SJMC Monday Memo – Sept. 23, 2024
Monday, September 23rd, 2024
Remembering NBA Hall of Fame Broadcaster Al McCoy
SJMC alum and Phoenix Suns radio broadcaster Al McCoy has died, the Suns organization announced this weekend.
McCoy spent 51 year with the Suns, making him the longest-tenured team broadcaster in NBA history. He was known for his trademark phrases “Shazam!” after a made 3-pointer and “Heartbreak Hotel” after a close loss. He retired in 2023. McCoy was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.
McCoy was born in 1933 in the town of Williams, Iowa. His first radio job was as a freshman at Drake, where he majored in in Drama-Speech and minored in Broadcast Journalism. One of his first classes at Drake was taught by Drake Relays announcer Jim Duncan.
He says the broadcast classes he took at Drake, and the mentorship he received from Duncan, were influential in his career trajectory
McCoy graduated from Drake in 1954. He moved to Arizona in 1958 and broadcast his first Suns game in 1972.
Since graduating from Drake, Al has been inspired to give to the University, most recently contributing to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s Centennial Fund—created in celebration of the school’s 100-year anniversary to ensure continued excellence.
“I derived a great deal from my time at Drake University, and fortunately, I have been in a position to give back,” McCoy said in an interview at the time.
“Al McCoy was a national treasure and an important member of our SJMC family,” SJMC Dean Catherine Staub said. “His generosity has had and will continue to have an impact on generations of Bulldogs. He will be deeply missed.”
Food and ag correspondent to join Prof. Wilson’s class
Do you want to know more about how to report on sustainability and agriculture issues? Join Professor Wilson for a class conversation with Tom Philpott, former food and agriculture correspondent for Mother Jones (2011-2022), the nation’s oldest investigative news outlet that’s produced by the Center for Investigative Reporting. The conversation takes place Tuesday, September 24, at 11:30 a.m., Room 124c, in partnership with the E.T. Meredith Center for Magazine & Multimedia Education.
Philpott is on campus as part of the Iowa Environmental Council’s Annual Conference, where he will be one of the featured speakers. Students get free entry, but must register first. Click here for the full day’s schedule of events.
Grab Free Ice Cream to Celebrate Governor Ray Day in Iowa
Celebrate the life and legacy of Governor Robert D. Ray with ice cream on Thursday, September 26, from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. on The Ray Promenade outside of Collier-Scripps Hall. The rain location is the lower level of Collier-Scripps, where The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center is located on campus.
SJMC to host two virtual generative AI workshops
Drake University professors Chris Porter and Chris Snider will lead two virtual generative AI workshops in October. The workshops are for beginners to the world of AI and for people looking to build generative AI tools into their companies.
Intro to Generative AI, 9 a.m-noon Oct. 2. Attendees will learn about current generative AI tools and gain ideas of how those tools can be used in their professional lives. We’ll also discuss how they should not be used, terms of service and ethical issues related to AI tools. This event is open to the general public. You’ll be testing out tools such as Chat GPT, Google Bard, Midjourney, DALL-E 3 and more during the day. Sign up here.
Implementing Generative AI at your Organization, 9 a.m.-noon Oct. 16. Porter and Snider have developed a nine-step process to adding AI to your workflow. In this workshop, they will introduce the process and walk you through implementing at your company. So sign up the entire team! Sign up here.
Center for Teaching & Learning to host AI Panel Discussions
The Center for Teaching & Learning will host panel discussions about generative AI topics this fall. The panelists will be Drake faculty members who are using generative AI in their classrooms and for their research. Come learn more about this transformative technology from your colleagues across the University.
The first panel, “Navigating Student Use of Generative AI”, will be held on Friday, September 27 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm in Howard Hall room 212. The panelists are Alanah Mitchell (Zimpleman), Amy Letter (A & S – English), and Dan Chibnall (Cowles Library).
Later this semester, we will be discussing how to use generative AI for instructional use, and how to use generative AI to further your research and scholarship.
The sessions are informal and you can come and go as your schedule allows. To give us an idea of how many to plan for, please open the event on the Campus Calendar and click on I’m Interested.
