Reporter

Path to Success. Two Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology students in the Information Technologies won first place in the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) Region Three Student Conference recently. Kelby Choate and Jerome McCrary proved that their team skills had the winning formula.

Association of Information Technology

OSUIT's chapter of AITP took a group of 12 students to the conference, which was held at Sam Houston State University outside of Houston, Texas.

The categories of the competition that the students entered included Application Development, Network Design, PC Troubleshooting and MS Office Solutions.

The focus of the AITP club is to provide the foundation for students to succeed in the IT environment, and provides opportunities for members to learn communication and networking skills. The club also provides scholarships to outstanding IT students.

Dipping Together. The Melting Pot of Tulsa, 300 Riverwalk Crossing, has joined St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for the eighth annual Thanks and Giving campaign. The campaign runs through Dec. 31 and asks guests of the restaurant to "give thanks for the healthy kids in your life, and give to those who are not" by raising funds for cancer research.

During the Thanks and Giving campaign, each table at The Melting Pot will receive a $5 off coupon to use in January for considering a donation to St. Jude. Every dinner check presented to guests will include a line for them to easily make a donation to St. Jude.

The Melting Pot Restaurants also offer additional support for St. Jude with the ongoing Fondue a Cure for Childhood Cancer signature chocolate fondue bars. For each $5 bar purchased, $1 is given to the hospital. Donations can also be made online at meltingpot.com/fondueforthekids.

Take Over. Nancy Bizjack has been named editor-in-chief of Intermission, the award-winning program magazine of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. An alumna of the University of Tulsa, Bizjack was assistant editor of Intermission from 2003 to 2005 and has been managing editor since 2006, along with her responsibilities as marketing assistant for the facility.

Before joining the PAC staff in 2003, Bizjack was a scriptwriter for Narrative Television Network, the Emmy Award-winning company that makes movies and TV accessible to blind and visually impaired people. Prior to that, she was assistant editor of Oklahoma magazine.

Bizjack succeeds Director of Marketing Nancy Hermann, who was editor-in-chief of Intermission for nearly 20 years. Hermann will serve as consulting editor for Intermission while devoting more time to PAC marketing.

Workin' It. Most journalist students do internships for experience in their field. For a group of Langston University students, an up'n'coming country singer-songwriter, Coy Taylor, is helping to broaden their experience with his current tour.

As part of his public relations team, LU students are learning to conduct tour press under the instruction of Professor Lisa Rollins. The young journalists research media outlets to promote Taylor. Television, print/newspaper and radio are the different forms of media students are assigned to weekly; the students follow Taylor's tour dates for the appropriate city to promote in. Taylor, 31, contacted Rollins to oversee his PR work; she eventually decided to let her students help. Rollins, an experienced journalist, who serves as the chairwoman of the Department of Communication, assists students as they pitch phone calls to the media.