Finding a Grad School with Peterson’s Guides
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These stories were published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on May 19, 1999.
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Television PR: War of ImagesPublicists for hi-tech companies may find it difficultto generate interest from television reporters, but Bev Aaron,creator and producer of Philadelphia WPVI-TV’s Prime Time Weekend,has actually built a 23-year career on the back of hi-tech entrepreneurstories. “Television is unique; it’s a war of images,” hesays. “It’s not necessarily `if it bleeds, it leads’ anymore,but you need to have good visual documentation.”
Aaron offers some strategies for getting science and technology stories
into the public eye at the annual dinner meeting of the Princeton
ACM/IEEE Computer Society on Thursday, May 20, at 6 p.m. at Sunny
Garden. He speaks on “Science and Technology: Reporting in the
Television Age.” Cost: $17.50. Call 609-924-8704.
A Princeton native who glowingly recalls Einstein walking past his
family house on Mercer Street, Aaron revels in science (Darwin is
his hero). He is hardly an academic, though. He left Yale in the 1960s
to join the army’s special weapons unit during the Cuban missile crisis
and never went back. Sitting in the ivory tower, he says, didn’t seem
relevant. “I wanted to be part of the real world.”
While working his way from the mail room to the documentary film unit
at WPVI-TV, the ABC station in Philadelphia, a vision for capturing
the real world on television slowly formed. “I got bored with
the typical public affairs social documentaries,” he says. “I
was casting about for a new show, looking for something pretty dramatic,
and I went up to Jim O’Brien and said: Ever thought of jumping out
of an airplane?”
O’Brien, a weatherman at the station, agreed to do the parachuting
stunt on TV, but Aaron had to take the first leap. He landed with
a broken leg and a new program for the station. [O’Brien, who become
a parachuting enthusiast, died much later in a parachuting accident.]
Prime Time Weekend covered the “risk-takers” in business,
environment, medicine, and technology then, just as it does now. “We
were doing entrepreneurs before entrepreneurs were cool,” Aaron
says. To him, entrepreneurs are modern-day adventurers. “`Could’
is perhaps the most operative word on the stock market and the media,”
he says.
The complex and often abstract nature of the stories that attract
Aaron makes his job as a producer a risky venture. One daunting thing
for television people reporting on science is finding good visual
material, he says. “A lot of great science stories don’t get done
because there’s no visuals to support them.”
Publicists can make the television producer’s job easier with a little
preparation:
Have your visual material ready. “The media-savvyones always have a videotape ready for producers like me,” saysAaron. Projects associated with a university might have the mediadepartment get the necessary footage.If you can’t get video, he says, animate it. “Whatever it is thatyou’re trying to design, come up with some visualization. There areso many great programs now that do animation.”Use PR people. Aaron’s stories largely originate withPR people or articles in newspapers or magazines.Build a great website. It may sound obvious, says Aaron,but that could be an important source for visuals as well.Aaron adds that the fastest growing part of WPVI-TV and everyother station is its website. “Instead of becoming one of thecenters of the universe, we become one of a billion stars,” hesays, humbled by the implications of the new technology. “Herewe sit in this industry and tell stories about technology, and oneof the most important stories of the century — we don’t know howit’s going to turn out.”– Melinda SherwoodTop Of PageIn Today’s BusinessManners Still CountIf you want to make money, try good-old fashioned manners,says Barry Farber, a nationally syndicated conservative talkshow host with Talk Radio Network. The good ‘ol boy from North Carolinathinks people should capitalize on etiquette. “Coming across welland having others like you is a devious tactic, and one I recommend,”he says.The Mercer Chamber of Commerce has asked Farber to share his unusualperspective as a social commentator on Thursday, May 20, at the Hyattat 11 a.m. Cost: $30. Call 609-393-4143.After 40 years on the air, Farber toes a conservative line (“mygreatest interest is bringing America back morally,” he says),but his life has been anything but conservative. He spent the greaterpart of the 1950s traveling in and out of Cuba, Brazil, the SovietUnion and Hungary to cover stories of war, revolution and repression.He speaks 14 languages (fluently) and founded the New York LanguageClub. He also wrote three books, all of which draw on conventionalwisdom to help people better themselves.”We’re all mice trying to become rats through bodybuilding,”says the self-proclaimed moralist. His third book, “How To NotMake The Same Mistake Once,” was just released by Barricade Publishers.He describes it as a kind of Aesop’s fables for adults; a series oftrue stories about people who have destroyed their friendships, relationships,careers, marriages, elections, and aspirations of every kind by “sayingor doing something extremely stupid.” Farber says it was his mother’sstory-telling that inspired him to write the book.Farber was born and “bred” in Greensboro, North Carolina,where he and his brother were raised by their stay-at-home motherand a father who worked in the clothing business. By the early ageof 14, Farber began to study Italian and, later, Norwegian and Chinese.Farber received a BA in journalism at the University of North Carolina,Class of 1952, where he was a boxer and a wrestler. A love of languagesand foreign affairs led him to Europe before he would seek out a journalismcareer on domestic shores.Farber’s unconventional track record landed him a job as a producerof the Tex McCrary and Jinx Falkenberg Show in 1957. “They likedwhat was in my background that others didn’t like,” he said. “Ididn’t just work in my local newspaper after graduating from college.”For three years, Farber lined up guests for the popular radio showhosts before breaking out on his own. “I just gradually approachedthe flame,” he says, and then “I realized that I can do thistoo.”Farber debuted on WINS in New York, covering every topic from themafia to NASA’s space program. Forty years later, Farber’s show isstill somewhat similar; he takes “whatever motivates the day”and incorporates it into the show. “It’s a great way to make aliving,” he says. “Beats plowing.”Although nothing can compete with “good breeding” (of whichFarber was a recipient), he does think people can improve businessperformance through common courtesy. He offers the following simpletips:If you hear someone’s phone ringing, offer to hold. “Youwill stand out like a volcano in a forest of Ronson lighters,”says Farber. Don’t wait for the person to ask to put you on hold.”There will be a subconscious good feeling in the heart of theperson that you do that for.”When calling a coworker at home, acknowledge the spouse.”If you say `Excuse me, is this Mrs. Jones?’ all of sudden shefeels like a person and not an answering service.”Order lunch at the same pace as everyone. “Don’t leta noticeable delay in lunch be charged to you,” he says, addingthat women are often guilty of delaying lunch with complicated requests,thereby “demoting herself from a totally equal player.”If some of these suggestions appear sexist (Farber points itout himself), there’s a good reason: “God,” he says, “ispolitically incorrect.”Top Of PageFinding a Grad School with Peterson’s GuidesGraduate school guides are traditional sources of information,at least at the initial stages of the graduate school hunt. They giveyou an overview of colleges, the programs they offer, and other pertinentinformation such as financial aid and admission requirements. Peterson’sGuides to graduate schools — produced by the Carnegie Center-basedpublishing company — are a good place to start exploring youroptions.For a person seeking to go to graduate school for a degree in communications,for instance, there is the “Arts, Humanities, and Archaeology”book/CD duo that profiles more than 5,300 accredited programs in thesefields. It also provides advice on applying, testing, and financingyour graduate education. The CD provides in-depth descriptions ofspecific graduate programs, along with the GRE test-prep software.This 900-page softback guide costs $24.95.If you are seeking a management degree, the Peterson’s 1999 exclusiveMBA guide to “U.S., Canadian, and International Business Schools”provides information on more than 900 institutions with full-time,part-time, joint-degree, distance learning, and executive MBA andmaster’s level business programs. It also provides an inside trackto the job market, career options, hiring trends, and salary details.An access advisor CD, an interactive student financial planner, comeswith the book. This 1,300-page softback guide costs $26.95.Peterson’s also has six hardback volumes, each with over 2,000 pages,purchased mainly by libraries and colleges. The volumes include anoverview; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; Biological Sciences;Physical Sciences, Mathematics, Agricultural Sciences, the Environment,and Natural Resources; and Engineering, and Applied Sciences.Each volume has a tremendous amount of information. For instance,the sixth volume, “Graduate Programs in Business, Education, Health,Information Studies, Law, and Social Work” covers more than 15,000graduate programs in 126 disciplines and provides details on entranceand degree requirements, expenses, housing, and financial aid. Thisparticular volume costs $39.95.Apart from directory listings of institutions and programs, it alsohas in-depth information about some colleges. For example, in theInformation Studies section, there are almost 60 colleges offeringthe program that are listed but only 16 institutions “have chosento prepare detailed program descriptions,” according to the guide.These descriptions include research facilities, living and housingcosts, faculty, history, location, and transportation.Information that is conspicuously absent in both the hardback andsoft back versions (with the exception of colleges that have provideddetailed descriptions in the hardback version) is living and housingcosts.All this information is also available on the Internet at https://www.gradschools.petersons.com,which Peterson’s claims is the Internet’s largest graduate study database.While both the book version and the online version have their merits,the online version is superior in one regard. It provides a listingof colleges on the basis of location, which the book version doesnot. This information is vital for someone searching for public institutionsor with a particular state preference. Searching through a list of1,500 alphabetically-listed institutions for schools in one particularstate obviously can be quite laborious.– Teena ChandyTop Of PageNo Peterson’s RankingsAnd No Advertising, EitherOne hallmark of the Peterson’s Guides is that they arenot swayed by advertising. “The difference between advertisingand what we do is that, in advertising, you get to say what you wantand where you want,” says Michael Ditchkofsky. As directorof institutional markets at Peterson’s, Ditchkofsky is in charge ofservices to the universities and colleges and he presides over theprint and web-based listings that are so popular among prospectivestudents.Founded in 1966 by Peter and Casey Hegener, Peterson’sis based at the Carnegie Center and publishes books, data bases, andsoftware for career guidance, college choices, and recruitment. Itaccepts no advertising, and it prints all of the basic listings withoutcharge, but it does allow colleges to buy expanded listings. Peterson’sedits the paid-for expanded listings to conform with its style, andit makes its own decisions about where to place the listing.”We survey every accredited graduate program in North Americaand generate a profile for every program. Schools can opt to giveadditional information, but we prescribe a format and they must writein terms of the format,” says Ditchkofsky. An alumnus of LaSalle,Class of 1981, he has a PhD in English from the University of Chicagoand has worked at Peterson’s for seven years.A standard listing might be five inches, sharing a page with fourother institutions. An expanded listing covers two facing pages andincludes what prospective graduate students are intensely interestedin, the list of faculty members, their awards, degrees, publications,and research interests. It also has an extensive quote from the admissionsdirector, which as Ditchkofsky points out, “has to be writtenby the head of the program in the form we prescribe.””The manuscript is scrupulously edited. we don’t allow anyoneto make qualitative statements, only actual viable reference information,so readers can go compare and contrast,” he says. “Also theycan’t tell us where to place it. The idea there, from the beginning,has been that when a student is looking for a particular kind of programthey can go to one place, whatever the program happens to be called.”A college seeking chemistry majors for its graduate biology programmay request to have it put in the chemistry section, but that requestwould be denied.The data is “rebuilt” every year and changes are made as receivedand “refreshed,” on the website, every two weeks. “Whenwe decided every indepth description would go up on the web, we raisedthe price of the indepth description,” he says. “Later thisfall there will be a dramatic shift, and we will offer a number ofservices only on the web, with no print equivalent. These serviceswill help the admissions directors.””When our research department sends out a survey, the institutiondoesn’t necessary know how those questions will be put together ina profile. We mail a copy of last year’s manuscript, but we don’tsend out proofs in advance. We verify volatile data by phone.”Even though admissions directors focus their marketing efforts onthe Web, because they know that is where their students are, theyusually reply to the survey on paper, so that someone at Peterson’shas to keystroke in the changes. So far, paper replies don’t costmore. “We do have price incentives,” says Ditchkovsky, “butthey have to do with getting the manuscript in early.”That may change next year after Peterson’s converts its editorialdatabase software from Signature to Oracle, a change that is takingplace company-wide. The new platform will integrate all the databases,and the in-house programmers are being trained in Oracle.Peterson’s is partnering with Educational Testing Service for onlineapplication for MBA programs, including payment through Verifone.On August 31 it will release a version for all graduate programs.Peterson’s traditionally eschews a service that news magazines supply– the ranking of colleges and graduate schools. “Financially,”says Ditchkovsky, “we would make a lot more money, on consumerpublications, if we were to rank. but we don’t believe thatranking is a valid way to make educational choices. Ranking assumesthere is one right place for every student and that all students havethe same needs and aspirations.”– Barbara FoxTop Of PageHire a Teacher,Save Some WagesYou may reconsider hiring “temps” this summer.Several area teachers are giving up a month of summer vacation towork in area businesses, and the Department of Labor will reimburseemployers for roughly 50 percent of the teachers’ wages.The new program was created by both the New Jersey Chamber of Commerceand the Department of Labor to expose teachers to crucial businessskills that will, in turn, help them better prepare their studentsto enter the workplace.Although businesses can hire a teacher for four weeks for little morethan $1,000, employers are required to appoint a supervisor who willbe enrolled in a two-day mentor training program that the Chamberof Commerce sponsors. For their part, teachers must complete an afterhours program in which they devise a way to incorporate workplacereadiness skills into classroom activities.The program will start in July. The Chamber of Commerce is currentlyaccepting teacher resumes and applications by employers. Anyone interestedshould contact the Chamber before mid-June at 609-989-7888.Top Of PageDeveloper DollarsDevelopers and commercial lenders can compete for $6million in subsidies under Governor Whitman’s Urban Home OwnershipRecover Program (UHORP). The program has just entered its fifth phaseand the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) is readyto review applications.Since its inception in 1996, the UHORP has awarded nearly $275 millionin subsidy funds, construction financing, and home-buyer mortgagesto encourage the development of affordable homes in urban neighborhoods.In that time, 68 developments, or 1,695 new homes, have been completedor developed, and 7,200 construction jobs created.Developments approved under UHORP are also eligible for participationin the HMFA 100 percent Financing Consumer Mortgage Program, whichdoes not require a down payment for qualified buyers, says HMFA executivedirector Deborah De Santis. “That means more hard-workingfamilies, who often find saving for a large down payment to be aninsurmountable hurdle, can now become home owners,” she says.The deadline for UHORP Phase Five applications is July 15. Call 609-278-7617or E-mail uhorp@njhmfa.state.nj.us. Subsidy awards will beannounced in September.Top Of PageTech Transfer AwardsThe New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology(NJCST) has just distributed nearly $2 million in Technology TransferAwards to nine companies, including five from the Princeton area.”The Technology Transfer Program gives the commission the opportunityto really accelerate the commercial adoption of important new technologies,and get new technology-based products in the marketplace,” says JohnTesoriero, the commission’s executive director. Princeton’s recipients:EpiGenesis Pharmaceuticals Inc., 2005 Eastpark Boulevard,Cranbury. Home page: https://www.epigene.com.. Basedat Exit 8A and headed by Jonathan Nyce, the eight-person firm is developingnew respiratory drugs, including the first once-weekly preventivetherapy for asthma (U.S. 1, March 17).Ocean Power Technologies, 1590 Reed Road, West Trenton(609-730-0400). George W. Taylor is president of the nine-person firm;it is working on a line of power generation buoys that can convertwave energy into electricity, for use along coastlines where accessto power grids is limited (U.S. 1, January 8, 1995).PharmaSeq Inc., 11 Deer Park Drive, Princeton CorporateCenter, 732-355-0100. Wlodek Mandecki is working on light-poweredmicrotransponders for applications in radio frequency identificationdevices that have tags, attachable to objects for identification use(U.S. 1, January 20).Westar Photonics, 88 Canal Road, Fairless Hills 19030.Edward Polkowski (215-736-3555) plans to move his company to Trenton;the firm is developing a prototype system that can do “maskless”photolithographic patterning of substrates and wafers for semiconductorproduction.WorldWater Corp. (WWAT), 55 Route 31 South, PenningtonBusiness Park, Pennington 08534. Home page: https://www.worldwater.com.Quentin T. Kelly is CEO of the 20-person company working on off-griddrip irrigation systems powered by solar energy, to be developed inpartnership with Rutgers University (U.S. 1, May 7 and October 15,1997).Other recipients included New Jersey Seafarms in Bridgeton,ElectroChemical Systems in Ridgewood, Green Drop Ink Co. in Morristown,and Sealtech Company in Weehawken. Awards are given quarterly, andthe next proposal deadline is July 13. Copies of the application maybe downloaded from https://www.state.nj./us/scitech.Top Of PageLatest in Degrees:MecomtronicsRaritan Valley Community College (RVCC) is offeringdegree programs in mecomtronics and insurance this fall. Insuranceneeds little explanation but “Mecomtronics Engineering Technology”trains students in the essentials of mechanical, computer, telecommunications,and electronics technology and prepares them for careers in engineeringtechnology.The curriculum for mecomtronics was developed by the New Jersey Centerfor Advanced Technological Education, an educational consortium bringingtogether RVCC, Middlesex Community College, St. Louis Community College,the College of New Jersey, New Jersey Institute of Technology, andthe Woodbridge School System. The program is funded by the NationalScience Foundation through its Advanced Technology Education Program.The insurance option is an Associate of Applied Science degree inBusiness Management, and includes specialized courses in propertyand liability insurance, personal insurance, commercial insurance,sales agency management, and multiple lines in insurance production.Graduates are able to work in the field as managers, customer servicerepresentatives, claims adjusters, market researchers, product developers,or as insurance educators.The degree option is the result of a collaboration between RVCC andrepresentatives from the Independent Insurance Agents of New Jersey,Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, Hunterdon County Polytech, andThomas Edison State College. For information, call 908-218-8861.Top Of PageCorporate AngelsThe Junior League of Greater Princeton has released over $11,000in community grants to twelve selected organizations. The League awardscommunity grants to organizations serving children and families throughoutMercer County, and Bucks County, Pennsylvania.First Union Bank and the Main Street Project of Lawrencevilleawarded matching grants of up to $500 to three village businessesto upgrade store signage.Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
