April 2013 | Signal eNewsletter | WSIU Radio

Signal WSIU Public Radio

An Online Newsletter

Vol. 6, No. 4 • April 2013

WSIU Radio Nabs AP Best Newscast of 2012 Award

This Month on Morning Conversation

WSIU Public Radio is the recipient of the Associated Press Best Newscast of 2012 Award!

The award from the Illinois Associated Press Broadcasters Association will be presented to Image: Associated Press.

WSIU Radio during the Illinois News Broadcasters Association Convention at the end of this month.

The newscast was judged by a panel of radio broadcasters from outside of the state of Illinois.

Host Jennifer Fuller

Morning Conversation airs at 8:30am on Tuesdays and other weekdays, as scheduled, and repeats at 5:30pm. For updates, check the Morning Conversation Calendar at wsiu.org/programs morning-conversation.

April 1 • LifeSavers

An upcoming fundraiser will help benefit the LifeSavers Program.

For more than 50 years, WSIU Radio has been dedicated to excellence in local news coverage for the Southern Illinois community. Your support makes it possible. Thank you!

April 2 • Spring Into Motion

WSIU Introduces WSIU 2.0

April 8 • This Able Veteran

WSIU Radio is excited to announce our all news and information channel WSIU 2.0! WSIU 2.0 is our digital radio channel that airs on 91.9 HD-2 and streams live on www.wsiunews.org. WSIU 2.0 features all of the great talk and information programs from NPR, such as The Diane Rehm Show, On Point, Talk of the Nation, and Tell Me More along with BBC World Service during the evenings and overnights. WSIU 2.0 also features some great new weekend entertainment shows, including Ask Me Another, TED Radio Hour, and Mountain Stage.

“Utilizing WSIU Radio’s secondary digital audio channel is a great way to bring new programs to our public radio audience,” says WSIU Radio Station Manager Jeff Williams. “HD radios are very similar to traditional AMFM radios except they have an additional digital band that allows listeners to tune in a station’s digital audio channels. Many new cars are equipped with HD radios that automatically scan for stations broadcasting in HD.” WSIU 91.9 HD-2 joins the station’s main channel 91.9 HD-1 on the digital band, along with WSIU’s traditional analog FM stations WSIU 91.9 FM in Carbondale, WVSI 88.9 FM in Mt. Vernon, and WUSI 88.9 FM in Olney.

Kathy Renfro, Carbondale Park District, and Amy Wright, Southern Illinois Healthcare, will be in studio to talk about their upcoming activity.

Representatives will preview their second graduate of veterans with their dogs.

April 9 • Chancellor Rita Cheng Campus issues, tuition and fees, and more will be discussed.

April 10 • SIU Museum

A preview of the 27th Annual Arts Education Festival.

April 15 • Research Town Meeting

A preview of SIU’s 10th Annual Research Town Meeting is coming up.

April 16 • Relay For Life

A look at the American Cancer Society’s plans for this year’s fundraising and awareness events.

April 17 • Illinois Redistricting Symposium

Paul Simon Public Policy Institute Executive Director David Yepsen will preview this meeting in Springfield.

April 22 • SIU President Glenn Poshard

Ongoing SIU topics including budget, plans for the coming academic year, and more.

April 23 • Science Café – Mars!

Join Planetary Geologist Justin Filiberto as he previews exploration of the Red Planet.

Meet SIRIS Volunteer

Harriet Simon

SIRIS Trivia Night Recap

Harriet Simon was born and raised in Baltimore, Md. She relocated to Carbondale in 1964 after her husband became a history professor at Southern Illinois University (SIU) and editor for The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant.

Reading has always been a crucial part of Simon’s life. Since 1977, she’s worked for the Center for Dewey Studies at SIU as a textual editor. Simon SIRIS Volunteer Harriet Simon. is heavily involved Photo: Christina Clayton. with Friends of the Carbondale Public Library and is one of the library’s board members. “I’ve always been a big believer in public libraries. I think they’re really important to our country, our city, and our culture,” she says.

Simon belongs to a book club that meets once a month reading mostly fiction works. She also tutors an adult learner twice a week, helping to improve literacy skills.

Simon began reading for the Southern Illinois Radio Information Service (SIRIS) a year ago. She says she’s always enjoyed reading aloud, and that helping at SIRIS has been a wonderful experience. When asked about her advice for those considering volunteering at SIRIS, she said, “If you’re lucky enough to have a little extra time, it might be something good for you or someone else. It only takes about an hour of your time each week, and it’s an easy way to give back to your community.”

When Simon isn’t reading she likes to sew, garden, and work out at Gold’s Gym. Simon jokes that she’s an NPR addict, listening whenever she gets a chance. She’s also a huge fan of WSIU-TV’s InFocus and The Legend of Charlie Birger documentary, which airs during WSIU pledge weeks.

If you’d like to become a volunteer like Harriet Simon, please contact SIRIS Director and WSIU Outreach Coordinator, Vickie Devenport, at (618) 453-6148 or vickie.devenport@wsiu.org.

Left: Guests participate in a paper plane throwing contest.

Top-right and bottom: Teams deliberate over answers. Photos: Monica Tichenor.

The Southern Illinois Radio Information Service (SIRIS) hosted its first annual SIRIS Trivia Night Fundraiser on March 2 at the Newman Center. Forty-five people attended the event, and approximately 20 volunteers helped out. In addition to trivia games, participants also played heads or tails and had a paper airplane contest.

Participants were divided into teams of eight for the evening. First, second, and third place teams won prizes of $120, $75, and $50, respectively. The first and second place teams donated their money back to SIRIS. A total of $860 was raised from this event. The money will be used to provide programming for SIRIS listeners.

Brad Klein, long-time volunteer, board member, and coordinator for the event, said the Board began planning in 2012, and in the months leading up to it volunteers developed questions and assigned tasks.

“Everything went smoothly. We were very pleased with the people who showed up to support [SIRIS]…more than anything I think people had fun,” said Klein.

“I’ve never worked with an organization that’s had as many dedicated volunteers who follow through and get stuff done,” he shared. Klein says he owes it to the volunteers for making the night a success.

Join SIRIS at the

Volunteer Appreciation Picnic April 25, SIRIS Building • 5:30pm RSVP at (618) 453-6148

What’s the Scoop?

The Race Card Project On Morning Edition

Photo: Cindy Brown.

NPR’s Michele Norris, host of All Things Considered, is back after a year-long sabbatical.

Norris makes her return with The Race Card Project.

Norris developed The Race Card Project to gather conversations about race and cultural identity from everyday people. Individuals are invited to write six-word essays that describe personal stories and insights, with the opportunity to explain the reasons or stories behind the essays. She has received tens of thousands of submissions already via Twitter, email, and The Race Card Project site.

Morning Edition will offer a window into some of those deeply personal moments and stories as Norris presents them as occasional conversations, roughly one every three weeks on the air. There will be conversations and updates in between the radio segments at NPR.org.

Week of April 1 Michele Norris talks with host Steve Inkseep about the dilemma faced by many people – which U.S. Census box to check when it comes to race or cultural identity. Norris spoke to George Washington III about his card submission “My Mixed Kids Have it Differently.” He’s African American and a father to mixed race children.

On NPR.org: the story of David Kung, a math professor of white and Chinese heritage who felt uncomfortable having to fill out forms as white or Chinese. He would often decide by flipping a coin.

Financial Basics For Baby Boomers on Morning Edition Baby Boomers are the generation of Americans who were born after World War II, and grew up in an era of rising living standards. But they are heading into retirement at a time of economic uncertainty and financial insecurity. NPR’s Morning Edition offers practical conversations about key financial questions boomers face – from estate planning to student debt.

Social Security Week of April 1 Morning Edition talks to personal finance writer Mary Beth Franklin about social security for the latest conversation about personal finance for baby boomers.

College Finance Week of April 8 TBD Chunk Of Money Week of April 15 Morning Edition looks at ways that Baby Boomers can invest any sum – big or small – of money they have inherited.

NPR’s Backseat Book Club All Things Considered presents NPR's Backseat Book Club, a special segment aimed at young people between the ages of 9 to 14, hosted by Michele Norris.

Each month ATC chooses a special book and asks kids to read it and submit questions or comments for the author to backseatbookclub@npr.org.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is the current book pick for NPR’s Backseat Book Club. Readers are encouraged to email their questions to NPR and share their Mango Street memories.

Thank You Supporters!

Spring Community Support Celebration Results Thank you for making WSIU Radio’s 2013 Spring Community Support Celebration a tremendous success! Together we raised more than $26,000 to help provide for the rich and diverse programming that can only be found on public radio.

Saturday 7pm • Sunday 6pm April 6

New Releases We start the month with a roundup of some top vocals and instrumentals from new and recent releases from both sides of the Atlantic.

April 13

St. Louis Tionol Preview The annual Irish music festival in St. Louis, the Tionol, is previewed in this week’s program, with festival director Mike Mullins in the studio to talk about workshop teachers and concert performers coming this year. We’ll hear tracks from teachers like John Doyle, Kevin Crawford, Cormac de Barra, and Ed Miller.

April 20

Spineless

Have you noticed how more and more CDs are coming in spineless cardboard sleeves these days? It saves on plastic, but these sleeves kind of disappear on the record shelf because there is no label on the outer edge. But never fear. This week we rescue some of these recent CDs from oblivion, and there’s some great music on them!

April 27

Kevin Burke and Friends Irish fiddle icon Kevin Burke has recorded with numerous bands and duo configurations, like The Bothy Band, Patrick Street, The Celtic Fiddle Festival, Open House, and more. We’ll sample his voluminous output on this week’s Celtic Connections.

Community support is our most reliable source of funding. It accounts for 30% of our annual budget.

This year, listener support is especially important.

With the federal budget sequestration, WSIU Radio stands to lose up to $17,000 in federal funding.

Your generous support will help WSIU continue to provide world-class news and information, beautiful music, and some things you don’t always hear about, such as our educational outreach into the community. Thanks again for your generous support. We are Powered by You!

Thank You Underwriters!

Please join us in thanking the underwriters who recently began, renewed, or expanded their partnership to make public radio possible:

Eye Care Specialists LLC Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship Dr. Tim Loughran Dentistry Herrin, IL School of Law at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale School of Music at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale For a complete list of WSIU sponsors and information about sponsoring WSIU programming, visit us online at wsiu.org or call (618) 453-4286.

WSIU Public Radio Communications Building 1003 Mail Code 6602 Southern Illinois University 1100 Lincoln Drive Carbondale IL 62901 (618) 453-6101 wsiuradio@wsiu.org