Students in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications’ television, radio and film department won a bronze Telly Award for excellence in an online program for their production of “Dead Letters,” a six-episode, original TV series, according to a May 15 press release from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

“Dead Letters” tells the story of Perry Glass, a struggling writer, and his two co-workers, Charlie Atwood and Richard Martin. The three work in the post office’s mail recovery office, better known to them as the dead letter office. Each day, they work together to sort undeliverable mail, searching for answers and discovering where the letters need to go.

The Telly Awards, founded in 1978, honor outstanding film and video productions. Drawing submissions from top international firms and local production companies, the 34th annual Telly Awards received more than 12,000 entries from five countries and all 50 states.

Entries for the Telly Awards do not compete against one another, but instead are judged based on a high standard of merit. All entries that receive high honors, after the judging process, are awarded either a Silver or Bronze Winner Telly statue. If no entries meet this high standard, then no winner is declared.

Mary Castellanos, a 2013 graduate of the TRF department, said the production process for the TRF 452/652: “Television Production” course was extremely time consuming and challenging, but winning the Telly Award was very rewarding.

“People that have been working in the industry for so many years enter their own work, and we won,” Castellanos said. “We’re only students and we won.”

The three-credit course, taught by the TRF department chair Michael Schoonmaker, officially met only once a week, but students put in many extra hours to produce the series. They worked to complete one episode almost every week of the semester.

Castellanos said she met with the three other writers, Rachel Samples, Marc Sollinger and Amy Zeis, almost every day. For three or four hours, they discussed their plans for the coming week and put together as much as possible to create a perfect script for each episode.

In a class of only 20 students, they worked collaboratively and often had to multi-task. Castellanos, for example, said that although she was primarily a writer, she also worked with the design team and helped edit occasionally.

Rachel Samples, a senior TRF major, worked as a writer and an actress in the series. She played “Charlie Atwood,” an employee in the dead letter office. Samples said she worked hard during production to balance her commitments to the writing team and to her character.

“It was the most intensive class I’ve ever taken, but I already miss it,” Samples said. “It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”

Charles D Schulz, a 2013 graduate of the TRF Master’s program, said the course was almost like a job. He would arrive on set hours before filming began to work on the lighting design. And even when he wasn’t actively working on the set, Schulz said he was constantly thinking of ways to improve the series.

After screening the series to a packed audience in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium at the end of the Fall 2012 semester, the “Dead Letters” crew received an overwhelming amount of support and praise for their work.

Schulz said that the audience applauded after every episode and many viewers told him how much they enjoyed the show. However, winning the Telly Award gave credence to the accomplishment.

Said Schulz: “I feel even more validated after winning this award…people that are objective and not necessarily close to you are telling you that you did a good job. It really meant something to me.”

“We were actually separated into two different rooms when we were deciding on the schools that we were going to,” Weston said.

Tanner agreed and said, “It was really just random happenstance that we ended up picking the same one, and the same major.”

The program of choice was the School of Architecture’s five-year undergraduate program at Syracuse University. Now, after five years of enduring all-nighters, making dozens of models and fretting about reviews, twins Tanner and Weston will graduate this weekend with SU’s Class of 2013, then head off to different cities to begin new jobs and live apart from each other.

Tanner and Weston grew up in the small town of Montague in Western Massachusetts. As kids, they didn’t have access to cable or Internet, a factor that forced them to spend time together playing outside or being creative.

The two played a lot of sports and took up drawing in their free time. What started out of a necessity to entertain themselves became a habit — then a passion.

It was their mutual love for art that later influenced their college decisions.

“We originally didn’t know we wanted to do architecture, but we were really art-oriented in high school,” Tanner said. “That was kind of a start to becoming an architecture student. You can make stuff with your hands and draw, and that’s kind of what we like to do anyway.”

The two visited SU as a last-minute addition to their list of potential-colleges . They loved the campus and the architecture program, and both ended up choosing it as their top school.

Though the twins were surprised by their mutual choice, their father, Daniel Halkyard, wasn’t.

“The fact that they both chose that program is really not unusual,” he said. “They’ve done so many things together throughout growing up, it seems natural that they would do that.”

The Halkyard twins have never regretted their choice to attend the same college. In both their shared experiences and separate lives, the two have loved every minute at SU.

“I love Syracuse. I don’t know any other experience, but I can honestly say this has been the best five years of my life,” Weston said.

In the last five years at SU, Weston and Tanner have shared a handful of adventures.

Together they survived the first year of architecture. They spent sleepless nights in the studio, racing to finish projects. They traveled across Europe while abroad in Florence, Italy. On Halloween, they dressed as the Winklevoss twins from “The Social Network.”

And just a week ago, they completed their most important adventure yet: presenting their final theses to complete their undergraduate studies.

“It probably made it better to experience that all together,” Tanner said. “You’re not going through it alone. You know that if your twin can get through it, clearly you can get through it.”

And though all of that time together might drive some siblings crazy, Tanner and Weston used their similarities to fuel their competitive sides, which led them to be more productive and successful.

“Everything gets to be competitive,” Tanner said. “A lot of times, it’s fun because there’s this person that’s always pushing you to be better.”

Weston added, though, that they often competed to separate themselves.

“We grew up with this mental notion that we were this one thing or unit to everyone else,” Weston said.

But soon, the need to define themselves as separate individuals won’t be a factor. After graduation and 22 years of living side by side, the twins will be taking jobs in different cities and pursuing their dreams in separate places. Working as an architectural draftsman, Weston will head to Martha’s Vineyard in June. Tanner will begin a job as an architectural designer in Boston just a few days later.

While the two share an undeniably close past, the consensus among family and friends seems to be that they’ll be just as successful as individuals.

“I’ve seen different sets of twins in my life, and I think they’re very independent,” said younger brother Cade Halkyard, a sophomore art photography major at SU. “I don’t think they’ll be sad at all. They always find friends, and they’ll always be with each other in the end.”

Their father is just as confident.

“I think it’s a blessing; I think it’s unique, to be able to go through life with someone that close that you’ve grown up with and know intimately,” Daniel Halkyard said. “But really, they’ve developed into their own people at Syracuse. I think they’ve developed a lot more independence over the last five years.”

The twins aren’t worried about separating, either. Though their jobs are in different places, their past experiences have proven there’s no guarantee they won’t end up together again in the future.

“We definitely want to see what it’s like to not be together and to make our own mark,” Weston said. “We definitely talk about opening a firm. But who knows?”

Said Tanner: “We’re kind of open to anything at this point.”

Five Point Productions, a theater production company founded by a small group of Syracuse University seniors, will be putting on an off-Broadway show in September.

Earlier this year, Five Point submitted its show, “American Games,” to The Araca Project. The play, centered around the game of baseball, was written by senior television, radio and film major Kevin Slack, who is also a columnist for The Daily Orange.

The entire Five Point Productions team includes students Will Pullen, Katie Lynch, Dario Caudana, Peter Sansbury and Andy Striph. 2012 alumnus Phil Blechman will direct the show.

Striph, one of the founding members of Five Point, said the production company chose to move forward with the script because of the play’s message, which goes beyond the game of baseball.

“It’s more about whether or not a young person can handle the responsibility life is throwing at him,” said Striph, a senior acting major.

Founded in 1997, The Araca Project selects plays written by alumni from the University of Michigan, Florida State University, Northwestern University and SU, then gives them the tools to produce an off-Broadway show that will run for a short period of time.

When Five Point decided to submit Slack’s script for “American Games” to The Araca Project, the group was already prepared for Pitch Day in New York City. The script was adapted from one Slack wrote two years ago.

“Two or three weeks ago, we went down for the pitch,” Slack said. “All the guys were in the room, which was pretty cool. And that day they called us back and they said they wanted to do it.”

Since then, all members of Five Point have been hard at work trying to push the show forward to get it ready for August rehearsals. They recently held a casting call, and in June, they will all travel back to NYC for a producer workshop.

Slack’s play focuses on a former baseball phenomenon who slips out of the spotlight after being a much-hyped prospect.

“I’m a huge baseball fan, and I was kind of interested in how athletes are getting huge amounts of attention so young, especially in baseball, where prospects get started in high school,” he said.

Slack said he got the idea for the show after watching Stephen Strasburg, a pitcher for the Washington Nationals, move through the minor leagues.

“This guy had so much pressure on him, people were talking about if he was going to meet expectations, and then he strikes out 14 Pirates in his debut, but then he got hurt,” Slack said. “And I thought, ‘What would happen if this guy just decided he didn’t want to do it anymore?’”

The play is about whether the protagonist can handle life’s responsibilities. Slack said he came up with the storyline by asking, “What if?”

Five Point member Dario Caudana said they all quickly fell in love with “American Games.”

“The writing and the dialogue are great,” Caudana said, describing the script. “Very quick-witted, smart characters that talk at an electric rate.”

“American Games” will run in early September at The American Theatre for Actors at 314 W. 54^th St. in NYC. Five Point members hope the Syracuse network in the city will help fill the seats.

“The great thing about Syracuse is that we all look out for each other, on any kind of level,” Caudana said. “We call it the Orange Mafia.”

The show won’t end with “American Games,” though. Five Point Productions isn’t ready to stop after just one play.

Said Caudana: “This is just the beginning. We’ve all agreed that this is not the only thing we want to do.”

Take a picture with Otto

No other campus has an orange for a mascot, so live it up. All pictures with Otto are frame-worthy. Take it with family or friends, but let’s face it, your friends feel just as much — if not more — like your family now, too.

Write your name in Chuck’s Cafe

Now is the time. Follow your fellow alumni and write your name somewhere on the walls of Chuck’s Cafe, a bar you’re probably going to miss frequenting during the wee hours of the morning. Use paint, permanent markers or crayons to write your name on the wall, table or even an empty pitcher of beer. It’s all been done before. Leave your mark and leave a little piece of yourself in SU history.

Do the Dome stomp

Chances are, your freshman-year resident adviser brought your floor on a field trip to do the Dome stomp — and you haven’t been back since. Relive those glory days of hearing your stomp reverberate up the cement walls just one last time, but this time, in your cap and gown after commencement.

Throw a Frisbee on the Quad

College campuses and Frisbees go together like peanut butter and jelly. It’s an iconic college game. And on a sunny day, the Quad is filled with students throwing around the disc. Take advantage of it, and blame it on the wind if the Frisbee doesn’t go exactly where you intended.

Kiss on the Kissing Bench

One of SU’s oldest traditions is filled with love: Kiss your loved one on the bench on the west lawn of the Hall of Languages and you’re destined to be together for the rest of your lives. Graduation weekend might be your last chance for this opportunity, so don’t miss it. It could change your future.

The former Wu-Tang Clan member will perform at The Westcott Theater on May 5. Fresh off the release of his latest album, Ghostface Killah has been in the hip-hop game for more than 20 years.

Known as the most prolific member of the Wu-Tang Clan, he debuted in 1996 with the album “Ironman,” and hasn’t slowed down since: Ghostface Killah has produced 10 albums and recently released “Twelve Reasons To Die” on April 16.

Known for his clever rhymes, the legendary emcee describes himself on the Wu-Tang Clan website as “one of the most creative n***** in the game.”

Ghostface is also known for his work on the soundtrack of fellow Wu-Tang Clan member RZA’s 2012 action film, “The Man with the Iron Fists.” The film was written by, directed by and stars RZA. Ghostface Killah makes an appearance on two tracks on the soundtrack, “Blackout” and “I Go Hard.”

But it wasn’t until Kanye West’s compilation album, “Cruel Summer,” that Ghostface made a more mainstream comeback. He was featured on one of the album’s hit singles, “New God Flow,” along with Pusha T.

With the release of “Twelve Reasons To Die,” Ghostface has gone in a new direction. Based off of a comic book of the same name, the album was produced and composed by Adrian Younge, with RZA as executive producer. The album debuted at No. 27 on Billboard’s Hot 200 and had 15,000 sold copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The album debuted right on the heels of Wu-Tang’s reunion at the 2013 Coachella music festival. Method Man, GZA, Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, Masta Killa, Raekwon, RZA, U-God and Cappadonna came together to perform fan favorites from their first album in celebration of the group’s 20th anniversary. Wu-Tang will release an anniversary album later this year titled, “A Better Tomorrow,” according to Billboard.com.

Opening for Ghostface Killah at Sunday’s show will be producer Adrian Younge; Go Go Gadget Pink Packet, who describes their sound as “hip-hop with a 90s, Nickelodeon influence”; experimental hip-hop group The Goonies; and iREALZ, DJ Afar and Mage 9.

The show starts at 8 p.m. with doors opening at 7 p.m. Tickets for the event are $20 and are available for purchase on the Westcott website.

His solo albums range from silly to downright unlistenable, and too often the rapper who bragged about his futuristic beats felt outdated by his peers. But on “#willpower,” will.i.am’s fourth go-round on the solo album circuit, he found his new muse.

You’re now rocking with will.i.am and Britney, b*tch.

Lead single “Scream & Shout,” a reckless track with a British accent-feigning Spears sing-talking over a pogoing bass beat, encapsulates the decadent spectacle that is “#willpower.”

Think too much about will.i.am’s robotic vocals or Spears’ refusal to actually sing, and it comes off as a self-absorbed vanity project. But unplug your brain for half an hour and this album starts looking really good on the dance floor.

With 15 tracks clocking in at one hour and abounding with throwaway tracks — “Gettin’ Dumb” is a cacophony of drum machines and tinny synthesizers, and “Geekin’” features a laughable “Get my geek on” chorus — “#willpower” is will.i.am at his most ridiculously self-indulgent, basking in his Auto-Tune-drenched beats.

Even though he checks in with a case of advanced narcissism, there are still some club jams that exist for the love of late nights, neon lights and plenty of booze.

“This Is Love” rivals Swedish House Mafia at its danciest, and will.i.am and duet partner Eva Simons sound unabashedly enthusiastic belting over a beat running rampant with earworm hooks. “Hello” flourishes with will.i.am’s knack for writing catchy-as-hell choruses, so even when his flow in the verses stumbles, his chants of “everyone have fun tonight” channel Wang Chung at their one-hit-wonderest.

Spears wasn’t the only singer who jumped on will.i.am’s ego-stroking bandwagon, either. Justin Bieber gives a soulful, arresting performance on “#thatPOWER,” flexing some surprisingly strong pipes on the track’s chorus.

Washed-up Disney starlet Miley Cyrus shows up on “Fall Down,” an almost-shameful clone of Flo Rida’s “Whistle.” The acoustic, glossy summer-jam sheen that will.i.am slathers on the tune decomposes into his usual wheelhouse of thumping bass and regal synths, but Cyrus sounds remarkably mature, her voice dropping its whiny, nasally edge.

Ex-Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger proves she’s still got it on “Far Away From Home,” and hook-singer extraordinaire Skylar Grey gives a solid — if uninspired — performance on “Love Bullets.”

But why will.i.am didn’t balk at putting embattled hip-hop thug Chris Brown on his guest list is baffling. “Let’s Go” is one of “#willpower’s” weakest, and Brown’s yelping voice is no Fergie.

“#willpower” will — and already has, thanks to “Scream & Shout’s” inescapable radio airplay — conquer the Top 40 charts, a claim none of his older solo works can live up to. Will.i.am can toss a dart at the record’s tracklist to pick his next single: Anything from mid-tempo toe-tapper “The World Is Crazy” to the barnstorming gangster rap of “Freshy” would soar on the Billboard charts.

But will.i.am’s beats still resolutely sound like Black Eyed Peas beats, and “#willpower” keeps the hit maker planted firmly in his comfort zone. Imagine Fergie instead of Scherzinger or Cyrus, and nothing about the record changes. As will.i.am struts and preens his club-ready bangers over the album’s 15 songs, it still feels like songwriting practice for the Peas’ next studio session.

It’s nearly impossible to listen to will.i.am as a solo artist without giving a passing thought to his work with the Black Eyed Peas, and while “#willpower” packs a powerful dose of summer jams and remix-worthy tracks that DJs will salivate over, it lacks the pomp and circumstance that his Peas songs boast.

But will you worry about that after a few shots when you start showing off your best moves at the nightclub this summer? Hell no.

They partied from the first bass-rattling beat of Drop City Yacht Club’s set to the dying strains of Ke$ha’s second encore: a homage to the Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party).”

They partied between sets, dancing and singing with the PA’s steady stream of Top 40 hits, and they partied during sets, electrifying the Carrier Dome from the second the house lights darkened.

“It’s great to be in the Dome. I feel ready to tackle someone,” rhythm and blues crooner Trey Songz said in an interview before Block Party. “I’m going to come out there and kick ass.”

Kick ass he did.

Even for Corey Landis, a junior biomedical engineer who counted Block Party as his 103^rd concert. He didn’t love the lineup, but this year’s Block Party was all about having a good time.

“If you look at how big these artists are,” Landis said, “the ticket is totally worth the price.”

After a breezy set from 60s-tinged hip-hop trio Drop City Yacht Club, who rattled off Outkast and The Beach Boys in the same breath when discussing influences, a swaggering Trey Songz quickly burst into hit single “Say Aah,” his performance bolstered by a jazzy backing band.

“Mr. Steal Yo Girl” lived up to his moniker. Showing off both his falsettos and his abs, Songz drew staccato bursts of swoons and screams that swelled down from the upper deck.

The Block Party faithful partied on from the cheap seats, though junior architecture major Tyler Hedge said he thought more fans could’ve moved down to the pit.

“If they moved the stage back, more people could get a better experience,” he said. “Being that close to an artist makes the concert that much better.”

But Songz kept his performance intimate, despite the distance between the higher-tier seating and the stage.

“Are there any special girls in the audience?” he asked to an answering roar from the females. The applause when he followed up this question by saying his next song was already about a special girl was significantly quieter.

Songz seamlessly slid between gentle ballads and club-bangers at the drop of a beat, slyly blowing a kiss to his fans before launching into “Heart Attack.” He spent most of his set crooning from center stage, bathing in the funky rainbow spotlights.

From the raucous applause after Songz left the stage to bookending his set with two fan favorites, “Bottoms Up” and “2 Reasons,” Mr. Steal Yo Girl almost passed off as Mr. Steal The Show. Fans flocked to the stage’s barricade as Songz walked off in a series of strobe lights, trying to see him up close.

“I want to set the weekend off right and have some fun,” Songz said in a pre-show interview.

Not one to get upstaged, a glitter-clad, barely dressed Ke$ha stormed the stage with a troupe of back-up dancers and punkish-looking band to her hit “We R Who We R.” Bursts of smoke rocketed up from the stage as she slung a guitar around her neck and riffed.

Though the Block Party survey listed Ke$ha as a pop act, her set owed more to lewd, unadulterated rock ‘n’ roll. She wore a white guitar like an oversized necklace before shredding on “Blah Blah Blah,” and re-imagined mega-hit “Take It Off” with grungy guitar licks. Even the choreography for older material — including “Party at a Rich Dude’s House” — featured some Springsteenian power slides from her dancers.

Some songs, though — “C’Mon” and “Your Love Is My Drug” — didn’t get the rock-star remix.

Ke$ha trotted out “Gold Trans Am” from her newest album, “Warrior,” for the first time live, riding onto the stage atop a gold-painted toy Trans Am. But members of the crowd mistook the song’s beat for a Queen song, mistakenly singing, “We will rock you” before the songstress started singing. The tune borrowed from the Bowie songbook instead, with a few growly “Wham, bam, thank you ma’am’s” from Ke$ha.

“This place is about to blow,” the singer said with a slur as the wobbling bass of “Blow” kicked in, setting off confetti cannons that flanked the stage.

Ke$ha introduced most of her songs with a quick anecdote, including “One morning, I woke up and couldn’t find any f*cking toothpaste” for “TiK ToK,” and “Don’t f*ck with crazy b*tches, boys” as a prelude to “Cannibal.”

As quickly as Ke$ha left the stage after finishing “TiK ToK” with a flourish, the crowd thundered into a chant of her name. In true, rock princess form, she obliged the encore request with smash hit, “Die Young.”

And the crowd partied on.

Syracuse Stage is co-producing its upcoming show, “Good People,” with the Cleveland Play House from April 26 through May 12. Audience members are encouraged to donate money to One Fund Boston, an organization founded by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino, according to an email from Patrick Finion, marketing director at Syracuse Stage. The money will help support the victims of the Boston Marathon tragedy.

The inspiration for this act of philanthropy was drawn from the play itself. “Good People” is a comedy with a Tony-nominated story based in the city of Boston.

The humor-filled play revolves around Margie Walsh, a woman from South “Southie” Boston who loses her job as a cashier after arriving late to work. In an attempt to find new employment, she reconnects with her high school boyfriend Mike, and the show progresses with the two confronting one another about the very different directions their lives have gone in since Mike left South Boston.

Written by David Lindsay-Abaire, the play opened on Feb. 8, 2011, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater on Broadway. It was nominated for two Tonys — in the Best Play and Best Actress in a Leading Role (Francis McDormand) categories.

Laura Kepley, associate artistic director at the Cleveland Playhouse, will direct Syracuse Stage’s production of “Good People,” although it is not her first time directing the play.

Kate Hodge, whose credits include episodes of “Boston Legal” and “Blue Bloods,” will be starring in the show as Margie Walsh. David Andrew Macdonald, an actor with multiple Broadway show attributes to his name, plays ex-boyfriend Mike.

“Good People” will be running in the Archbold Theater at Syracuse Stage, and tickets are available at the Syracuse Stage box office.

With pop starlet Ke$ha landing the top spot on University Union’s Block Party survey and Trey Songz placing third , UU was thrilled to book two of the three acts students most wanted to see for this year’s show.

“It’s one of the biggest shows we’ve brought to Syracuse,” said Kelly Benini, UU’s concert director.

After a few years of concerts saturated with hip-hop and electronic dance music acts, Ke$ha’s headlining set brings a fresh burst of Top 40 pop to the Carrier Dome stage. The songstress’ song “C’Mon” has spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, hot on the heels of “Die Young,” which peaked at the second spot on the chart.

Ke$ha’s performance will most likely be jammed to capacity with her radio hits — safe bets include “TiK ToK,” “Blow” and “Take it Off.”

Benini said the show’s production will be much different than the EDM setup for last year’s headliner Kaskade. This year will feature confetti and, of course, glitter.

Tickets for the show are still available, but Benini predicts it will be close to selling out by the day of the show. Tickets cost $15 for Syracuse University and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students with a valid ID, and are $40 for the general public. Only second- and third-level reserved seating tickets are left, Benini said.

Benini said the announcement of Trey Songz as direct support caused a spike in ticket sales, and that the crooner brings rhythm and blues and crossover appeal for fans.

“We’re really excited about bringing him,” she said.

Songz released his latest album, titled “Chapter V,” in August of last year. He climbed the charts in 2010 with both “Say Aah” and “Bottoms Up,” featuring guest verses from Fabolous and Nicki Minaj, respectively, and both reaching the Billboard Top 10. He’s also collaborated with Drake, J. Cole and Lupe Fiasco.

Benini said the opening slot of Block Party’s lineup is typically reserved for upcoming young talent, and San Francisco hip-hop trio Drop City Yacht Club are filling that void for this year’s concert. The group debuted with an EP in February, with tour dates with rapper Kendrick Lamar and a first full-length album on the horizon for the rest of the year.

“We think they’ll really blow up,” Benini said.

UU took to social media to help promote the show, plus the organization wanted to get more interactivity and feedback, Benini said. Some contests UU launched on Twitter included trivia contests, iPhone cover giveaways and a meme-making contest for Trey Songz.

One of UU’s biggest hits is the organization’s three-day Block Party tank top giveaway. Benini said that on the first day, they were gone in 20 minutes. The second day? Gone in an hour.

“We all love them,” she said with a laugh.

Benini said she’s proud of the diverse lineup UU curated between MayFest and Block Party this year: between Trey Songz’ R&B leanings, Ke$ha’s pop sensibilities, Drop City Yacht Club and Earl Sweatshirt’s hip-hop shows and an EDM performance from Sound Remedy, UU covered its genre bases.

Hopeful that the weather doesn’t dampen a second straight MayFest, Benini thinks nice weather will get fans excited for both shows.

“There’s bound to be an act that you’re going to be interested in,” Benini said. “And if the weather is anything like today for MayFest, we’ll be in good shape.”