Adjuncts bring experience
By Stephanie Cannon
This year four fresh faces have
graced the mass media department.
These adjuncts bring real world
experience and a fresh perspective to
their lectures.
Eric Weslander began teaching
MM300, Mass Media Law, this
spring. He is also a practicing attorney
at Lathrop & Gage LLP in Kansas
City, where he handles cases in areas
including media law, environmental
law and contracts.
After obtaining a degree in
journalism from Kansas University
in 1999, Weslander continued his
education at the Washburn School of
Law school and graduated in 2010.
Teaching media law is something
that highly interests Weslander.
“Media law is one of the most
fascinating subjects around. The fact
that I get to talk about things like Kim
Kardashian look-alikes, government
spying, lewd advertisements, fighting
words, and monkey selfies makes my
job easier and (I hope) makes the class
more interesting for students,” said
Weslander, when speaking about his
class.
His goal is to not only expose
page 12
New Faces
students to the substantive areas of the
law, like defamation, privacy, access
and more, but also to give them a
better understanding of how the law
works who makes it and how; how
–
it reflects cultural values and societal
judgments; and how attorneys and
judges think about it.
“I have enjoyed getting to know
the students and the discussions
we have had in class, and the
staff has been very helpful and
supportive,” Weslander said.
Krystal Wiltz is another new
adjunct in the mass media department.
Starting this year Wiltz taught Intro to
Mass Media.
A returning graduate, Wiltz
obtained her BA from Washburn
University. She studied mass media
with an emphasis in advertising and
a minor in electronic art. She then
went on to obtain her MBA from
Baker University and is cur rently
an operations manager at The Home
Depot Distribution Center in Topeka.
She enjoys teaching at Washburn
and she tries to bring that enjoyment
to her students
“In my class, I want students to
experience the different mediums
hands-on. I take students on tours
of different sites like the Topeka
Capital Journal, KTWU, Nationwide
Learning, and WIBW radio,” said
Wiltz. “I also have guest speakers
come and share information about a
particular subject such as advertising
and PR.”
Another face that has been seen in
the mass media department is Gene
Cassell, husband to Regina Cassell,
who is currently the director of student
media and lecturer in the mass media
department.
Gene Cassell, who is in his 16th
year as Washburn’s sports information
director, taught Sports in the Media
this fall. Cassell is a 1997 graduate
from Northwest Missouri State
University, where he graduated with
a BS in journalism with a minor in
broadcasting.
John Summers is the last media
adjunct, teaching radio classes for
Washburn and he is currently the news
director at WIBW radio.
washburn.edu/massmedia