January 2011 | Signal eNewsletter | WSIU Radio

Vol. 4, No. 1: January 2011

Signal

An Online Newsletter from WSIU Public Radio

This Month on Morning Conversations

W

SIU Radio’s Morning Conversations will kick off 2011 with information on how you can help the Big Brothers/ Big Sisters of Jackson/Perry Counties.

On Tuesday, January 4, host Jennifer Fuller will talk with representatives of Big Brothers/Big Sisters about their upcoming “Bowl for Kids’ Sake” event, as well as other programs and initiatives in the new year.

On Tuesday, January 11, SIUC Chancellor Rita Cheng will give a midfiscal year update and share plans for the University’s spring semester.

On Monday, January 24, SIU President Glenn Poshard will give an update on the entire SIU system. As the 2011 Spring Legislative Session begins, there may be changes university leaders statewide will need to consider. Poshard will discuss his take on the prospects.

All Morning Conversations episodes are available on air and on our live stream www.wsiu.org/live. You can also find them on our podcast page at http://www3.wsiu.org/radio/ morningconversation. We also invite you to follow us on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Area Lions Clubs Donate to SIRIS

F

riday the 13th turned out to be a lucky day for WSIU Radio’s Southern Illinois Radio Information Service (SIRIS)!

The Carbondale Lions Club invited SIRIS director Vickie Devenport to the Lions Club member, Larry Good (left), presents SIRIS director Vickie Devenport with a $1,000 check group’s Friday, for SIRIS. Photo: Monica Tichenor.

November 13 meeting where Larry Good presented her with a check for $1,000 to support SIRIS. The check was accompanied by a letter stating that the Carbondale Lion’s Club recognizes the contribution and efforts of SIRIS to support the quality of life for individuals in Southern Illinois who are blind or print-impaired.

SIRIS also received a donation from the Marion Lions Club in the amount of $275.

Both donations will assist SIRIS in purchasing and placing more radios with qualified users, free of charge, in the Carbondale and Marion area.

Host Jennifer Fuller. Photo: Monica Tichenor.

Morning Conversations, hosted by WSIU morning news anchor Jennifer Fuller, airs at 8:30am on Tuesdays and other weekdays, as scheduled, and repeats at 5:30pm.

Live Saluki Basketball Returns to WSIU-TV! Tue 1/4, 7pm • SIU Men at Bradley Repeats 10pm on WSIU World 8.2/16.2 Sun 1/9, 2pm • SIU Men vs. Illinois State Repeats 7pm on WSIU World 8.2/16.2 Sat 1/15, 7pm • SIU Men at Northern Iowa Repeats 10pm on WSIU World 8.2/16.2 Sat 1/29, 7pm • SIU Men at Evansville Repeats 10pm on WSIU World 8.2/16.2 Sat 2/5, 2pm • SIU Men vs. Bradley Repeats 7pm on WSIU World 8.2/16.2 Tue 2/8, 7pm • SIU Men at Wichita State Repeats 10pm on WSIU World 8.2/16.2 Sat 3/5, 2pm • SIU Women vs. Missouri State Repeats 7pm on WSIU World 8.2/16.2

Sponsored Proudly By: Dr. Michael B. Clay, SI Dentistry, Murphysboro, IL; Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, Carbondale, IL Branch and Mt. Vernon, IL branch; the SIU Alumni Association, Carbondale IL; Wright Do-It Center, Murphysboro & Sparta IL; Cook Portable Warehouses, the 12-State Region; Anheuser Busch Distributors - B & G Venegoni, Christopher, IL and Golden Eagle Distributing, Marion IL

SIRIS Volunteer Profile: Sarah Andrew

M

eet Sarah Andrew, volunteer reader for the Southern Illinois Radio Information Service (SIRIS).

Andrew and her husband moved to Southern Illinois in 1975 after accepting jobs at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. An avid listener of public broadcasting, Andrew was pleased to discover Southern’s own WSIU Public Broadcasting stations and learned about volunteer opportunities at SIRIS while listening to WSIU Radio.

After retiring from the University in 2006, she decided to join SIRIS as a reading volunteer in early 2007.

Andrew has a personal connection to SIRIS listeners. “In my family, my mother and grandmother both had glaucoma, so I’m aware of the needs of people with visual impairment,” she says. “For people who really enjoy reading, it’s difficult to lose that ability. SIRIS is a vital service that can bridge the gap for

people who have visual impairment or other physical disabilities.”

Andrew says that people who are lucky enough to reach retirement should give back to their communities by volunteering. “Retired people have more free time to share their expertise as volunteers, and they don’t have to be paid,” she says. “Volunteering offers retirees more opportunities to make a difference in people’s lives.”

For Andrew, an added benefit of being a SIRIS volunteer has been learning more about the community by reading the local newspaper. “I find out all kinds of things about what’s going on in the region,” she says. “Plus, reading is so important. It opens up the world a little to people who are unable to pick up the newspaper and read it for themselves. SIRIS is more personal than just turning on the television

Enter All Things Considered’s

Three-Minute Fiction Contest!

C

alling all English majors, literary wannabes, and speed freaks! The next round of All Things Considered’s Three-Minute Fiction Contest starts January 8 with a new judge, fiction writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

The contest has a simple premise: Listeners send in original short stories that can be read in three minutes or less. The stories must also include one of the characters telling a joke and one of the characters must cry.

The winner will be interviewed and have his or her story read during All Things Considered, and will receive an autographed copy of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi’s collection of short stories The Thing Around Your Neck, plus the four-disc CD compilation This Is NPR: The First Forty Years.

Entries will be accepted from 11pm CT on Saturday, January 8, 2011 through 10:59 pm CT on Sunday, January 23, 2011. The contest winner will be notified on or near February 28, 2011.

Tune in to All Things Considered on the weekends for updates, and visit npr.org/ threeminutefiction for full details and to read other submissions!

SIRIS volunteer Sarah Andrew. Photo: Jenna Richardson.

and listening to a voice. Users can get importat information about their communities, which they can’t always get from a television channel.”

Andrew encourages other retirees to volunteer for SIRIS. “It’s a great organization. If you like to read, and want to help others, being a volunteer is a fun and fulfilling thing to do.”

Learn more by calling (618) 453-2808 or clicking on the SIRIS tab at wsiu.org.

Tune in to Celtic Connections Saturday @ 7pm • Sunday @ 6pm January 1 • Best of 2010

Don’t miss this week’s roundup of some of the best Celtic albums of 2010, culminating in Bryan Kelso Crow’s selection of the 2010 Celtic Connections Album of the Year!

“Public radio is important because it’s supported by the people.”

- Neil Clayton, Marion, IL

January 8 • New Releases

Join host Bryan Kelso Crow for a sample of new and recent releases from both sides of the Atlantic.

January 15 • American Folk

American singer-songwriters and instrumentalists are featured in this week’s program.

January 22 • Songs of Robert Burns

We celebrate the birthday of Scotland’s great songwriter Robert Burns (January 25, 1759) with recordings by some of Scotland’s best contemporary singers, as well as an Irish singer or two.

January 29 • Music of Ed Reavy

Fiddler and composer Ed Reavy, born in Co. Cavan in 1897, lived in Philadelphia from 1912 until his death in 1988.

Many tunes that have been classified as “traditional” are actually compositions by Ed Reavy. This week’s program features some of his tunes, played by Ed and by many of the leading Irish musicians of our time.

WSIU-TV to Celebrate 50 Years!

WSIU-TV is turning 50 on November 6, 2011, and we’re celebrating all year long with a series of special events and messages on the air, in print, and online.

Your support of WSIU-TV and WSIU Radio over the past five decades has enabled us to inspire personal growth, community engagement, and a love for learning in people of all ages. Stay tuned for details about community celebrations coming your way in 2011.

Best wishes for a safe and happy new year!

I enjoy public radio because it offers a wide variety of programs to a broad spectrum of people. Morning Edition and All Things Considered are two programs I listen to on a daily basis to stay informed about what’s going on locally, regionally, and nationally.

After getting home from work, I sometimes find myself sitting in my driveway for 15 minutes or longer because I’m listening to a story. I remember listening to NPR’s Hurricane Katrina coverage and being struck by the interaction between the correspondents and residents of New Orleans. I think it’s important for people to invest in their community, and one of the ways they can do that is by supporting public radio.

I’m Neil Clayton from Marion, Illinois and WSIU is Powered By Me.

What do you love about WSIU? Tell us and we’ll share it on the air, online, or in print!

Online • www.wsiu.org/you Email • you@wsiu.org

W S I U i s P o w e r e d b y Yo u ® WSIU Public Radio Communications Building 1003 - MC 6602 Southern Illinois University Carbondale 1100 Lincoln Drive Carbondale IL 62901 • 618/453-6101 • wsiu.org • wsiuradio@wsiu.org