Alumni Spotlight: Nathan Muller (2005)

March 12, 2009 by admin

City: Syracuse, NY
Email: nrmuller@syr.edu
Class of 2005
Computer Magnet Major: Communications Central
Undergraduate School(s) Attended: Syracuse University
Undergraduate Degree In: Public Communications - Television, Radio, Film
Current Place of Employment: Student
Comment: “As I look towards May when I will be graduating from Syracuse University, I can not possibly imagine me being in this position without going through the Communications Central Program at TJ. Not only are some of my fondest high school memories from the program, (Newspaper layouts, doing the announcements, creating tv-shows) but the program prepared me immensely for the career I look to pursue. For one, after being in the program for 4 years I knew exactly what I wanted to do for a career and have been going after that ever since. Many people go into college without knowing what they want to do with their life, and in all honesty many of my friends here actually still don’t really know what they want to do. But after participating in the program I found a distinct path for myself early on. On top of that, I do not know if I could have even gotten into the Newhouse program here at Syracuse University without going through Communications Central. The communications program here is one of the best and they liken it to applying to an Ivy League school. The year I was accepted, they received around 5,000 applications and let in only 300 students. I truly believe that without my experience in the program and the recommendations of the teachers, I would not have gotten into the program. Lastly, Communications Central prepared me for the classes I have taken here. Many of the programs, (Final Cut, Photoshop) I already knew before I actually learned them in classes here and felt I had a leg up on others. I now am in the process of looking for a job and with the experience of Communications Central and Syracuse University, I have already interned at the CBS Channel 4 news station in Denver and last summer as a production assistant in LA working on the program 90201. I honestly would not be where I am today without Communication Central.”

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Feature Article

Confessions of a Female Computer Geek

A widget-loving, html-coding student spills all.
by Christina Danek
Even though I rarely wear polo shirts, and I admittedly don’t own a pocket protector, AND I only speak in binary on weekends, I am undeniably a computer geek. I’m also a female, and thus I possess a combination of traits that defies many stereotypes of womankind’s place in society.
While it is true that men dominate the field of information technology (an estimated 76% of IT-related jobs in the US are held by men according to the National Center for Women and Information Technology), there is no viable reason why they should. Speaking from nearly four years of experience in the areas of computer programming, animation and web design, I’m convinced that women can be just as successful in this arena as men. As one of four senior girls in the Computer Magnet, I can honestly combat every claim against women in technology.
Claim number one: Being good with computers is geeky. The common term “computer geek” has led our society to associate one who is handy with a computer to being a geek; consequently many women try to avoid this label by steering clear of computers. But if one must be a geek to know how to intelligently operate technology, then let’s embrace the geekiness. Programming is cool, people. Being able to command a machine capable of processing around 100 million instructions per second to do whatever I want—that is cool. Heck, that is power.
I first realized I was becoming a computer geek around my sophomore year of high school when I accidentally hacked into the United States Homeland Security webpage and learned our grimmest national secrets. Not really. Actually, it happened one day when my home computer crashed, and my older brother (the proud owner of a Western Digital USB 2.0 compatible, 7200 rpm 250 Gigabyte external hard drive—enough said) explained to me that my 1.67 Gigahertz dual processor wasn’t fast enough, the hard drive wasn’t efficiently partitioned, and I could use a few extra gig of RAM. And I knew exactly what he was talking about. And I was hurt.
Claim two: computers are boring. Two weeks into my first animation class, I was working on a 3-D movie. Six months into my first programming class, I was making computer games. A year later, I had designed and created my own website online complete with animation and blogging capabilities. You get the picture.
Claim three: computers are masculine. This is equivalent to saying that driving a car, playing sports, and voting are masculine. Men may have been the first to do these things, but that’s ancient history; today, women belong just as much. Why shouldn’t women learn the language of computing technology that the rest of the technological world is speaking? I’m proud of the fact that I can sit down at a computer and, within an hour or two, turn a blank page into a game, a movie, or even a website.
Despite all the negative hype about geeks, I like to wear my geek status with pride. You know those people who hang out at stores like. Best Buy dressed in white shirts and ties, who discourse on network modems and surge protectors? They know everything, they are the Geek Squad, and they are what I aspire to become. The fashion is a bonus.
So, if knowing how to effectively use the most powerful technology available to the world is being a geek, then yes, I am. I’m not giving up hope that some day, html coding will be as popular as shopping, cascading style sheets will be as fashionable as new shoes, and women will be as common in the technological field as missing html image tags on websites.
To read this article in binary, click here.

Alumni Spotlight

Alex Hannum (2003)

Current Place of Employment: CBS Northern Colorado 5
City: Fort Collins, Colorado
Email: alexhannum@noco5.com
Web Site: http://noco5.com
Class of 2003
Computer Magnet Major: Communications Central
Undergraduate School(s) Attended: CSU
Undergraduate Degree In: Technical Journalism/Political Science
Description of Current Position: Reporter and producer for Northern Colorado’s only dedicated television station. Produce nightly 10 pm newscast, and file several reporter packages a day.
Previous Place(s) of Employment: KGWN-TV
Description of Previous Position(s): Lead reporter/fill-in-anchor.