NAEB Newsletter (Nov 1958)

Jack Summerfield, WGBH-FM, Boston, Mass¬ achusetts (Note: Hartford Gunn, WGBH, and James Miles, WBAA, withdrew as nominees.) Because William Harley, Director of Region III, and Robert Schenkkan, Director of Region V, were elected President and 2nd Vice-President, respec¬ tively, at the recent Convention, nominations have been called for from members in these two regions to fill these two unexpired terms, and balloting, by mail, will be completed before the end of the year. CLOSED-CIRCUIT TV INSTALLATIONS GRANTED MEMBERSHIP STATUS Institutions operating “closed-circuit television equipment regularly for direct instructional purposes” are now eligible for Associate membership in the NAEB under the terms of a Constitutional amend¬ ment adopted by the membership at the Convention last month. James Miles, chairman of the Constitution com¬ mittee which presented the proposal to the member¬ ship, pointed out that there is a growing number of such installations currently in operation and that un¬ less such an amendment was passed, institutions with only closed-circuit operations would be eligible only for Affiliate membership. The committee felt that the growing importance of closed-circuit television entitled such institutions to voting membership in the Association. It was also pointed out that giving them a regular, voting membership, will make them part of the growing family of educators, concerned with radio and television as tools, who find a role to play in the NAEB. CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS AMENDED Ten amendments to the NAEB Constitution and By-Laws were approved by mail ballot just prior to the recent convention and three more were ap¬ proved on the floor of the convention. Two of the latter three had been included in the mail ballot but, due to the fact that more than two choices were pos¬ sible in each case, no single alternative received enough votes for passage, thus requiring reconsidera¬ tion on the floor of the convention. The third a- mendment passed by the convention gave Associate membership status to closed-circuit TV operations (for details see story elsewhere in this Newsletter). In brief, the amendments approved by mail and at the convention provide for recognition of Individ¬ ual members in the Preamble to the Constitution, establishment of an Industrial Associate category of membership, three vice-presidents, possibility of dual membership (both Active and Associate) on the part of institutions meeting certain requirements, and clarification of wording in several sections dealing with participation of voting members in affairs of the Association. The changes also specify that the 1st vice-president shall act as the interim chief admin¬ istrative officer of the Association in case a vacancy occurs in the presidency, that the convention shall be held in the Midwest in odd-numbered years and in rotation in the West, East and South in even-num¬ bered years, that any staff member of a voting mem¬ ber-institution may be elected to office, and clarify the duties of the president and the definition of “im¬ mediate past-president.” New copies of the Constitution and By-Laws, re¬ flecting all of the approved changes, will be sent to all members within a few weeks. COHN & MARKS, FRANKLIN DUNHAM RECEIVE NAEB CITATIONS The firm of Cohn and Marks, NAEB legal coun¬ sel, and Dr. Franklin Dunham, chief, radio-TV sec¬ tion, United States Office of Education, were awarded NAEB Citations at the annual NAEB banquet at the recent Omaha convention. The recipients were selected by the NAEB Awards and Citations committee consisting of Miss Judith Waller, chairman, H. B. McCarty, and Robert Cole¬ man. The Citations were presented by McCarty in the absence of Miss Waller who was unable to attend due to prior commitments. Cohn and Marks were cited “for their wise, friendly counsel to the educational broadcasters of America; for their distinctive representation of educa¬ tional interests before the Federal Communications Commission and various committees of Congress; and for their steadfast devotion to the development of the finest possible broadcasting system in the United States.” The award was accepted by Mr. Leonard Marks. Dr. Dunham was honored “for his vision, opti¬ mism, leadership, faith, and efforts in furtherance of the finest uses of broadcasting for educational and public service for more than a third of a century.” Mrs. Gertrude Broderick accepted the Citation in the absence of Dr. Dunham, who had to leave the convention early, as he said in a note to McCarty, in order to “continue intact my record of having spent every wedding anniversary with my wife during 36 years of marriage.” The practice of conferring special honors by the NAEB began at the New York convention in 1954 when Miss Waller, McCarty and Richard B. Hull were so honored. Recipients of NAEB Citations since then have been: in 1955 - Frank E. Schooley, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and the French Broadcasting System; in 1956 - Waldo Abbot; in 1957 I. Keith Tyler. —NAEB— NAEB Newsletter, a monthly publication issued by the Na¬ tional Association of Educational Broadcasters, 14 Gregory Hall, Urbana, III. $5 a year, edited by Nancy Whitmore. 2 NEWSLETTER