Signal WSIU Public Radio
An Online Newsletter
Vol. 5, No. 11 • November 2012
WSIU Radio Fall 2012 Community Support Celebration a Huge Success! Listener contributions cover about a third of the station’s annual program fees and allows WSIU Radio to invest in your favorite programs like Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Celtic Connections. Special thanks to WSIU’s Laura Cobin, Susan Patrick, and Lisa Morrisette for all the hard work they put into making this event a success. WSIU also appreciates the staff, students, and community members who volunteered by answering phones, working on-air and supplying food for our volunteers. WSIU Public Radio serves approximately 25,000 listeners each week in southern Illinois, southwestern Indiana, and southeastern Missouri. Grant Miller (left) and Laura Borger (right) discuss the value of public radio while WSIU’s Lisa Morrisette (back) looks on. Photo: Monica Tichenor.
W
SIU Radio listeners helped us meet our fundraising goal for the 2012 Fall Community Support Celebration! Listeners pledged $26,115 to help offset the station’s FY 2013 programming bill, which totals $235,000. Gifts were received from 78 new donors from 52 towns in four states!
If you were unable to make a contribution during our Fall Community Support Celebration, you can make a secure donation online at wsiu.org. Just click the green “Pledge & Renew” button on the upper right-hand section of our homepage to get started. Thank you for your support. WSIU is Powered by You®!
This Month on Morning Conversation Nov. 1............................... Black Out Cancer Fundraiser (preview) Nov. 5 ... Center for Tax and Budget Accountability Director Ralph Martire Nov. 6 .... Election Analysis with the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute’s
David Yepsen and John Jackson
Nov. 13 ....................................... SIU Chancellor Rita Cheng Nov. 14 ...................................... Science Café - Justin Schoof Nov. 16 ........................... Air Force Major General Alfred Flowers
(SIU Graduate, longest-serving African-American in Air Force history)
Morning Conversation, hosted by Jennifer Fuller, airs at 8:30am on Tuesdays and other weekdays, as scheduled, and repeats at 5:30pm.
Check the Morning Conversation Calendar at wsiu.org/programs/morning-conversation for more updates.
SIRIS volunteer Jim Lambert
SIRIS Volunteer Jim Lambert reads poetry.
J
im Lambert is an exceptional person. His warm spirit and unique sense of humor are sure to put a smile on anyone’s face. That’s why it’s no surprise he’s making a difference as a volunteer with the Southern Illinois Radio Information Service (SIRIS). After retiring five years ago from the commercial real estate business in Chicago’s Northern suburbs, Lambert and his wife moved to Carbondale to be closer to his son and warm weather. After settling down, Lambert wanted to get involved with community service work and thought SIRIS would be a great place to volunteer. “I’ve always been interested in reading services for the blind. I think [they’re] wonderful,” he said. Lambert admits he grew up in a povertystricken area in Teague, TX where people often helped him. Now that he’s able to give back, he wants to do the same for those in need.
Another contributing factor in Lambert’s service work is his cousin who was paralyzed by polio. “He spent his life either in a wheelchair or in crutches,” said Lambert, “but was a very successful man [because he didn’t let his disability hinder his outlook on life].” Lambert saw the struggles his cousin had and vowed to never forget those with disabilities. “Disabilities don’t have to hold you back, but you do need help, occasionally.” Lambert’s been a SIRIS volunteer since May 2011. He really enjoys his role as a SIRIS reader, reading grocery ads for Kroger, Schnucks, Aldi, and the Carbondale Farmer’s Market. He jokingly confessed that he loves to read these, and sometimes it even makes him a little hungry.
When Lambert isn’t giving back to his community, you can find him writing plays and poetry. He also directs plays at the Varsity Theater. The last play he directed was Dead Man’s Cell Phone, a dark comedy about a dead man in a diner who’s phone won’t stop ringing, driving the waitress mad. Lambert’s also an actor, performing in several student films on campus. His most recent role was in SIU student Jenna Tromburg’s Lactose Intolerance last spring where he played the grouchy grandfather. “Every time [students] need a grumpy old man, they call me,” he said with a smile. In his spare time, Lambert enjoys doing yard work with his wife. “She the landscaper, and I’m her assistant,” he joked.
This year, Lambert played a major role in organizing the SIRIS Classic Vinyl Sale. He helped sort records and electronics, recruited volunteers, and worked at the event. He said he was surprised by people’s willingness to contribute, and said there was never a dull moment at the sale, with patrons continuing to come in almost minutes before closing.
He’s also a big NPR fan with his favorite show being Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me! WSIUTV’s NOVA is another favorite of his.
Lambert’s other charitable contributions include volunteering at the Church Women United Sale to Fight World Hunger at the Newman Catholic Student Center where he helps with food pick-up and the sale.
To volunteer with SIRIS, contact director and WSIU outreach coordinator Vickie Devenport at (618) 453-6148 or vickie. devenport@wsiu.org. Don’t wait any longer. Today’s the day to give back!
Jim encourages people to volunteer, no matter what the service. “It doesn’t take that much time, and it can be fun...everyone has a special talent. You can use it to help others.”
Election Night Coverage – LIVE on WSIU Radio & TV Tuesday, November 6 is the day we vote as a nation. Local coverage will be provided by WSIU Radio and River Region Evening Edition TV News all evening. Live coverage updates will be aired on WSIU-TV on PBSNewsHour: Election Night Coverage. Tune in for details on the elected officials. WSIU’s Election 2012 Programming Is Sponsored In Part By
What’s the Scoop?
Check out the l atest specials from NPR!
All Things Considered
National Day of Listening
The StoryCorp’s MobileBooth trailer travels around the country yearround collecting stories. Photo: NPR.
November 23, 2012 marks the fifth anniversary of StoryCorps’ National Day of Listening. On the day after Thanksgiving, take a few minutes to interview a loved one about his or her life. This year, StoryCorps is honoring veterans, active duty military service members, and their families. The best conversations can start with simple questions. How do you want to be remembered? What was the happiest moment of your life? StoryCorps is partnering with SoundCloud to debut the interactive Wall of Listening. Record your interviews with family or friends, and upload the audio and a picture to the Wall of Listening. Visit nationaldayoflistening.org to learn more about this day and how to upload your interviews.
Did You Know...? Tune in to WSIU Radio on weekdays at 6pm to hear WSIU-TV’s primetime programming lineup from the talented David Whitfield, a doctoral student in SIU Carbondale’s Speech Communications department. This regular update is one of the many ways WSIU Radio keeps you informed about the intelligent programming WSIU provides to you, your family, and your community!
All Things Considered’s Three-Minute Fiction Contest will announce the Round 9 winner on Sunday, November 4. The winner will have his/her story read onair by host Guy Raz, and the story will be published in the December 2012 issue of the Paris Review. Contestants were asked to write an original story in 600 words or less, centered around a U.S. president, who can be real or fictional. Entries were submitted on September 23, and were judged by Brad Meltzer, bestselling author of The Inner Circle. Since the launch in 2009, the writing contest has generated more than 30,000 pieces of short fiction submitted by listeners. Learn more at npr.org/series/105660765/three-minute-fiction.
Former SIU Professor Publishes New Novel Author Richard Russo, who taught in SIU Carbondale’s English Department from 19861991, has been writing about his hometown for years, calling it Empire Falls, ME in one novel (for which he won the Pulitzer Prize) and Thomaston, NY in another. Russo published his first two novels, Mohawk and The Risk Pool, while at SIU.
Author Richard Russo. Photo: Pat Wellenbach/Associated Press.
Now, Russo turns his attention to the real burnedout mill town of Gloversville, NY, as he recounts his experiences growing up there and his relationship with his mother in the memoir Elsewhere. Listen to NPR’s conversation with Russo on Morning Edition and read excerpts from the interview at www. npr.org/2012/10/30/163876274/resenting-andrespecting-mom-in-russos-elsewhere.
This Month on
Fall Soundwalk
Photo: Monica Tichenor.
Participants explore the sounds of nature.
Saturday 7pm • Sunday 6pm Nov 3 • New Releases Tune in this week to hear the latest releases in the Celtic genre, handpicked as some of the finest.
Nov 10 • Connemara Music The western peninsula of Co. Galway, known as Connemara, has some of Ireland’s strongest surviving areas where Irish is the first language, and it has long been a region of great traditional music and song. This program features some of the best known singers and musicians from this ruggedly beautiful region.
Nov 17 • Six in the Spotlight This week we spotlight six new CDs, with a chance to play two or three tracks from each and give a better representation of vocals and instrumentals by some of the top Celtic bands and soloists.
Nov 24 • The Past Half-Decade
To supplement our monthly roundup of new releases, this week’s show goes back a little further into the CD stacks to pick up some recordings from the past 5 years, which have slipped out of the monthly rotation as newer ones have come in.
Dave Armstrong, host of Sounds Like Radio, led a Soundwalk on October 23 on the SIU campus. It began at the rock wall near the north entrance of the SIU Student Center and lasted approximately one hour. “Soundwalks celebrate the practice of listening as it relates to the world around us,” said Armstrong. During the walk, Armstrong introduced listening exercises for participants to deepen their experience and acclimate them to different ways of hearing their surroundings.
Thank You Underwriters!
Please join us in thanking the underwriters who recently began, renewed, or expanded their partnership to make public radio possible:
Office of the Chancellor, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale St. Louis Symphony, St. Louis MO Southern Illinois Chamber Music Society, Carbondale The Woodbox Gang, Carbondale For a complete list of WSIU sponsors and information about sponsoring WSIU programming, visit us online 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