Left to right: LHU President Keith T. Miller; Outstanding Communication Media Senior Jonathon Gerardi; Outstanding Communication Media Graduate and featured speaker Megan Taylor; Margaret Ann Brown Scholarship winner Nicole Cozzi; and David White, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Outstanding Lock Haven University students in Communication Media received awards at the 2010 Rebecca F. Gross Awards Day ceremony on April 30. The event also featured a keynote address by an outstanding LHU Communication Media graduate.

Dr. Karen Kline, professor and chair of the Communication Media department, presented the Rebecca Gross Student Award to senior Jonathon Gerardi. The Rebecca Gross Award for the outstanding student in the Communication Media discipline is based on three criteria: grade-point average, service to the student media, and other media activities.

Gerardi has used his time at LHU to develop his skill in both broadcasting and print journalism. For the past three semesters he has been on-air with the university’s radio station, WLHU, handling music shifts as a DJ and hosting his own weekly radio show. As a print journalist, he has written stories for the Eagle Eye, the LHU weekly newspaper. Since November 2007 he has also been a sports writer at the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. In that job, he has covered district championship games, media days for the Williamsport Crosscutters, and golf tournaments. For the past two years he has written the cover story for the paper’s special insert in concunction with the Little League World Series.

Associate Professor Sharon B. Stringer presented the Margaret Ann Brown Memorial Scholarship to junior Nicole Cozzi. Stringer commented on Cozzi’s contributions to her News and Reporting class, and praised her ability and tenacity. Last year, the department of Communication Media awarded Cozzi a Dr. Saundra K. Hybels Scholarship.
Professor Kline presented the Rebecca Gross Alumni Award to Megan Taylor, producer, center City Film & Video in Philadelphia, Pa. In accepting her award, Taylor commented that when she was a student at LHU, she produced a video documentary on Rebecca Gross. Taylor said that Gross was “a remarkable woman.”

Taylor delivered the keynote address in which she urged the students to “accept the fact that you have to work hard to be appreciated and get where you want to go.” To illustrate, she traced her own career from her days as a Lock Haven University student to her present position.

Taylor also advised students to acquire a wide range of skills. In a highly competitive career, field, one person who can handle the responsibilities of two jobs (in other words, a “two-for-one”) is more likely to be hired. In her job, she combines the role of producer and editor, and refers to herself as a “preditor.” “The more you learn,” Taylor said, “the more valuable you are.” Her most important piece of advice was “Learn to take criticism and apply it to making things better.” Finally, she told the students, “Good luck and go get ‘em.”

Also recognized during the ceremony was David L. White, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, for his support of this year’s radio station digital upgrade. Stringer stated that the LHU radio station now has state-of-the-art clear-channel radio production equipment. As a result, LHU students have “relevant experience” that prepares them for jobs in the field.

LHU President Keith T. Miller delivered introductory remarks and congratulated the awards recipients. Both he and Professor Kline welcomed Lana Muthler, managing editor of the Lock Haven Express, and thanked her for the “ongoing relationship” between the Express and LHU students.

The Rebecca F. Gross Award is named in honor of Pennsylvania’s most distinguished journalists and public servants. A 1928 graduate of Penn State University, Gross served as managing editor of the Lock Haven Express, founding member and president of the Pennsylvania Women’s Press Association; president of the Pennsylvania Society of Newspaper Editors and the Pennsylvania Associated Press; Commander in the U.S. Navy; Nieman Fellow at Harvard University; and member of the Lock haven University Board of Trustees, the Board of State Colleges and Universities Directors, and the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.