Christy Whitehead Student Toolbox Profile
Fourth Draft
4/7/09
Name: Christy Whitehead
Undergraduate or Graduate: Graduate
Class: 2010
College: CBBS
Major: Economics
Scholarship or Fellowship Recipient: Yes
Interesting Facts: Speaks highly of faculty engagement and Clemson Experience as well as the importance of fellowships; thesis on broadcast regulations and reality television
Reality Revealed. Fellowship Funded. Future in Focus.
Have you ever questioned the nature of reality television and why it has become so popular? Economics graduate student Christy Whitehead has, and she is collecting and analyzing data to show how the removal of the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules (Fin-Syn) — which were enacted in the ’70s by the Federal Communications Commission to prevent the big three television networks from owning or syndicating any of the nighttime programming they aired — may have caused a surge of reality programming in recent years.
“I’ve built a theoretical model that makes a prediction about how the removal of a specific syndication rule caused networks to increase game shows and reality programming,” says Christy.
Given that the average U.S. household watched television for 8 hours and 18 minutes a day from September 2007 to September 2008 (a record high), and 99 percent of Americans own at least one television,* research such as Christy’s could become a powerful tool for documenting modern American culture.
Within the next year, Christy will complete her thesis, and after, she plans to either go into the corporate sector or join academic life, options afforded by her choice of study.
“A degree in economics is just so versatile,” says Christy, a Fort Hill, S.C., native. “After all, economics is not just mathematical computations and numbers. It’s all about decision-making and incentives, consequences and outcomes.”
Christy’s love for economics is not new. She received an undergraduate degree in economics from Clemson. When she decided to go to graduate school, she found that nowhere was as welcoming and impressive as her alma mater.
“The faculty at Clemson genuinely reached out to me, recruiting me to join the Clemson program,” says Christy. “With all the other schools, I could hardly get a phone call returned, but Clemson faculty really impressed me with their support and encouragement. It was the faculty who brought me back here.”
Fortunately for Christy, her opinion of Clemson was strengthened once she returned to the College of Business and Behavioral Science. Professors who actively engage students in research activities and intellectual inquiry, who promote teamwork among students and who nurture leadership development energized and inspired her.
“Faculty are really supportive of students and encourage collaboration between peers,” says Christy. “At most other schools, the environment encourages students to be cutthroat and only out for themselves. At Clemson, students work together as a team, which enables us to learn a lot — not only from the faculty and the program, but from each other.”
In addition to a superior learning environment and stimulating faculty, Clemson offered Christy a fellowship so she could focus on her studies instead of worry about how to afford school, a facet Christy considers vital to her choice to continue her education.
“A fellowship enables me to focus on my research. Not having to worry about finances or going into massive debt is huge,” Christy claims, adding, “When you financially support a fellowship for a graduate student, you are directly funding a world-changer; you’re making an investment in the future and in our society.”
* Source: A.C. Nielson Co.