Renee Freismuth worked at the Daily Kent Stater for a while, but she wanted to work at an outlet that better suited her public relations major.

Then she heard about the Flash Communications program, which was started in the fall of 2003.

"This is the first time on campus that public relations and advertising majors have gotten to get involved in this (kind of program)," said Freismuth, a junior. "Here, we actually get to apply what we learn in class. In class we don't get to actually write the pitch letters (to editors) or make the phone calls (to clients). We get to start that a bit earlier here."

The program started with two public relations majors in the fall and expanded to six public relations and advertising majors in the spring. Rob Jewell, an instructor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the program's coordinator, said there already are eight students lined up for the paid positions for the fall of 2004.

Freismuth said she and the other students work closely with the staff of University Communications and Marketing to complete projects and jobs for clients, which all come from within the university.

"Every Tuesday morning I work early," Freismuth said. "I attend (the staff) meetings at 8:30 a.m., and we talk about what we're working on. (The university staff) might ask us to write something for them or edit something."

She said her biggest project this semester was the Wick Poetry Center's 20th anniversary, for which she wrote news releases for local media.

Anya Cottage, senior advertising major, said that project also kept her busy, as did writing stories for e-Inside Kent State and writing news releases for the Kent State Opera and the annual Symposium on Democracy.

"The students supplement what the staff here already does," Cottage said. "They assign us jobs, give us things to do and let us come up with ideas."

She said one of the most beneficial parts of the program for her has been learning how to interact with clients.
"I would have never had that experience in the classroom," she said.

Fran Collins, associate professor of advertising, said anytime a student has the opportunity to apply what he or she learned in the classroom, the student will benefit from the experience.

"Even getting an A on an assignment can't compare to seeing his or her work in print or hearing it on the air and