Multimedia Reporting (Noland-Volek)

Attention to detail, structured discipline, and a passionate spirit are the characteristics of Rick Musser, a journalism professor at the University of Kansas, which help him build his World War II model airplanes.
His hobby has continued over the years, but these characteristics easily transferred into Musser’s love for journalism. Even in high school, Musser knew he had a knack for journalism. Musser came to KU in 1976 and became the general manager for The University Daily Kansan. Since then, Musser has taught several different journalism courses at the University and now, he is in charge of the news and information track.
After 31 years at the University, Musser has announced his plans to leave and move to Rochester, Minnesota, where his wife, Denise, got a job at the Mayo Clinic as a nurse. Denise is Musser’s second wife, and they’ve been married 12 years. Musser also has five kids who are grown up and pursuing their dreams.
Musser has been at the University for so long that his colleagues have become close friends with him. Ted Frederickson, another journalism professor at the University, said he has known Musser for 28 years. Frederickson has taught at the University for 27 years and jokes that Musser and he are known by the other faculty members as the “Faculty Geezers.”
Over the years, Frederickson said they’ve gone fishing and canoeing together. He said one of the reasons he thinks they’ve gotten along so well is because they both have the same values when it comes to journalism.
“We both agree (in journalism) you need to tell the truth or run like hell. A journalist never looks away,” Frederickson said.
Ann Brill, the dean of journalism, has worked with Musser as a colleague and knows his personality. She said Musser can be a very intense individual and many students fear him because of this. However, once you get to know him, and what makes him tick, you find out Musser is good teacher and just wants the best for his students, Brill said.
She also said she has personal respect for him because a couple years ago he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. After his treatment, Musser’s philosophy on life seemed to change, and he even came out of it with a sense of humor, Brill said.
Musser said, “No one wants to have cancer, but if you are going to have it, prostate cancer is not a bad one to have.”
Former students of Musser’s also say he left a lasting impression on their lives. Mark Zieman, who is now the editor and vice president for The Kansas City Star, said he remembers one method Musser taught him to help deal with the pressure of deadlines and angry sources. Musser told Zieman to picture himself “as the numeral one, bobbing softly up and down on a quiet pond on a summer's day.” Zieman said at the time he thought Musser might be on drugs and that he was crazy.
Now when Zieman is faced with a crisis, he said, “I often take a moment and go back to that quiet pool and enhance my calm. And then I smile, because Rick probably made the whole thing up.”
Kevin Helliker, another former student of Musser’s who now works as a journalist for The Wall Street Journal, said he remembers a valuable lesson Musser taught him about teamwork. Helliker said when he was at KU, he used to be a rebel and thought he could do everything on his own. When Musser gave him an A- grade, Helliker thought he deserved an A+. Musser told him he still needed to learn how to work well with others.
“He taught me that yeah, reporters need to be independent but they really need to get along with everyone in the field,” Helliker said.
Though Musser has had many memories at the University over the years, he said it is time for him to move on. He said he will probably continue to do something with journalism because of a grant he will receive through the University. Musser said he is still working out the details but he will probably do something with training for health care reporters.
Musser has had some unique ways of teaching over the years, and no one can attest to this more than Ted Frederickson. Frederickson said Musser used to lock the classroom door on the very first day of class at the exact moment class started. The students who were late could see through the window that class was in session and would try knocking on the door. Eventually, Musser would let them in, but those students were so embarrassed that they were usually never late again, Frederickson said.
“Rick is very good at getting people’s attention. If you are deaf, you can hear him,” Frederickson said.
Musser said he’s had a long run at the University and compared his experience to his WWII airplanes. He said in WWII the most dangerous place you could be was in an airplane. Each pilot had to fly only so many missions, but they usually never made it to that number. Musser said he doesn’t want to press his luck.
“I’ve flown enough missions. I don’t really want to go through it again,” he said.
Musser said with all the “administration stuff” that he is now required to do, his job seems to have lost its fun, and it has become something he never wanted it to be. Musser hopes, however, he will be most remembered for his teaching at the University. He trusts his students will not only take away the journalism curriculum, but will be able to apply his teachings to their lives and professions.

Local community members came together on the first Monday of the month to discuss a new housing plan for the homeless. The Community Commission for Homelessness held the meeting and proposed the new plan.
The plan purposed a new emergency shelter, emergency temporary housing, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing. The CCH proposed these stages of housing for the homeless in hopes that each stage will help them get closer to becoming a permanent resident. As of January 2007, 373 people live homeless in Lawrence.
The Lawrence Shelter became the obvious choice for the new emergency shelter or the first stage of the plan. Director of the Lawrence Shelter, Loring Henderson, said the shelter had been around for 10 years and was in desperate need of more room.
“The Lawrence Shelter is currently looking for a new building,” he said.
The next stage, emergency temporary housing, will be where the homeless can stay while waiting for transitional housing or longer-term housing. For this stage, community members such as Apartment Managers Association, Grace Evangelical Presbyterian and other local church members showed an interest in building and providing one or more ETH units.
The third stage, transitional housing, will be where the homeless receive assisted housing with support services to help them through the process. The Salvation Army volunteered their interest. They said they are looking into a project for single parents and for single adults without kids. Bert Nash also showed interest and said they’d offer 13 to 15 spots of transitional housing. They are still looking for every possible funding option for transitional housing.
The last stage, permanent supportive housing, will be permanent housing with ongoing support services for the homeless. A local church showed an interest in providing five to seven units of permanent supportive housing. They said they’d be willing to provide the housing but would need stakeholders and supportive management. They are asking for a three year commitment to fund the operation.
One other component of the housing plan discussed was the clearinghouse. The clearinghouse will connect the available housing units to those in need, said Shirley Martin-Smith, a member of the CCH. The CCH said the clearinghouse is an entity that people can go to if they have a housing unit they want to donate for the homeless.
The Salvation Army, Douglas Housing Inc., Access to Services, Inc., Bert Nash and Lawrence Shelter showed their interest in either becoming the clearinghouse or collaborating with others in the process or becoming partners with someone.
The chief executive officer from Bert Nash, Dave Johnson, said they are exploring possibly partnering with the Lawrence county housing authorities in order to become the clearinghouse.
Johnson said, “Once we remove all the ‘squishy’ parts and clearly define it (the clearinghouse), we will get better proposals.”
In order for this housing plan to become a reality, the CCH and community members realize they still have a long way to go.
Katherine Dinsdale, a co-chair of the CCH said, “The inconvenient truth is there is no more city money available. We have to go to the community members to help fund this.”
However, by a vote of 5-0, the City Commission supports the housing plan purposed by the CCH. Martin-Smith said the CCH’s next goal would have to be finishing the plan by March of next year in order to qualify for some city funding. She said they plan on presenting the more clearly defined housing plan to the City Commission again, before the City Commission writes the budget for the year.
Community development manager for the CCH, Margene Swarts said, “I’m hopeful that (the housing plan) will move forward.”
Even though the housing plan still needs lots of work and devotion, local community members continue to be optimistic and show their support for the plan.
Johnson said, “We will continue to be a part of the solution, not the problem.”
Next, the CCH will have a meeting for the interested bidders on the clearinghouse. From this meeting, they hope to get a better definition of the clearinghouse and more definite answers from community members. The CCH has not set a date yet for the meeting.

At the University of Kansas, finance students gain an advantage over other universities. Recently, the University School of Business’s undergraduate program became a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program partner.
By becoming a CFA program partner, finance students will be prepared to sit for the first level of the CFA exam, which is a three-year program that has a level exam per year. Each exam is 250 hours of study. The CFA exam benefits students interested in finance, and also portfolio management, investment research, advisory services or investment banking.
Greg Green, KU senior, who is double majoring in accounting and finance, said he hopes to pass the CFA exam and become a portfolio manager.
“The CFA Institute is the most recognized and respected name for highly competitive jobs in the investment and banking industry,” Green said.
Universities wanting to become a CFA program partner must be an accredited school and have 15 credits of coursework available that cover the Candidate Body of Knowledge topics. The CBOK is a book that helps students test their knowledge and skills and ultimately, prepares them for the CFA exam.
Some of the perks to being a CFA program partner include having access to CFA’s custom curriculum, samples of model programs, webcasts, and course syllabi samples. According to Mark Hirschey, the director of KU’s CFA program, a student in the program can receive a scholarship for the first level of the CFA exam.
Those who pass the exam will become CFA Charterholders, and many career options will become available. They can choose a career in investment companies, mutual funds, insurance companies, broker-dealer/ investment banks, consulting firms, and even research and academic institutions. The biggest percentage, 25 percent, chose investment companies, and 16 percent chose broker-dealer/ investment banks.
Green said, “Once you obtain the CFA Charter, you will have the groundwork to be qualified to work in almost any job in banking or investments.”
Hirschey said, “If one reaches the CFA charterholder title, they will have a competitive advantage over other students with just a degree in finance.”
Achieving the CFA Charter for a competitive advantage is just one incentive. According to the Bureau Labor of Statistics, the finance industry is growing and demand for financial advisors is increasing, which means achieving a CFA Charter may be the only thing that sets someone above the rest.
The overall employment for certain jobs in the finance industry will increase over the years, according to the Bureau Labor of Statistics. The increase is partly because baby boomers are starting to retire, as well as, an overall wealthier population.
As the industry grows, so does the demand on universities to have the highest quality of education for students to progress in the field. Only 35 universities meet the CFA’s standards, and they are listed on its Web site.
“Having CFA is an advantage because it levels the playing field between candidates who might have otherwise had an advantage because of which school they attended,” Green said.
The program helps prepare finance students for the CFA exam, and gets them one step closer to earning the CFA charter.

Burning fevers, body aches, and sweaty chills can mean only one thing; it’s the flu season. For many this flu season will mean a trip to the doctor or clinic to get their yearly vaccination. Yet there wasn’t always a surplus of flu shots available.
In 2004, there was a major shortage of flu shots and many people were not able to receive a flu shot. This year, however, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates more than 100 million doses will be available in the U.S. With plenty of shots available, more people should be getting the shot, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Lisa Horn, the communications coordinator at the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, suggests this may be because of a lack of education.
“People may think they need to get the shot, but they don’t end up getting one because they think others with more health risks need the available shots more than they do. They haven’t learned there is no shortage this year,” Horn said.
She said some other reasons people may not be getting the flu shot include: people just don’t think they’ll get sick, some are afraid of needles, some think they don’t have enough time, and others have gotten the flu shot in previous years and have gotten sick from it.
To the last reason, Patty Quinian, a registered nurse from Watkins Memorial Health Center, said everyone’s body is different and will react differently to the immunization. Quinian said there may be redness or swelling where the shot was given, and it may cause low grade fevers and body aches.
“It’s uncomfortable but it will build your immune system. Every vaccine awakens your immune system,” Quinian said.
The flu shot is not only important for young children and the elderly, but healthcare providers like Mai Do encourage everyone to get a shot this year. Do, the marketing coordinator of Watkins Student Health Services, said education is important and complacency is not a good idea.
“The flu can take you out of work. It’s especially important if you have kids because you can pass it on to them,” Do said.
Jack Winerock, a professor of piano at the University of Kansas, said his wife has asthma, and he gets the flu shot every year because he doesn’t want to risk getting her sick. He said if his wife weren’t sick, he isn’t sure if he’d get the flu shot.
“I’d want to read more about it, and maybe look at research on Web sites,” Winerock said.
Quinian said getting the shot is very important for anyone who cares for other individuals with chronic illnesses or health problems. This makes it especially important for service workers and healthcare providers to get a shot each year, she said. Though, Quinian said there are benefits for everyone to get the shot.
“For students, it is most important to get the flu shot so they won’t miss classes or work,” Quinian said.
Sommer Amundsen, Coon Rapids, MN, senior, agreed with Quinian and said she has gotten the shot over the past years and hasn’t gotten sick. Amundsen said she’s on campus a lot and doesn’t want to risk getting sick.
“The rewards outweigh the risk factors and it doesn’t take that much time,” Amundsen said.

Nevertheless, not every student agrees that the shot is beneficial. Tim Simon, Wichita senior, said he doesn’t plan on getting the shot this year. He said he hasn’t gotten the shot because he worries about the long-term effects. He said if he knew more about the shot and had more research about its effects, he might consider getting the shot.
DeeAnne Schoenfeld, an immunization charge nurse at LHD, said so far this year, they’ve given 1,760 shots, in comparison with 4,500 shots last year. Do said Watkins has given 1,100 shots so far this year, in comparison with 2,000 last year. This number doesn’t include the 2,500 shots that the athletics department gave last year.
The choice to get a flu shot comes down to an individual preference. However, Horn still encourages people to come in and get a flu shot.
“We just really want people to know they need to get the shot and that there isn’t a shortage. It doesn’t matter what their situation is,” Horn said.
Watkins will continue to have flu shot clinics throughout KU campus until November 20th, and the Lawrence Health Department will continue to give out flu shots until the supply runs out.

’Tis the season for a more money-saving holiday shopping experience. The current state of the U.S. economy has consumers concerned this holiday. Gas prices, the worth of the U.S. dollar, and the state of the housing market are all factors in the U.S. economy and may cause holiday shoppers to spend less this year.
Wally Meyer, director of the University of Kansas Center for Entrepreneurship, said when it comes to gas prices, the demand is much higher than the supply. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if by 2008, gas prices reached $4 a gallon. Meyer said the housing market has a major effect on the economy because if people aren’t buying houses then they aren’t buying furniture and they aren’t remodeling.
“It’s a trickle down effect. Because the housing market suffers, so do other businesses,” Meyer said.
The media may also have an effect on consumer spending this season, Meyer said. The media plays an important role in consumers’ lives and can cause people to be more cautious in their holiday spending.
Inayat Noormohmad, the senior labor economist at the Kansas Department of Labor, said Kansas experienced a 1.5 percent increase in employment compared with the national average of 1.2 percent. The Kansas economy has grown over the years and has been doing better than the U.S. economy, Noormohmad said. He said this may suggest more people in Kansas are earning wages and that agriculture is doing well and producing a good yield.
“Kansas economy is still doing well, but we will just have to see if people will spend more or less this year. Consumer spending is very difficult to predict,” Noormohmad said.

Some store owners in downtown Lawrence feel optimistic when it comes to the state of the economy. Mark Swanson, the owner of Hobbs, said the store’s “traffic count” has been good so far and he anticipates it will go up from last year.
Swanson said he believes the experience for the customer is what matters the most. He said if you price it well, have an exciting product, and value the customer, then customers will come.
“We’ve already had enough doom and gloom this year, so this is a great time of the year and should be a fun experience for the consumer,” Swanson said.
Wes O’Neil, a store manager from Sunflower Outdoor, agrees that business seems to be up so far this year. O’Neil said he predicts the store will have more sales this year than last year. He believes part of its success may be because of a bigger emphasis on going outside, being healthier, and riding bikes more often.
Joe Flannery, the president of Weavers has a slightly different take on this holiday season. Flannery said he has already seen consumers being more careful in their spending. He believes the slow housing market and high gas prices will make business a bit more difficult. Flannery still predicts Weavers will do well this year and hopes to sell more than last year. Flannery isn’t sure there would be much he could do to get people to buy more.
“Customers have a set limit to spend and they only go to their favorite holiday stores,” Flannery said.
Hallmark is another store that sees more sales because of the holiday season. Jennifer Holmes, the store owner, said she has already seen a major increase in sales. Holmes said she believes this increase is because the only other Hallmark store, off in Lawrence closed down in October.
Holmes said if the economy does affect consumer spending, she believes people will take fewer trips to the store because of gas prices. People may be wary, but Holmes still predicts their store to do much better than last year.
Retailers aren’t the only ones concerned this year. According to the Conference Board, the Consumer Confidence Index shows a decrease in consumer confidence. The report is based off a representative sample of 5,000 people. Consumers were asked to assess the present conditions of the economy. From Oct. to Nov., those who said the present situation was bad increased from 16.6 percent to 19.1 percent.
Local consumers are beginning to feel the effects of the U.S. economy. Denise Johnson, a local consumer, said she will be spending less this year because they are trying to cut back. Johnson said it really had nothing to do with gas prices, but that they just wanted to cut back on clothes and things like that.
Linda Mullens, another local consumer, said she plans to spend about the same as she did last year. She said she has a planned budget each year and is pretty conservative in her spending. Mullens also said she shops only around downtown Lawrence and South Lawrence. She said she tries to get all her shopping done in Lawrence because shopping in Johnson County can get too expensive.
“In a nutshell, things don’t look good, but they actually may be better than they look,” Meyer said.
Economists have a hard time predicting consumer spending, but understanding where the economy stands can help consumers determine whether or not they need those money-saving tactics this holiday season.