12 La Salle University Communication Majors Selected to Work as Interns for NBC at 2006 Winter Olympics

Twelve La Salle University Communications majors will be working as NBC interns at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy during February.

NBC representatives visited La Salle in March to present the Winter Olympic internship to communication majors, said Lynne Texter, chair of the Communication Department at La Salle.

Only six universities nationwide were invited to participate in the internship program with NBC: La Salle University, Syracuse University, George Washington University, The University of North Carolina, Ithaca College and Iona College.

The La Salle students will work 12 or more hours per day, seven days a week. Most will be going for three weeks. Two interns will be production associates; two will be runners; and eight will be loggers (taking detailed notes on videotape of Olympic events). Texter said the interns will work alongside NBC employees in the international media village in Torino.

Although the games are held in the middle of La Salle’s spring semester, the students won’t fall behind: they will receive three credits for the internship (which is a common practice for any internship), and courses have been restructured to allow them to keep pace.

Texter worked with Dr. Richard Nigro, La Salle’s Provost, and Dr. Thomas Keagy, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, to provide an academic experience that will "wrap around" the internship. For example, Texter designed special courses and formats for the interns so that they will be able to take class before and after they travel to Italy. One course will be Communication and Culture, and it will have the students incorporating their international experience with course readings and assignments.

La Salle’s Dean of Students, Dr. Joseph Cicala, worked with the Communication Department about other details to allow the students to take advantage of this opportunity.

The students are Adam Bagni, a junior from Taunton, MA; Anthony Bianco a senior from Pennsauken, NJ; Brandon Davidow, a junior from Perkasie, PA; Matthew DeLucia, a junior from Lumberton, NJ; Maria A. Dikun, a senior from Willow Grove, PA; Kevin Feeney, a senior from Philadelphia; Matthew Juliano a senior from Warrington, PA; Hannah Loper, a senior from Craley, PA; Trevor Maki, a sophomore from Abington, PA; Benjamin Rosehart, a senior from Plymouth Meeting, PA; Nicholas Smalarz, a junior from Philadelphia, and David Sullivan, a sophomore from Oakmont, PA.

Click here to go to the official site of the 2006 Winter Oylmpics

Jon Caroulis, University Communications