A curriculum in leadership

You don't necessarily expect to hear about college basketball in your typical MBA class. But Darrin Kass (far right) isn't really your typical MBA professor. Leadership is a big part of BU's MBA curriculum and Kass is fond of talking about basketball coaches to illustrate leadership styles.

BU's MBA program does some other things differently as well, such as going outside of the classroom and climbing a mountain to hone leadership and communication stills first-hand. The shots at right are  from a trip a couple of Septembers ago to Mount Katadihn in Maine.
(A documentary on the Katadihn climb can be found here.)



In the interview below (edited by BU student Audra Briggs), Kass talks about how leadership is important to business, why he loves basketball, and how students from all majors can benefit from an MBA.

PS: Another interesting point. When I was going to college, everyone would say, "Get some experience before getting a master's degree." Kass says that's no longer (if it ever was) true. Getting the MBA right after your bachelor's degree boosts your salary down the road. — EGF.

Finding connections

One of the things that Bloomsburg prides itself on is giving students opportunities to meet with 

successful graduates. A recent mixer for business students sponsored by the Zeigler Institute for Professional Development is a great example. BU alumni gave an evening to come back to Sutliff Hall and share their experience with dozens of students in an informal reception-style setting.

From a photographer's perspective, these events happen often enough in different colleges and departments that it could be easy to forget how special they are. Technical notes: This was shot with the Canon 7 and Tokina 16-50 without any sort of flash to intrude on the conversations.

The Canon 7 was also used to shoot the video interview with BU grad Ed Artim, who's a manager for Vanguard. Artim had come back to campus with a colleague in December to share insights with students. The video editing was done by BU student Audra Briggs.

Lets get a good look at those atoms

If you look at them really closely, what do atoms look like?

Physics and engineering technology professors John Huckans and Ju Xin, along with a group of about a dozen students are working on a project to find out.

Working with the professors, the students are learning the techniques to bring rubidium atoms to an extremely low temperature (100 microKelvin), where quantum mechanical properties of the atoms are more easily observed. The atoms will be cooled and held in place by laser beams and magnetic coils within an ultra-high vacuum system. Absorption images of ultracold atom clouds will be captured with a digital camera at near-infrared wavelengths.

The top photo shows the instrument — machined metal, hoses and clamps — that the group is constructing to observe the rubidium atoms.

The second photo shows the plan of the project on the lab's blackboard. Below that Huckans talks to the team at a regular 8:30 am group meeting. The next two photos are details of the instrument.

When it's all finished, maybe we'll be able to post the absorption images here.

Talking about TV

Campbell is interviewed by BU student Joe Fisher.

Not all television stars spend most of their time in front of the camera.

Television executive and Bloomsburg alumna Rebecca Campbell returned to campus in February to share her insights into the future of her industry.

Campbell, president of the ABC-Owned Television Stations Group, is responsible for the company’s local TV stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham and Fresno. Based in Burbank, Calif., she also oversees other businesses within the group, including ABC National Television Sales, The Live Well Network and the syndicated series, “Live with Kelly and Michael.”

She gave an evening lecture and met with mass communication students and did a television interview the next morning. Her insights include: 

• The local TV market is relevant. For example, in some markets, local morning shows are competitive with network offerings.
• It's all about the content. Television was once largely  dependent on ad revenue. Today, the revenue streams are more disparate with licensing fees coming from outlets such as Netflix and Hulu.
• A bit of advice for ambitious students: Love the job you have — opportunity will follow.
• The most important qualities for success: intelligence, passion and integrity. And "without integrity, the other two don't matter."

A 1983 BU graduate with a dual major in journalism and political science, Campbell began her broadcasting career as a college student working on a local teen magazine show at KDKA-TV, Pittsburgh. Campbell previously served as president and general manager of WABC-TV, New York, and president and general manager of WPVI-TV, Philadelphia. She joined WPVI-TV as program director and also held programming and production positions at WFMZ-TV, Allentown, and WGAL-TV, Lancaster.

Students to discuss D.C. experience

The 10 Bloomsburg students who participated in The Washington Center Inaugural Seminar in January will discuss the experiences and what they've learned on Wednesday, March 6, at 6 pm in Andruss Library, Schweiker Room.

The participants are, from left: Mathew Sullivan, Abigael Moser, Jimmy Mowumbi, Tykirra Robinson, Spencer McHugh, Robin Segale, Samantha Smith, LaDeshia Maxwell, Olivia Miller and Matthew Kenny.

Students Jimmy Muwombi and Matthew Kenny were quoted in USA Today and  highlighted on C-SPAN (Muwombi at 39:30 and Kenny at 53:10).