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The new WISH (Channel 8) co-anchors/reporters take their places on the mauve and turquoise set and put on lavaliere microphones. Dumandan fidgets, yanking down the sleeves of her brown tweed coatdress. She finger-combs her hair, looping it around pearl-studded ears.

The floor director standing nearby looks like a symphony conductor as he orchestrates the three television cameras using two fingers, pointed sideways at Dumandan and Harlan. "Cue Joy," commands the director in the control room as he scans rows of television monitors. "Five-four-three-two - go silent at two. Take cue!" he directs.

Indianapolis' first Asian-American anchor, Joy Dumandan, looks at the teleprompter and readies herself to be invited into WISH-TV's reach of almost a million central Indiana households.

Born in Rutherford, N.J., Dumandan is the only child of Anita and Pacifico Dumandan. Anita, a registered nurse, came to the United States in 1968 from her Cagayan de Oro birthplace in the Philippines. A year earlier, Pacifico had left Pakil, Laguna, for the United States, where he has spent 33 years as a banker for Citibank.

Joy's parents met in New Jersey in 1969, fell in love, and married six months later. Since they spoke different dialects, they solved the language problem by speaking English, the language they learned in school.

"They came here to find good jobs and make careers for themselves. I admire them for their courage and what they've become," beams their proud daughter. "They were the first generation here and I've always been motivated by their ambition."

As a little girl, she had her own ambition. "I wanted to be an orthodontist," grins the 5-foot-3-inch, brown-eyed beauty, whose perfect teeth never have felt braces.

Dumandan's doting parents provided her with an idyllic childhood. From kindergarten to the 12th grade, she was a student at St. Mary's (Catholic school) in Rutherford. From age 8 to 13, she took jazz, tap, ballet, piano and clarinet lessons, and earned badges for being a top-seller of Girl Scout cookies. The mere thought of Thin Mints makes this gourmet cookie chef smack her lips. She worked off the calories playing outfield on her softball team. "We were town champs for two years in a row," she boasts.

In high school, she lived out every teen-age girl's fantasy - and then some. By her senior year, she was captain of the cheerleading squad, homecoming queen and prom queen at the predominantly Irish and Italian school. (She was one of only three Filipino students.) "I went to my junior and senior proms but I never really dated in high school. After the proms, everybody would go down to the shore for the weekend. But I wasn't allowed to go to the beach with them," she says of her protective and strict parents.

"Even though it was just the three of us, we had a fun household. But my dad was a disciplinarian. I knew I could always go to my parents for anything, but at the same time, I also knew who was in charge. I couldn't get away with things and my parents made sure that I knew right from wrong.

"When I was growing up, my parents wouldn't let me sleep over at other people's homes. The whole world could sleep over at my house. But I couldn't sleep at their house. I got over it. It wasn't the end of the world. "I was very shy when I was little," she claims. "But I found that I loved performing in front of people - in dance recitals and school plays. Then I discovered that I loved interviewing people while I was a reporter for three years on our school newspaper."

But with her new ambition to be a doctor, she went to Montclair State University, the second largest university in New Jersey. "I started out in college as a biology major. I wanted to become a doctor and do something stable where I wasn't switching jobs every few years."

Chemistry class cured her of her medical aspirations, and she switched her major to communications, deciding that she wanted to be a television producer. "I wanted to produce because it's so competitive and I wanted to be judged for my brains, not the way I look."

By the time she graduated in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in communications, the high-energy student had completed two internships at television stations in New York City, worked at The Limited and waited tables at Chili's.

She began her professional career in broadcasting as an associate producer for the cablecast program America's Talking. "I was low man on the totem pole, but it was a great experience. I then moved up to (booking) talent for our show. Then I was promoted to an associate producer."

She was at America's Talking from 1994 to '96, then moved over to CNBC as an associate producer for America After Hours, where her duties included field producing assignments in New York and Los Angeles.

After only a few months of observing her, the host of the show encouraged her to get in front of the camera. "I told him I wanted to be judged for my brains and that I didn't want to get into the cosmetic game of television, but he convinced me to send out tapes to smaller markets." The news director at WRBE-TV in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pa., was impressed with her tape and called her for an interview.

He grilled Dumandan as to why he should hire her, since she had no on-air experience. Undeterred, she answered, "I'm a strong producer, so you won't have to teach me to put a package together. You can send me out in the field and I know how to get sound bites and work the story. You won't have to hold my hand."

He hired her - but just for weekends. "I kept my job at CNBC, working there during the week. Then on Friday nights, I would drive up to Pennsylvania, work at WRBE on Saturdays and Sundays, and drive back to New York on Sunday nights."

After only a month, she was hired full-time at WRBE-TV, an NBC affiliate. "I took a huge pay cut but I had to find out if I could be a reporter." She passed the test on July 17, 1996, while covering the crash of TWA Flight 800 that killed 230 people, including 21 victims from nearby Montoursville, Pa.

"Coming from CNBC, I wasn't intimidated by all the satellite trucks and big media players who arrived in Montoursville. But there I was, sticking my microphone into the faces of students who had lost their classmates in the crash. It was very emotional and I went home several times and cried. I had just moved to the area and I didn't know anybody. So when I went home, I had no one to talk to about it," says the compassionate journalist. "But I found out that I could report and be sensitive to other people's emotions. It goes back to my upbringing."

With only five months of reporting under her belt, the Fox News Channel in New York City hired Dumandan to be its weekday/overnight anchor and reporter. She stayed in that time slot for four years, covering breaking national and international news. Night owls recognized her talent and beauty and formed the Joy Dumandan Fan Club. She became known as the fox at Fox!

"Career-wise, being at Fox was wonderful because it gave me great exposure while I was able to hone my anchoring skills. But I got stuck doing that for four years and it prevented me from having a social life." She spent her days off volunteering in soup kitchens. "Four years on the overnight was hurting me, not helping me. So I put out feelers and I got the offer to come here.

She joined WISH-TV in January as co-anchor for the 5:30 p.m. news and field anchor for the 11 p.m. news. "Just watch her and you'll see why we chose her out of 200 applicants," beams Scott Blumenthal, president and general manager of the CBS affiliate.

Veteran anchor Mike Ahern agrees. "I'm impressed with how poised she is and the perspective she brings to her job. She is an absolute delight to work with!"

His co-anchor, Debby Knox, adds, "I like her positive attitude and energy."

The admiration is mutual. "There is a real camaraderie at the station and I love that," Dumandan says. "Debby and Mike are friends on and off the air. After so many years, they're not tired of one another and you can feel their closeness," she says of the anchors who have been together longer than any team in this market.

Dumandan has close friends of her own. "I surround myself with people I love and trust," she says.

One of her three best friends is Montclair State University classmate Kara Ranieri, who lives in Zionsville. Ranieri is "overjoyed" that Dumandan has relocated to Indianapolis. She says her "on the air" friend doesn't put on airs. "She is so genuine," Ranieri exclaims. "There is nothing superficial about her. She cares about her friends, her family and the people she meets while doing a story."

Another college friend is Victoria Michael, who is now editor of children's advertising at ABC in New York. "Joy is such a loyal, caring friend. Whether I need something at 12:30 in the afternoon or 3 in the morning, she's there," declares Michael.

Former television producer Doreen Esposito agrees. "I worked with her at America's Talking and then we moved up to CNBC together. I know it was a great decision for her to move to Indianapolis, but I miss her," bemoans Esposito.

Dumandan is an anchor who has dropped anchor here. She is so serious about staying that she's building a home in Carmel, which she's decorating in a country French motif.

It's hard being new in town, though. She misses her revered parents. "I talk to my parents everyday. I need a cell phone with a national plan!" she laughs.

But when she gets really homesick, she goes shopping. It was at a major department store where a clerk asked, "May I help you?"

Dumandan answered, "No, thank you. I'm just looking."

At which point, the clerk said, "Oh, you speak English really good."

The journalist laughs off the slight by saying, "I can't take that personally or be offended by people who haven't been exposed to different cultures. Growing up, I truly never encountered prejudice. My friends have asked me if I've ever felt uncomfortable being in a room where I was the only person who wasn't white. I never did in my immediate surroundings, 'though I have been in places where I had a different feeling. But I am so proud of who I am," declares the world traveler, who has been to the Philippines twice to visit with cousins.

Stay tuned. Her timing is impeccable as journalism works to promote and increase diversity in today's newsrooms. And she's at the right place. WISH-TV has been the launching pad for other television journalism careers. Just ask Jane Pauley!