Randi Larson
News Editor

The WTAMU Department of Communication has a week filled with activities for its annual Communications Week Feb. 16-20.

The theme this year is, “Are you smarter than a communication major?” pulled from the popular game show of a similar name.

The week’s activities are designed to inform and involve students in activities that emphasize the importance of communication in a variety of ways.

The Communications Week Committee is comprised of students communication students Jill Whitfield, Amber Meredith, Danielle Collins and Keith Penn, and two faculty advisors: Dr. Leigh Browning and Dr. Trudy Hanson, all of which have contributed to the week’s activities.

“I think there is a lot more excitement because of the communication week committee, their enthusiasm and ideas were incorporated into what we’re doing,” Dr. Trudy Hanson, department head of communication, said. “This is an event doctored by the communications department to bring visitors to our department and what our majors offer,” said.

The committee worked hard to achieve the level of interest they hope to attain this year.

“We’ve put public service announcements on the radio, we did posters, we’ve had good advertising,” Meredith said.

Last year we had a good turn out, but we wanted more people to get involved and see what we do, it’s going to be really fun.”

Communication Week will kick off with an alumni panel in Legends of the Jack B. Kelly Student Center Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.

The panel includes WT Communication Alumni Zenobia Harris, currently serving as a law clerk in Austin; Ryan Loyd, who works with a non-profit organization in Midland and serves as an adjunct professor at UT-Permian Basin; and Kenna Pruitt, unit coordinator of marketing and promotions for Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

The panel discussion aims to teach students more about careers in communication.

Next on the agenda will be the “Are You Smarter than a Communication Major?” contest between four teams made up of one speech major, one broadcast major, one advertising public relations major and one graduate student on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. in the Happy State Bank Studio Theatre.

Questions will be asked about the communication field to determine if participants truly are smarter than a communication major.

“The show is going to be really fun, in ‘Are you smarter than a communications major’, we’re going to ask different questions from communications majors, and quiz everybody, we split up the majors so it’d be fair,” Meredith said.

On Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the foyer of the Fine Arts Complex, there will be a book signing for “Pride of the Panhandle” written collaboratively by former WT communication instructor, Dave Wohlfarth.

Students will also be performing narratives from the book.

The week will end on Friday, with a presentation by Sandra de Castro Buffington, followed by a reception and a showcase of works done by students in the program.

De Castro Buffington is from Hollywood, Health and Society and will give a presentation demonstrating how TV medical dramas are serving to inform the general public about health issues.

De Castro Buffington will show how storylines involving health issues serve as a springboard for the public to learn from an entertainment series.

“We have been doing this event every year since 2005, however, this is only the second year it’s been a department wide event, prior it was only the speech communication department,” Hanson said.

All events are free and open to both students and the general public.