NAEB Newsletter (January 1, 1963)

American Baptist Radio-TV Awards Among the categories for the 1963 American Baptist Radio- TV awards are: “To the individual(s) in broadcasting who have been commendably instrumental in furthering Christian outreach by innovations in the use of the media, or by seeing that the media are used more effectively than before” and “To the local radio or TV station which does an exemplary job of searching out community needs and problems and then produces pertinent, balanced programming to meet them.” March 1 is the deadline for entries. For more information and entry blanks, write to 1963 Radio-TV Awards, Ameri¬ can Baptist Convention, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 1745, New York 27. News of Members PERSONNEL ^ Larry Walcoff has left his position as program director at WSUI, Iowa City, to become assistant director of school services for WQED-TV, Pittsburgh. ^ Lindy Wade, formerly at UCLA, is now assistant in re¬ search and publications for the Santa Clara County (Cali¬ fornia) Office of Education. ^ New additions to the staff of Michigan State’s WMSB (TV) : R. Bradley Cummings, film cameraman and editor, formerly with the University of Georgia Center of Continu¬ ing Education; Duane G. Straub, TV cameraman, formerly with WTOL-TV, Toledo, and WOL-TV, Ames, Iowa; Patrick Siemon, TV cameraman, formerly student unit pro¬ ducer at WMSB; Hanley Michelson, director, formerly with WGTV, University of Georgia; and Mrs. Margaret Mc- Cutcheon Lauterback, assistant to promotion director, for¬ merly with KOA, Denver, and KBOL, Boulder, Colorado. ^ William H. Seibel, director of ITV, Temple University, will conduct a European communications study tour this summer. Under sponsorship of the U. S. National Student Association, the group will visit BBC studios, watch pro¬ duction of ETV at Associated-Rediffusion, visit stations of Radiodiffusion-Television Francaise, visit headquarters of the Italian radio-TV system, observe operations of Italian ETV, visit Austrian national TV and radio stations, visit studios of Radio Free Europe in Munich and the Munich station of Voice of America, and see the Brussels International TV Control Center of the European Broadcasting Union, which directs all TV operations for Eurovision. Films and the press will be studied also, as well as radio and television. ^ Vernon Bronson, NAEB’s director of special projects, will present a paper on technology before the U.N. conference in Geneva, Switzerland, February 14-19. ^ George L. Arms, who has spent the last two years in Ni¬ geria working on school programs and aiding with adult pro¬ grams (see NAEB Journal for March-April 1961, September- October 1961, and January-February 1963, for his experi¬ ences), is back in Nigeria on a new project. In a letter, he describes this as “helping to develop a substantial library of films, tapes, etc., of educational interest, for use on radio and TV stations in Nigeria, and backing them up with carefully organized teachers’ notes, pupil booklets . . . and hopefully to do some research on several of the techniques to see which works best, and most economically . . .” Arms was formerly operations manager for KETC, St. Louis. The current proj¬ ect in Nigeria Is sponsored by the Agency for International Development, for which Dick Rider is heading up the radio, TV, and audiovisual programs in Nigeria. GENERAL ^ KUSD-TV, State University of South Dakota station, is now transmitting from a new mast-mounted antenna recently placed on the existing antenna tower. Studios and engineering spaces have recently been enlarged and remodeled. ^ WWWS, East Carolina College, backed a UNICEF drive with a College Radiothon. James Shuman, staff member, NAEB Headquarters: Suite 1119, 1346 Connecticut Avenue, N. W„ Washington 6, D. C. Phone 667-6000 Area Code 202. broadcast for 36 hours continuously to boost college contri¬ butions ; the broadcast was climaxed by a dance sponsored by WWWS staffers. y This month the eight ERN stations begin broadcasting a Russian language course. The 40 half-hour programs will be broadcast three times a week, and are being produced at WFCR-FM, Amherst, Massachusetts. ^ “Jokelore of the Western World,” a program series pro¬ duced by WUOT, University of Tennessee, will be broad¬ cast in Turkey. The Turkish Embassy has accepted the pro¬ grams and will translate them into Turkish. The programs deal with the first jokes ever told, and included among the first comedians is Nasreddin Hojah, a Turk. ^ WHA, University of Wisconsin, and WUOM, University of Michigan, are planning an experimental program exchange. With Michigan’s relatively new WVGR (FM) in Grand Rapids, it is hoped that rebroadcast difficulties can be over¬ come. ^ On the day after President Kennedy’s speech to the nation regarding Cuba, Florida State University’s WFSU-TV gave its viewers a “Special Report on the Cuban Situation.” The station provided a photo story of the background of the Cuban buildup and steps taken by the U. S. since Castro; there was also a special telephone report by a Miami correspond¬ ent—on the situation of the Cuban refugees. ^ WHYY-FM, Philadelphia, after the President’s message, pre-empted its scheduled programs and went on the air con¬ siderably earlier than its regular sign-on time, in order to re¬ port up-to-the-minute U. N. proceedings and news com¬ mentaries. Other ERN stations joined WHYY in carrying some of these programs. ^ Wisconsin teachers study ETV: At a state teachers’ con¬ vention in November, ETV planning in Wisconsin was one of the major topics for discussion; at a one-day conference of the Southwestern Wisconsin Supervising Teachers Associa¬ tion, the entire morning meeting was devoted to televised in¬ struction. ^ A 12-page special section of The State and The Columbia Record, Columbia, South Carolina, for Sunday, September 23, was devoted to the state’s closed-circuit ETV network. Over half the section was devoted to ads tied in with the subject of ETV. Among the articles were some under these headlines: “How Will S. C. Meet Education Challenge?” “S. C. ETV Students Score at Top on National Tests,” “Large Staff Backs Up ETV Teacher at Studio,” “Classroom Teachers Are Key to Success of Teaching Team,” “Teacher Shortage Turns Many Administrators to ETV,” and “Doc¬ tors Go Back to Classrooms without Leaving Home Town.” ^ By the end of this academic year, Ohio State University estimates enrollment in TV classes for credit there will reach 17,500—some 2,000 more than last year. Major use of TV is to transmit lectures to large-enrollment courses such as mathematics, zoology, and health education- The lectures are transmitted either via a nine-channel CCTV system, or over WOSU-TV. ITV activity keeps WOSU’s three videotape recorders busy from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.—sometimes longer. ^ Syracuse University is slated to receive 15 million dollars from Mr. and Mrs. Samuel I. Newhouse for “the world’s largest and most advanced” study center in mass communica¬ tions. ^ The Nebraska Council for ETV reports that more than 12 per cent of that state’s school children are viewing educa¬ tional telecasts produced by the Council; almost 20 per cent of the state’s elementary teachers are using ETV in their classrooms. ^ December 18 saw the first broadcast of the Alabama ETV network’s new member, WAIQ-TV, Montgomery. This is the state network’s fourth station, and the only UHF oper¬ ation. ^ Last month Ampex announced a portable TV tape recorder l/20th the size and l/4th the cost of previous models. It oper¬ ates on household current, weighs 130 pounds, and is priced under $12,000. JANUARY, 1963 3