Issue 8 : May 2009
Signal
An Online Newsletter from WSIU Public Radio
You’re Invited! Join us at the 20th Annual Friends of WSIU Fantasy Auction on Saturday, June 13 in the SIUC Student Center Ballrooms in Carbondale, and help us celebrate 50 years of public broadcasting! Festivities begin with cocktails at 6pm and include live music, an elegant dinner buffet, award-winning regional wines, a decadent gourmet dessert, and the area’s largest selection of auction items. Throughout the evening, we’ll test your knowledge of WSIU Public Radio trivia as part of our ongoing celebration of 50 years of broadcasting excellence. This year, there is a vast selection of items up for bid, including tickets for St. Louis Cardinals Baseball and Saluki Basketball, and getaways to Chicago, Maine, San Antonio, Massachusetts, and St. Lucia. You’ll also enjoy opportunities to bid on tickets to see local theater productions, as well as one- and twonight stays at local Bed & Breakfasts.
A guest bids on a silent auction item at last year’s event. Photo: Nastassia Malin.
This year’s auction will serve as a great opportunity for art enthusiasts! There will be items from local artists including a hand-painted portrait, highly-prized cast stone Longshadow planters from Classic Garden Ornaments, Ltd., and the muchcoveted spectacular ring created exclusively for the Auction each year by Traci Rogers for Gem and Jewelry.
Your Auction dollars support WSIU’s local programs and community engagement initiatives, so be sure to reserve your table today. Tickets are $60 per person, of which $20 is considered a charitable donation, or $800 for a patron table of eight. To learn more, contact Laura Cobin at (618) 453-4287 or laura.cobin@ wsiu.org. You can also make your reservation online at wsiu.org.
Coming Up on Morning Conversations host to SIU administrators and local representatives of the arts and recreation.
Jennifer Fuller, host of Morning Conversations Photo: Monica Tichenor.
During the month of May on Morning Conversations, WSIU plays
On May 5, we’ll get an update on Carbondale’s Varsity Center for the Arts. Then on May 12, tune in to hear SIUC Chancellor Samuel Goldman discuss the latest campus issues. The following week, on May 18, you’ll learn more about a Senior Games competition in Carbondale (coming to the SIUC Recreational
Center June 4-6). Finally, on May 26, SIU President Glenn Poshard will share details about the state budget and its impact on institutions of higher education as the spring session of the Illinois General Assembly draws to an end. All interviews air live at 8:30am, with repeats at 5:30pm, but you can listen to them anytime online at wsiu.org. Just click on “Podcasts” and then Morning Conversations.
SIRIS Volunteer Profile: Tedda Becker “SIRIS is a valuable service, and I hope there is always funding for it,” says Becker. “I have several friends who know how tedious it is to have others read for them. I’m glad there are so many people willing to work together to make SIRIS a successful service.”
Tedda Becker holds her SIRIS Volunteer of the Year award. Photo: Monica Mason.
Meet SIRIS volunteer Tedda Becker. Becker, now retired, volunteers at SIRIS every Wednesday where she reads current newspapers and magazines, which are then recorded and broadcast on a sideband channel of WSIU Radio. The service benefits individuals who are blind or whose physical condition makes it difficult or impossible to read.
Prior to volunteering at SIRIS, Becker worked at a bank for several years, and then at a law office before retiring in 2001. She recently finished her third term as President of the League of Women Voters for Jackson County and continues her commitment to community service as a member and Vice-Chair of the SIRIS Advisory Board. However, Becker says her most fulfilling role in life is being a mother to her three children and a grandmother to eleven grandchildren ranging in ages from eight to twenty-nine. Family is
important to Becker and like many families, she enjoys spending quality time with her loved ones watching or listening to her favorite programs. “When my husband comes home from work, we watch The News Hour with Jim Lehrer during dinner,” Becker says. “I enjoy a lot of PBS and NPR programs.” Recently, Becker has been enthralled with the American Experience series, We Shall Remain. “I recently found out that I might be 1/16th Lakota Sioux,” she says. “I’m proud to know that I might have Native American blood.” To learn more about becoming a SIRIS volunteer, call (618) 453-2808 or visit us online at wsiu.org. Just click on the “SIRIS” tab!
SIRIS News The rain clouds were plentiful, but luckily the rain held off for the annual SIRIS Volunteer Appreciation Picnic hosted by the Advisory Board on Thursday, April 23. A hearty group of twenty-nine SIRIS volunteers and their families attended the picnic at the home of SIRIS
director, Vickie Devenport. Tedda Becker was the recipient of the Volunteer of the Year award for her many years of service to SIRIS. Becker has been volunteering with SIRIS since 1986, and she has continued volunteering her time ever since. In 2002, Becker joined
the Advisory Board and is currently serving her second year as the board’s Vice -Chair. Volunteers like Becker offer a valuable service to our community, and SIRIS would like to thank all of them for their time and support. Call us at (618) 453-2808 to learn more!
A Fond Farewell to Robert Henderson On April 29, WSIU held a special celebration to honor TV Production and Operations Manager Robert Henderson, who has retired from WSIU and SIUC after 36 years of distinguished service. “Robert has had a profound impact on hundreds of students who have gone on to professional careers in broadcasting and cable,” said WSIU TV producer Jak Tichenor. “He also is a deeply valued mentor, a terrific boss, and a close friend to many.“
Over 100 guests attended, and many shared insightful stories about their experiences working with Robert over the years. “I have enjoyed working with you and having all of your support and friendship,” Henderson said in a message to his WSIU colleagues. “I will be forever grateful for the opportunities, the experiences, and the accomplishments that have been made possible by all of you over these many years.”
Robert Henderson and his wife, Lynda, share a laugh at his retirement party. Photo: Monica Tichenor.
Congratulations to... WSIU Student Employee Award Winners She has worked on the River Region Evening Edition, Scholastic Hi-Q, and Live Saluki Basketball. Thomas will begin graduate studies in Media Management at Syracuse University this summer.
WSIU executive director Greg Petrowich (c) presents students Emily Ford (l) and Samantha Thomas (r) with the Lee D. O’Brien Award. Photo: Erin Koelkebeck.
WSIU would like to congratulate the four student employees who were honored at the 2009 SIUC RadioTelevision Awards Banquet. Students Samantha Thomas and Emily Ford were recipients of the Lee D. O’Brien Award. Thomas, a senior in Radio Television from Taylorville, Illinois, has served as WSIU TV’s Assistant Operations/ Production Manager since May 2007.
Emily Ford, a senior in RadioTelevision from Carman, Illinois, began working at WSIU Radio in the fall of 2005. She is a primary editor and anchor, and has produced candidate profiles and special features for WSIU Radio’s election coverage. Ford will pursue a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs Reporting at the University of Illinois in Springfield this fall. Junbum Kim, a senior in RadioTelevision from South Korea, received the FM Student of the Year Award. Kim has worked in WSIU Radio Operations since the fall of 2006.
He produces station image promos and oversees specific operations duties, including severe weather alerts and special programming. Kim will begin graduate studies in Radio Management and Audio Production at SIUC this fall. Nathan Babian, a junior in RadioTelevision from Germantown, Tennessee, was named TV Student of the Year. Babian has been working in TV Post Production for nearly four years and has assisted with a variety of in-studio and field productions, including WSIU InFocus. In his sophomore year, Babian co-directed a student production that won an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Mid-South Region. Congratulations to all and good luck in your future endeavors!
Associated Press & Illinois News Broadcasters Award Winners On April 25, the Associated Press presented awards to WSIU staff for their outstanding work in journalism. WSIU Radio staff won 2nd Place for Best Newscast, and Jennifer Fuller won 2nd Place for Best Reporter. Also presented on April 25 were
the Illinois News Broadcasters Association Student Awards. The WSIU Radio program, Sunrise Sports, produced by students Tommy Self, Johnny Sole, Mike Benson, and Tom Niemiera, won 2nd Place for Outstanding Soft Radio Program. This is the 6th year in a row that
Sunrise Sports has placed either 1st or 2nd in the student competition. WSIU would like to congratulate all the students and staff for their outstanding work, commitment, and dedication to the station.
BEA Best of Festival Award Winner Chris Yoars, a graduate student in Radio Television from Carol Stream, Illinois, won a Best of Festival King Foundation Award at the Broadcast Education Association’s (BEA) Festival of Media Arts for his radio documentary, “West Frankfort Mine.” Yoars also placed first in the Educational Program Category for the program, which aired on WSIU Radio in December 2008. To hear the program, go online at wsiu.org,
select the “Radio” tab, then scroll to the WSIU On Demand box and select “WSIU Radio Podcasts.” Click on the “Programs” tab and select “Radio Voices (12-19-2008): West Frankfort Black Christmas.” Yoars also produced Black Jack Logan, a TV documentary on Gen. John A. Logan airing on WSIU TV on May 19 at 11pm, with repeats on May 24 at 1pm and May 25 at 8pm.
Chris Yoars (r) and his advisor, Jan Thompson, review a segment of Yoars’ TV documentary about Gen. John A. Logan. Photo: Monica Tichenor.
May 2009 Programming: Celtic Connections May 9 • Best of 1979 (30 Years Later) The year 1979 saw a bumper crop of important new releases in the Irish and Scottish music world, and this week’s program takes us back 30 years to sample the state of the art at the time. May 16 • Whistlers Whistling This week’s instrument of note is the tin whistle, also known as the pennywhistle, or just the whistle. Some of the best whistle players on both sides of the Atlantic are featured playing dance tunes in solo, duo, and ensemble settings. May 23 • Songwriter Showcase Contemporary songwriters from Ireland, Scotland, and England, as well as North American songwriters with Celtic themes, are featured this week, singing their own songs or handing them over to other singers to perform. May 30 • Old Favorites Tunes from not-so-new albums will sound like new when we air them out this week!
Thank You, Underwriters! Together, our members and underwriters make public radio possible! Please join us in thanking the underwriters who recently began or renewed their partnerships: Clifford L. Coleman M.D. The Blacklock Financial Group of Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC Kemper CPA Group of Marion Presbyterian Child Development Center Preschool of Carbondale The Rosebud Theatre Saline County Tourism Board The Sheldon Center Division of Continuing Education at SIUC Department of Theater at SIUC SIU School of Law Southern Gas Company
For more information about underwriting WSIU programming through your business, group, or organization, please contact us at (618) 453-4286.
WSIU is my source for inspiring minds. - Jeff Williams, De Soto, IL
Public broadcasting has some thing for everyo ne. For Jeff Williams, WSIU Radio is a source for inspiring minds to strive for excellence. ”About 20 years ago, WSIU was my source for my first radio job as a student news reporter,” says Williams. “Most listeners don’t get a chance to see what goes on behind the scenes of what they hear everyday on the air, but WSIU has played an instrumental role in training hundreds upon hundreds of broadcast professionals. There’s nothing more gratifying than seeing a mind expand and a career begin to grow.” Share your story online at wsiu.org/mysource.
WSIU Public Radio Communications Building 1003 - Mail Code 6602 Southern Illinois University Carbondale 1100 Lincoln Drive Carbondale IL 62901 • wsiu.org • 618/453-6101 • wsiuradio@wsiu.org