Members of the Catawba College community gathered in Omwake-Dearborn Chapel on April 23 to celebrate achievement. The occasion was the annual Awards Convocation.Scheduled the day after Earth Day, the awards distributed were eco-friendly, made of Catawba blue, 100% recycled glass. They symbolized the college's commitment to environmental responsibility and are a reminder to the recipients to promote a greener, more sustainable lifestyle.

Fourteen Catawba College students employed their unique gifts and talents in service to others as interns with tax-exempt nonprofit organizations during the summer of 2012. Funding and coordination for the program were provided through the college's Lilly Center for Vocation and Values. While these students clearly benefitted from the experiential learning opportunities offered through such internships, they also filled vital roles within the programs they served.

Catawba College associate professor of communication arts Dr. Tim Moreland and his friend "Chester," a six-year old Australian Shepherd, fly dogs to safe havens for Pilots N Paws animal rescue. Chester has been Moreland's co-pilot on rescue flights since his own adoption in Sarasota, FL.

Catawba College Alumnus Glen Lloyd has been named the new Assistant Director of Multicultural Programs at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota. Lloyd's duties will include overseeing the Mentoring for Student Success Program, advising the Diversity Leadership Council, and developing outreach methods to the campus community.

"New Media is a high maintenance class," says Communication Prof. Cyndi Allison Wittum. "If it's in a book, then it's already 'old' media." Wittum does use a text that covers some of the history of media and includes some sociological and psychological studies related to media use. She thinks students need to know the background in order to understand the new technological world.

"People love passion," says Cyndi Allison Wittum, a Catawba College communication professor. "I always tell my students that everyone will forgive you almost any sin if you are enthusiastic and excited about what you're doing." Wittum will be blogging this summer for Sears on a "Grilling Is Happiness" project which includes some of the top grilling and barbecue writers across the country. Sears is hosting a corporate blog to help consumers learn about and enjoy cooking outdoors.

Charter members of the Catawba College Chi Omega chapter of the national Communication Association Lambda Pi Eta honor society welcomed four new members to the organization this year. New members included Rebecca Heffernan, Allison Justice, Melanie Mishue, and Leslie McMillan. They received stamped certificates and honor society pins.

By Sarah Campbell, salisburypost.com - When Bianca Stokes started brainstorming ideas for her senior project, the Catawba College student knew she wanted to combine her love of music and talking. It didn't take her long to land on an idea that does just that.

"The Feather: Cat-U Radio" is now on the Internet, with some Catawba College students hosting and producing the broadcast and others performing during it. "The Feather" joins other virtual radio stations that can be tuned in via the Internet. The broadcast is recorded weekly and uploaded to the Internet. It showcases the talents of Catawba College students and provides another media outlet for students in addition to the online student newspaper...

Even as they were being honored Saturday, Oct. 22, as recipients of Catawba College's Distinguished Alumnus Awards, twin brothers, Benjy and Brad Hamm '86, were paying tribute to their alma mater and to future generations of students who would be shaped by their college experience as the Hamms have been.

Stephanie Cook is a senior majoring in Communication Arts at Catawba College. In the summer of 2011, she lived in Atlanta in the Midtown area and interned in the Sports Communications Office at Georgia State University, located in the heart of downtown Atlanta. In what is Catawba's first student video blog, she shows what a day in the life of an intern living in a big city is all about! Watch footage of her complex journey to work, meet some of her co-workers, and...

Catawba College's new Chi Omega chapter of the Lambda Pi Eta communication honor society held its first induction on campus on April 7. Those on hand for the induction of nine charter members included the new chapter advisor, Cyndi Wittum; chair of Communication Arts, Dr. Tim Moreland; and dean of the Ketner School of Business, Dr. Jamie Slate.

Cyndi Allison Wittum, lecturer in the department of Communication Arts at Catawba College, was recently polled by Associated Press writer Tom Breen for his article examining Charlotte as one source for great barbecue. Read the full article: "Charlotte Barbecue? Hog Experts Say Look Elsewhere" by Tom Breen.

You can now watch video of Catawba's student-athletes after various home games on the Catawba Athletics website. Catawba Athletics also now has its own YouTube channel, which you can subscribe to at www.youtube.com/catawbaindians. Stay tuned there or at GoCatawbaIndians.com for various post-game interviews with the men and women of the Catawba Indians. Stephanie Cook '12, a Communication Arts major with minors in Spanish and Business Administration, is doing the videos as part of her internship

by Stephanie Cook '12. Bonjour from France! Our group has moved from Madrid to Paris and we are enjoying our time in this magnificent city! But, before we came to Paris, my friends and I had an action-packed weekend exploring Segovia, El Escritorial, and more parts of Madrid. I have a lot of cool information to share! Friday was the last day of classes. Luckily, my class had finished up the day before as well as Dr. Wilson's class so we were able to do whatever we wanted that day!

by Stephanie Cook '12. Hey everyone! Sorry it has been several days since I have written! Unfortunately I caught a bug that has been passed around the college and has kept me feeling horrible over the past few days. I am feeling a bit better and now have some energy to write.

by Stephanie Cook '12. Hello everyone! Just got back from Barcelona a few hours ago. I thought Madrid was a really cool place, but after my excursion to the coast, I learned Barcelona is an even more fun and exciting place to visit! The city is absolutely gorgeous and filled with lots of history and BEAUTIFUL architecture. As we arrived in the city, it was obvious to see that there were Catalonian flags hanging from porches and windows...

by Stephanie Cook '12. So the main reason I am here in Madrid is to take classes to help earn my Spanish minor. Each class is very lengthy; they are three hours long and they meet every day throughout the week. We only have weekends off and we even have to meet on one Saturday! It all works out though because the classes are only 3 and a half weeks long, which is a good deal!

by Stephanie Cook '12. After a long 36 hours of traveling, we made it to our final destination! The jet lag was tough on my body, but I was too excited to focus on my exhaustion. Stepping out of the airport and breathing the cool European air was refreshing. Especially since we had a bit of a stagnant period at the airport after we landed and left the plane. One of the guys from Catawba could not find his luggage at the baggage claim!

by Stephanie Cook '12. Greetings from the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City! I am sitting in the gate with my fellow Catawba classmates waiting to board our plane at 11:20 PM. It is only 8:30 PM right now so we have a few hours to kill. Even though we have had to wait for a while, we were fortunate to have seen Beyonce and Jay-Z walk by us! Read more...

By Cyndi Allison, Barbecue Master Blog. My 2010 college newspaper class took us from print to online with The Pioneer, so I am super proud of this hard working group. We like to end the year with a cook out. I do that now, because students were a bit challenged with grilling for groups. Hum. Let's see. One forgot to bring gas. Another had damp charcoal, and I had to run in and microwave the hot dogs before we starved. So, it works out for me to go ahead and do the grilling.

"I can't think of anything I'd rather talk about than barbecue," says Cyndi Allison Wittum, a Communications lecturer at Catawba College. "That's my passion. Chopped pork on a white bun with a vinegar-based sauce. That is 'good eating.' "

By Elizabeth Cook, salisburypost.com. When former Post Sports Editor Ed Dupree took an interest in twins Benjy and Brad Hamm, he set in motion two award-winning journalism careers. Benjy is editorial director of Landmark Community Newspapers, guiding the news side of 56 paid-circulation papers, seven college sports publications and several free publications. Brad is the dean of the Indiana University School of Journalism, expanding a tradition-rich program and leading some of the nation's top jo

Since 1926, Catawba College's student newspaper, The Pioneer, has been a printed publication. Not anymore; it's now online at www.catawba.edu/pioneer. Students enrolled in Communication Arts Instructor Cyndi Wittum's Applied Journalism course have been working on stories and photographs for the new online site since the beginning of the fall semester.

"I wasn't sure how many people would show up for "Take Your Parents to Class" on Friday [September 25th]," says Cyndi Allison Wittum, a Catawba College Communication Arts Instructor. "It's hard to compete with football games and ice cream socials when you're offering a class lecture."

It started as just a cookout on the banks of the Yadkin River, but after a drowning teen was rescued from the rain-swollen water, the meal was especially comforting. Catawba College communication arts lecturer Cyndi Allison Wittum was excited about being selected to host a Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 meal. Cyndi did not, however, bank on her son rescuing a drowning teenager right in the middle of the meal she prepared on Saturday, May 30th.

"I thought perhaps a friend was playing a joke," says Cyndi Allison Wittum, a Catawba College Communication Arts lecturer. "It's not typical for an editor from a national magazine to send an e-mail about covering an assignment, especially when you've never written for the magazine."

It takes something pretty amazing to get college students out of the bed voluntarily before the sun rises. Not only were Catawba College students Brandon Lee Coble, Amanda Sowards, Rob Fields, Jen Trout, and Skip Walpole, waiting at the back steps of the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business facility at 5:30 a.m., they were dressed in their best and looking like young professional adults.

Their topics were wide-ranging: travel in Costa Rica, kettle bell training, law and dis-order, what to do while in New York City, even a blog about World Missions Outreach. Students in the Online Publication class offered by Catawba College's Communication Arts program spent the semester learning how to plan and create blogs.

"My passion is writing," says Cyndi Allison Wittum, Communication Arts instructor. "In the back of my mind, I dreamed of hosting my own web page at some point, but I was content to write for online magazines." The turning point came last year when an online magazine that housed a large collection of Cyndi's grilling articles sold out to a large Internet company.

by Aly Halter '10. Junior Aly Halter of Hertford is a member of Catawba's Honors program. Halter is majoring in communication arts with a minor in Spanish. Halter is also a Junior Marshal for the 2008-2009 academic year. Halter is sharing her experiences abroad in Costa Rica in the blog.

Casey Lane Hudgins is a senior from Stuart, Va. Hudgins, a former member of the Catawba College Swim Team, now assists the current team and has served on the staff of the student newspaper, "The Pioneer." She is majoring in Communication Arts and minoring in Speech, and plans to graduate with her classmates in May of 2008.

If you had told Catawba College Alumnus Adrian Parker '99 that he would be working in NASCAR after he graduated from college, he likely wouldn't have believed you. But now he is a believer, having just wrapped up his fifth year in the business, the last two of which he has spent as the account manager for the Concord, North Carolina-based Roush Fenway Racing's #17 DEWALT Ford driven by Matt Kenseth.

FORT MYERS, FL - The process of becoming a Saint usually takes decades or even centuries and involves having a life of almost perfect virtue during that time. For the voice of the Fort Myers Miracle, Sean Aronson, it took just a few years to reach the status of becoming a Saint, a Saint Paul Saint, that is. Aronson is leaving the Miracle to become the new radio voice of the St. Paul Saints.

Catawba College Communication Arts Lecturer Cyndi Allison Wittum was the designated dishwasher when she was growing up because she always burned the food. "I put Pop Tarts in the toaster," said Wittum. "I ducked around the corner to watch cartoons. The corner of one of the breakfast pastries caught in the edge of the toaster, and my Pop Tarts were scorched black."