Signal WSIU Public Radio
An Online Newsletter
Vol. 7, No. 1 • Januar y 2014
Local FM Programming Changes
This Month on
Morning Conversation Morning Conversation is hosted by WSIU Radio’s Jennifer Fuller. The show airs at 8:30am on Tuesdays and other weekdays, as scheduled, and repeats at 5:30pm. For updates & to hear past broadcasts, check our calendar at wsiu.org/programs morning-conversation.
January 7 Concealed Carry Supplement
ACOUSTIC NATURE HOUR Our local program Acoustic Nature Hour, hosted by Kevin Boucher, is on an indefinite break. Replacing the program on Sundays on WSIU Radio HD1/News & Classical is Putamayo World Music at 2am and Computer Ed Radio at 10pm. Inside Europe replaces Acoustic Radio Hour on Sundays at 5am on WSIU Radio HD2/News & Talk.
SOUNDS LIKE RADIO Experimental music and sound art series Sounds Like Radio, hosted by Dave Armstrong, is on hiatus through Fall 2014 when it will return in a new format. Watch for news about Sounds Like Radio 2.0 in the year ahead! You may also contact Armstrong at malty1@gmail.com. Sounds Like Radio has been replaced by Computer Ed Radio on Sundays from 3-5am on WSIU Radio HD1/News & Classical and on Sundays from 1-3am on WSIU Radio HD2/News & Talk.
Attorney Daniel Kay talks about a special class he’s teaching to help those who are interested in Concealed Carry learn more about the legal aspects and responsibilities.
January 13 FEMA Update
FEMA Spokesman Darrell Habisch updates the recovery progress from the November 17th tornadoes, and discusses the recent denial of federal aid for Illinois.
January 14 SIU Carbondale Chancellor Rita Cheng
Chancellor Cheng discusses the severe winter weather’s effects on the campus, Spring 2014 enrollment, budget issues, and the potential to hire dozens of new faculty members.
January 21 University Museum
Representatives of the SIU University Museum will highlight upcoming shows and exhibits, as well as new areas for people to enjoy this spring.
A little love goes a long way...
Love is On the Air
Send a sweet treat to someone special this Valentine’s Day with WSIU’s annual Love is On the Air fundraiser. Send beautifully, handmade regular or sugar-free gourmet chocolates made by The Chocolate Factory in Golconda, Ill. to anywhere in the continental U.S., courtesy of The UPS Store in Carbondale, Ill., formerly Mail Boxes Etc.
1/2 lb box $45 1 lb box $60 2 lb box $100 Comfort Pillow™
& 1 lb box $120 Thank You to Our Sponsors
Supplies are limited ... order today! 1-800-745-9748 wsiu.org/love Deadline to Order: February 12 • 1pm
SIRIS Volunteer
Georgia Norman
SIRIS volunteer Georgia Norman. Photo: Kate West.
eet SIRIS volunteer Georgia Marine Norman. Originally from Northern Virginia, near the Washington D.C. beltway, Norman grew up as a self-described “army brat”. She came to Illinois after her parents decided to move back to their childhood stomping grounds in the Jacksonville area and has called the state home ever since. Norman completed a Bachelor’s degree in Paralegal Studies from Southern Illinois University (SIU) in Carbondale, and currently works as an Administrative Aide in the Graduate Studies Office of SIU’s Department of Mass Communication and Media Arts (MCMA). Norman is an avid volunteer, and along with the Southern Illinois Radio Information Service (SIRIS), she volunteers with the Boys and Girls Club of Carbondale, and serves as the President of the Shawnee Audubon Society. Working with these organizations has connected her to other volunteer opportunities, which Norman finds rewarding. “People often do not realize that when they volunteer, they get more out of it than they give,” she says.
Norman is a public media fan who listens to WSIU Radio and TV regularly. “I practically breathe, sleep and eat WSIU!” she says. “Any time I’m awake…when I’m in my car or at home, I’m tuned in to public radio. It wakes me up in the morning. At night, I watch public television.” It was while listening to WSIU Radio that Norman first learned about SIRIS. “I heard a few radio spots about it, which caught my interest,” she says. A colleague helped connect Norman with SIRIS last spring, and since then, she has been using her personal time to volunteer once a week as a reader. Norman’s volunteer routine at SIRIS is to clock in, find out what needs to be read, scan the paper to choose the local news, read for about a half hour, and then clock out. She feels it’s important to prioritize the local news because it’s the least accessible form of news for SIRIS users. “Reading the local news is important for our listeners,” Norman explains. “Their world can be limited by their visual impairment. A service like SIRIS keeps them informed about what’s going on in their communities and helps them feel more connected.” Norman says it’s been easy to adapt to her volunteer work at SIRIS because she received good instructions and feedback. “Before the recording sessions start, your voice is tested to determine what type of equipment will suit you best,” she says. “In addition to testing your voice, critique sheets are used to help you best
understand how to improve. It’s a pretty straightforward process, and I felt comfortable with it very quickly.“ When asked what she enjoys most about volunteering at SIRIS, Norman had plenty of good things to say. “The SIRIS staff are organized, professional, and friendly,” she says. “I also appreciate the connection I feel with the audience while reading.” Norman is intensely curious and has a wide variety of interests, so she stays very busy when not working or volunteering. She is naturally creative, with an interest in the arts, and especially loves storytelling. Norman is a keen listener of audiobooks, and sometimes plays a storytelling game with her “Little Sister” from the Boys and Girls Club. She also enjoys the outdoors, researching online, period piece movies, art galleries, and public TV and radio. “Whether the programs are about cooking, landscaping, or building, or if the focus is history or science, I love it all,” she says. “I want to learn, I want to experience, and public TV and radio help me to do both.” Norman encourages people to support SIRIS and WSIU because what you hear and see “are more intelligent than some of the other stuff that’s out there. WSIU is just very dedicated to community.” To become a volunteer like Georgia Norman, please call the SIRIS office at (618) 453-2808.
What’s the Scoop?
Northern Great Plains Oil Rush Series Once sleepy Great Plains towns sit on one of the world’s largest oil deposits and a boom is well underway. North Dakota now has the nation’s lowest unemployment rate, as oil and related industries now employ 60,000 workers with an average salary of well over $100,000. NPR examines the effects of the oil fields in the Great Plains
Story Descriptions Welcome To Oil Country
Wednesday, January 22 • Morning Edition The Great Plains oil boom is transforming everything it touches, from jobs to crime. It’s a modern day gold rush causing severe growing pains and transforming these towns into ones their longtime residents no longer recognize. NPR’s Kirk Siegler reports.
Pitting Oil Against Agriculture
Wednesday, January 22 • All Things Considered Despite a booming oil industry, agriculture remains North Dakota’s largest industry. Many farmers and ranchers profit from the oil boom but others complain drillers interfere with their business. This tension prompted one group to target North Dakota’s governor in a failed attempt to have him indicted for bribery. NPR’s Jeff Brady reports.
Gas Flaring Controversy
Thursday, January 23 • Morning Edition The bright light caused by natural gas flaring looks pretty from space, but the gas is a huge waste of energy and profits for North Dakota’s mineral rights owners. Several class action lawsuits have been filed by mineral rights owners against oil companies they say are flaring more than the law allows. NPR’s Jeff Brady reports.
Oil Demands Outpace Infrastructure
Homeless In North Dakota
Friday, January 24 • All Things Considered For people coming to North Dakota for oil jobs, finding affordable housing is a sometimes insurmountable challenge. As a result, the number of homeless people, including children, has risen dramatically. Shelters are stretched beyond their capacity, so a group of 18 churches has banded together to open their doors to the overflow. Meg Lindholm of Prairie Public Radio reports.
Prostitution in Oil Country
Saturday, January 25 • Weekend Edition Prostitution is becoming more commonplace throughout Great Plain oil country as the illegal industry fills demand from a population of young male oil workers. It’s easy to find postings by professional escorts in town “for one week only” on local online classifieds. Men and women talk about the problem and its relation to a rise in sex trafficking. Dan Boyce of Montana Public Radio reports.
Building An Oil Refinery At The Source
Saturday, January 25 • Weekend All Things Considered The first new refinery since 1976 is under construction in rural North Dakota. An oil drilling boom there is prompting two companies to invest up to 300 million dollars to build a diesel refinery. NPR’s Jeff Brady reports.
Thursday, January 23 • All Things Considered The Great Plains oil development significantly strains the infrastructure of communities throughout the region. A steady stream of big rigs pounds the streets of small Sidney, Montana every day as a rapidly increasing population stretches the town’s sewer system to its limit. The town is trying to pay for $55 million in infrastructure needs on about a $10 million annual budget. Dan Boyce of Montana Public Radio reports.
Shipping Oil From The Great Plains
Commuting For Oil Dollars
Bringing Culture To Oil Workers
Friday, January 24 • Morning Edition In the Northwest, where some of the region’s last lumber mills have shuttered, people needing work are commuting hundreds of miles to remote eastern Montana and western North Dakota. They’re taking jobs with the booming Bakken shale oil development, but this takes a toll for some families. NPR’s Kirk Siegler reports.
Sunday, January 26 • Weekend Edition As the oil boom continues to grow in the Great Plains, the industry is increasingly relying on railroads to ship to refineries and major markets. Tens of millions of dollars in new oil-to-rail infrastructure projects have also been built in and around the Bakken shale oil field to handle what some see as a glut in oil along the northern plains. NPR’s Kirk Siegler reports. Sunday, January 26 • Weekend All Things Considered The oil fields of western North Dakota bring vast economic opportunity to a region in decline just 10 years ago, yet art and culture are a rare commodity. One humanities organization is trying to change that by sending two writers into oil boom towns to conduct creative writing workshops. Montana Public Radio’s Dan Boyce has the story.
Grief, Freedom & Ancestors Rediscovered In the latest segment for The Race Card Project, Robert Goins makes the painful discovery that his ancestors were enslaved on a North Carolina plantation. In his moving story, he shares what it was like to see his ancestors listed among livestock and farm implements and to explains how one family member obtained his freedom. Listen and learn more online at http://bit.ly/racecard_grief.
Saturday 7pm • Sunday 6pm January 4 • New Releases Our first program of the new year is a sampling of new and recent songs and tunes from the Celtic traditions.
January 11 • Best of the Best
THANK YOU! Please join us in thanking the underwriters who recently began, renewed, or expanded their partnership to make public radio possible:
Neighborhood Co-Op Grocery Carbondale, IL
This week we revisit some of our past Album of the Year winners for some extra-fine Celtic music.
Town Square Market
January 18 • Open the Door for Three
Farm Credit Illinois
The trio Open the Door for Three visits our studio this week to talk about their recent album, as well as their previous individual work. Members include Pat Broaders on vocals and bouzouki, Liz Knowles on fiddle, and Kieran O’Hare on flute, whistle, and pipes.
January 25 • Songs of Robert Burns Join us for a birthday party! It’s the 255th birthday of Scotland’s great poet and songwriter, Robert Burns, who was born on January 25, 1759.
The Edge: Olympic Winter Games On Morning Edition & All Things Considered Meet athletes competing in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, learn (finally!) how judges actually score figure skating, get the latest new about the threat of terrorism at this year’s games, and more on “The Edge” segments, airing all month long on Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
Carbondale, IL Mahomet, IL
SIU Credit Union
Carbondale/Energy/Harrisburg/Marion/Metropolis, IL
For a complete list of WSIU sponsors and information about sponsoring WSIU’s programs and services, visit us online at wsiu.org or call (618) 453-4344.
WSIU Public Radio Communications Building 1003 Mail Code 6602 Southern Illinois University 1100 Lincoln Drive Carbondale IL 62901 (618) 453-6101 wsiuradio@wsiu.org