Signal WSIU Public Radio
An Online Newsletter
Vol. 9, No. 5 • May 2014
This Month on
May 1
Civil War Letters - We’ll take a look at a traveling Civil War exhibit on display at SIU’s Morris Library.
May 5
SIU PRESIDENT Randy Dunn - a welcome interview, as Dr. Dunn begins his first full week on the job.
May 6
H Group Crisis Center - nearly a year after opening, we’ll look at how this facility is doing.
May 13
SIU Carbondale Chancellor Rita Cheng - an update on campus issues
Have questions or suggestions for topics to be featured? Contact Jennifer Fuller at jennifer.fuller@wsiu.org or call (618) 453-6101.
May 19
SIU President Randy Dunn - following a Board of Trustees meeting, we’ll update university issues.
Morning Conversation is hosted by WSIU Public Radio morning news anchor and producer Jennifer Fuller. The series 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.
Gail Kell
Gail Kell. Photo: Sarah Maher.
Chicago native and longtime southern Illinois resident Gail Kell has lived in the Carbondale area for over 25 years. She first came to Carbondale when her husband decided to attend school at SIU Carbondale. The warmer weather and beautiful scenery are two of the reasons why the couple chose to remain in the southern Illinois area.
Kell’s worked in the healthcare industry in southern Illinois for 25 years and also spent a few years selling real estate. She found out about the Southern Illinois Radio Information Services (SIRIS) from the newspaper. “I’m always looking for ways to get involved in the community,” she says, adding that she is an active volunteer in the American Red Cross, the Shawnee Alliance for Seniors, and hospice care. “Even though I volunteer with these other programs, I’m not working a set schedule, so I have time to pursue other opportunities.”
people take for granted, like being able to read the paper, a magazine, or the Want Ads. It’s nice to be able help our SIRIS users be a little more independent. If you have the time and ability to volunteer in the community, you should go out there and do it. There’s always a need, and it makes you feel good to help someone else.“
As a new volunteer at SIRIS, Kell initially found the process of recording herself reading to be a challenge. “It’s hard to get used to reading out loud,” she says, “You have to read faster than you talk, but it gets easier the more you do it.”
Because she’s so busy, Kell often doesn’t have time to watch television, but when she does, she enjoys watching WSIU-TV’s Sunday night programming featuring Masterpiece and other British dramas and period pieces.
Kell enjoys her work at SIRIS and feels it’s worthwhile. “I’m sure it’s really tough when a person is unable to see,” she says. “Not having sight can make it harder to do what you want and need to do, even simple things that sighted
If you’d like to volunteer for SIRIS as a reader, with administrative tasks, or at events, or if you’d like to serve on the SIRIS advisory board, please contact Sarah Maher in the SIRIS office at (618) 453-2808.
In her free time, Kell enjoys traveling with her husband of 42 years, gardening, painting, crafting, walking, and biking. “Being active and involved – that’s what keeps me enthusiastic!”
On Morning Edition Veteran radio producers, The Kitchen Sisters, are back with a new installment of their series Hidden Kitchens -- the food, folklore and culture that creates community around the table. The series includes eight segments, airing each Tuesday in May and June on Morning Edition, beginning May 6.
on Morning Edition, Tuesdays, beginning May 6
Hidden Kitchens begins with a visit to farms in Sicily, where small farmers have taken over confiscated Mafia lands. Mob influence in Sicily is still heavy, and Mafia ties have threatened the new olive groves. But many small merchants are also standing up to the Mob, refusing to pay protection money at their ice cream and deli stands. Learn the story of England's "Turnspit Dogs" -- small dogs bred to run in wheels, turning the gears for roasts on a spit. Hear the stories of cooking in communal Soviet kitchens in Stalin's era, and hear how Soviet dissidents created their literature, music and political protests in their newly-privatized kitchens under leader Nikita Khrushchev.
A Russian communal kitchen. Photo credit: By permission of Ilya Utekhin, European University, St. Petersburg, Russia; Nancy Ries & Alice Nakhimovsky, Colgate University & Slava Paperno; Cornell University.
In Australia explore the world of "bush tucker" -- food that has grown wild in the outback for centuries, was traditionally harvested by Aboriginals, and is now on the rise. See how food kiosks are addressing poverty and the recession in Portugal; look at the presence of atomic isotopes in wine bottled after the 1940s, and how nuclear scientists are fighting "counterfeit" wine; and meet the horticulturalist who brought dates to the U.S. at the end of the 19th century. Learn how different immigrant groups have traveled with seeds to new lands, expanding food and tastes globally.
Auntie Beryl van Oploo at Yaama Dhiyaan, the first Aboriginal Cooking Academy, Sydney, Australia. Photo credit: The Kitchen Sisters
Please join us in thanking the underwriters who recently began, renewed, or expanded their partnership to make public radio possible:
Gator Automotive of Carbondale Jackson County Health Department of Murphysboro Dr. Tim Loughran Dentistry Herrin May 3 • New Releases
Our monthly sample of music from new and recent releases continues, with lively songs and toe-tapping tunes.
may 10 • One Morning in May
The month of May figures prominently in love songs and songs of nature from Scotland, England, and Ireland. We tap into that tradition with the help of Kyle Carey, Len Graham, Pierre Bensusan, and others.
may 17 • Canadian Connections
All the music this week is clearly Canadian, ranging from the east coast with its strengths in Scottish, Irish, and French music, to the west coast and the musical strongholds of British Columbia.
may 24 • Best of 1984 (30 Years Back)
Our occasional series where we look back to recordings of 30 years ago takes us back to 1984 this week, when vinyl records were still the norm.
may 31• Old Favorites
We raid the CD stacks this week for music that is no longer recent enough to show up in our New Releases programs.
Swing into Summer with
Reading Baseball
Mathis, Marifian, & Richer, Ltd. Belleville, Edwardsville, Nashville, IL & St. Louis, MO Maxwell’s Silver Hammer Carbondale Scott McClatchey of Alliance Investment Planning Group Carbondale School of Law at SIU, Carbondale Continuing Education and Outreach at SIU, Carbondale Orlandini Vineyard Makanda 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.
Hosted by Richard “Pete” Peterson Every other Friday during Baseball Season 6:30am, 8:30am & 5:29pm | On WSIU Radio
Let WSIU Radio take you out to the ball game with Richard “Pete” Peterson, editor of the St. Louis Baseball Reader and author of Extra Innings: Writing on Baseball. Reading Baseball is a series of original essays and commentaries by Peterson celebrating baseball, it’s history. and the people who make it great.
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