux-Thompson and Hedge, UIS students are acquiring those skills on the way to becoming productive citizens and University of Illinois Springfield alums!

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C-SPAN bus makes stop at University of Illinois Springfield Wednesday

A bus aimed at educating communities about Washington D.C. came to the University of Illinois Springfield Wednesday.

The C-SPAN Bus is traveling to all 50 U.S. capitals with a goal to teach about Congress, the White House, legislative processes and more.

Students could also see what it was like to do a live interview, experience a 360-degree video station and take selfies in a D.C. - themed area.

This story aired on WICS Newschannel 20 on September 19, 2018.

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Michelle Norris, U.S. Department of Justice honoree

A university class assignment led Springfield native Michelle Norris into a field of interest that has earned her honors from the U. S. Department of Justice.

Norris, a senior communication major at the University of Illinois Springfield who works full time as a student clerk for the U. S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of Illinois, was one of several U.S. Department of Justice employees recently honored with the Director’s Award during a ceremony June 15 in Washington, D.C.

Norris, 21, was honored for her work as interim coordinator for the Central Illinois Human Trafficking Task Force at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of Illinois.

An employee of the U.S. Attorney’s Office since June 2016, Norris first got involved with the task force in March 2017, after learning of an organization that aids survivors and victims of trafficking in central Illinois through a class assignment.

Human trafficking is modern-day slavery that involves the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

Norris is a 2015 graduate of Sacred Heart-Griffin High School and plans to graduate from UIS in December. “I’m going to get my Master of Social Work. I eventually want to end up being a victim specialist, so I’ll get my master’s,” said Norris, who is the daughter of Jim and Eileen Norris, and who has three younger siblings.

In your growing-up years, did anything influence your current focus on helping people? “No. That’s what’s funny about it. My major is communication, but I started at this office. “It was a class at UIS, and our assignment was to go interview an agency or someone in an agency that you’re interested in, and for some reason, I just found Grounds of Grace, which is an organization in Springfield that did human trafficking (aids survivors and victims of trafficking in central Illinois.)

“I just first started attending the meetings. It was like two meetings. I just wanted to be a fly on the wall. I just wanted to hear from the experts. Then all of a sudden it’s like I just started taking on more tasks and more tasks, and then now I’m leading it, and I’m like, ‘Whoa. When did we get here?’ ”

“The everyday person can help out, just by knowing some of the signs and knowing there’s a hotline I can call if I ever see anything suspicious (National Human Trafficking Resource Center 1 (888) 373-7888).”

This article appeared in The State Journal-Register on July 8, 2018.

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Chatham man wins Illinois Bicentennial coin design contest

Hayden Schumer had a lot of history and symbolism to cram onto a commemorative coin for the state’s bicentennial celebration. But Schumer, a 21-year-old college student from Chatham, managed to do it, though, in a way that easily won an online voting competition conducted by Treasurer Michael Frerichs’s office.

“Hayden did a great job of incorporating a lot of different aspects of our history and our regions,” Frerichs said at a Statehouse news conference Monday.

“A lot of the designs focused on the city of Chicago or some focused on downstate. I think he did a great job of capturing our history of things that make us strong, like our industry and transportation.” And, Frerichs said, Schumer did it without producing an overly cluttered design.

Schumer said he started with five ideas and narrowed them down to the final design.

He is pursing a degree in communications at the University of Illinois Springfield this fall and hopes to get involved with animation.

The coins will sell for $45, which Frerichs said will offset the cost of production.

The front of the coin will feature Schumer’s design and the back will feature the state seal.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on June 18, 2018.

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Net neutrality: What is it?

On Friday, the Federal Communication Commission is set to vote on a plan to repeal 2015 regulations on internet service providers. Included in those regulations is a theory called “net neutrality.”

We asked University of Illinois Springfield Communications Associate Professor Ann Strahle to explain what that is.

“Net neutrality is the idea, the theory, that all internet service providers, ISPs, should treat all internet traffic equally,” Strahle said. “It doesn’t matter what kind of content it is, that it is all distributed equally.”

In a statement calling for the repeal, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai argued that, for twenty years, the internet “thrived under a light-touch regulatory approach.”

“Under my proposal, the federal government will stop micromanaging the internet,” Pai wrote. “Instead, the FCC would simply require Internet service providers to be transparent about their practices so that customers can buy the service plan that’s best for them.”

Critics of the change argue that removing net neutrality means internet companies could cut deals with some customers to give them an unfair advantage over others.

Several commentators have suggested, for example, that an internet provider could cut a deal with one video streaming service like Hulu to give them faster speeds than competitors like Netflix.

Other critics worry removing the requirement could put free speech at risk.

“If access to certain information is only available to those people who can pay more, then that can be seen as a limit to the freedom of speech or the freedom of the press and how people get their information,” Strahle said.

This story appeared on WAND TV on December 12, 2017.

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