NAEB Newsletter (August 1, 1965)

Summer TV Institutes for High School Students Hundreds of high school students each summer spend vacations studying at TV institutes sponsored by colleges or univer¬ sities. To investigate the extent and nature of these institutes, I mailed a questionnaire to colleges or universities which were known for their broadcasting activities and/or had strong course offerings in broadcasting. I received 46 (90%) replies out of 51 questionnaires mailed in November 1964. Of the respondents, 19 (41%) offered a high school institute, 10 of them in tele¬ vision. (Other areas mentioned were 10 institutes in speech, including public speak¬ ing, general communications, debate, and oral interpretation; 11 in drama; 10 in ra¬ dio; 2 in newspaper journalism; 1 audio¬ visual workshop; and a combination music, French, and fine arts workshop.) There were TV institutes on the cam¬ puses of these universities: Michigan State, Montana State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Denver, Kansas, Nebraska, the Pa¬ cific, Southern California, and Washing¬ ton State. Length of the institutes varied from two to six weeks, averaging four weeks. All institutes charged tuition, with fees ranging from $25 to $130, not including room and board. The median tuition fee was $75, while the mean was $45. Half of the TV institutes received college-appro¬ priated funds in addition to tuition fees. Enrollment requirements included the student’s rank in class (upper fourth to upper third) ; completion of grade 10; rec¬ ommendation from a speech teacher, jour¬ nalism teacher, or principal; results of college entrance exams; and a good record in high school journalism, speech, science and mathematics or group leadership ac¬ tivities. Northwestern University’s Nation¬ al High School Institute, in its thirty-fifth year, had the most stringent requirements. Television institutes admitted from 11 to 40 students, averaging 20. Each institute offered formal lectures on broadcasting — with five institutes —by Donald G. Kirkorian spending no more than a quarter of the time on lectures, three spending from a quarter to half the time, and one spend¬ ing from half to three quarters of the time in this manner. One respondent could not answer this question, as lecture time varied with change of instructor. Two in¬ stitutes used textbooks to supplement lec¬ tures, one having a bibliography for stu¬ dents and the other having textbooks on reserve. Nine respondents said their TV insti¬ tutes were activity-oriented, the following being a sampling of their TV activities: two hours daily in the TV lab, with more time near the end of the institute; foren¬ sic activities, dramatics, music programs presented by institute participants; and students going through various positions (camera, floor, audio) on several small productions and then, as the final project, being responsible for a half-hour show which they write, produce, direct, star in, participate as crew, etc. All schools used a closed-circuit facili¬ ty for production work, and three could use a videotape recorder for institute pro¬ ductions. Half of the respondents said there was some kind of industry participation in the TV institute. The most common such ac¬ tivity was taking students on tours of the local radio and TV stations, and during the tours the students usually received lectures from station personnel. Local TV stations awarded scholarships to two in¬ stitutes to assist in financing student ex¬ penses. All respondents had at least one facul¬ ty member involved in teaching and di¬ recting institute activities; four institutes used graduate students in addition to fac¬ ulty ; and one used undergraduates as lab assistants. All TV institutes planned extracurricu¬ lar activities for students, such as ban¬ quets, theater parties, dances, talent shows, tours, concerts, lectures, movies, and “a trip to Glacier National Park.” New Membership Category For State ETV Associations The NAEB Board of Directors has just approved the following resolution: That a new category of Associates be established for State Educational Television Authori¬ ties; that official State-wide Educational Television Authorities which either are members of the appropriate NAEB divi¬ sion or who do not qualify for membership in any division may affiliate as State Edu¬ cational Television Authority Associates. Annual dues will be $35. ETC Facilities Program Actions At the end of June, these actions were an¬ nounced by the ETV Facilities Program: • Applications for financial assistance in construction of ETV stations were accept¬ ed for filing for Ch. 66, St. John, Ind., and Ch. 9, North Platte, Neb. Total estimated project costs were, respectively, $204,086 and $439,762. • An application was accepted for ex¬ pansion of operations of WCET, Ch. 48, Cincinnati. Total estimated cost: $91,898. • Grants in the following amounts were approved for new ETV stations: at Oma¬ ha, Neb., $100,000; Ch. 57, Terre Haute, Ind., $185,958. • Grants in the following amounts were approved for expansion of operations: Ch. 62, Tacoma, Wash., $110,434; Ch. 10, Pull¬ man, Wash., $88,253; Ch. 6, Sacramento, Calif., $77,547; Ch. 6 (San Juan) and Ch. 3 (Mayaguez), Puerto Rico, $300,193; and Ch. 9, San Francisco, $189,433. NAEB Files Petition with FCC On July 15, the NAEB, through its at¬ torneys filed a petition with the FCC re¬ questing it to review and reconsider its Fourth Report and Order (Docket No. 14229) regarding UHF allocations. NAEB contends that the Report and Order offends procedural due process and sound alloca¬ tions policy, and that it “is gravely prejudi¬ cial to the interests of educational broad¬ casters.” The NAEB has also requested a time ex¬ tension of 60 days beyond the July 20 date for comments, and August 5 for reply comments. Ford Foundation Grant to Community ETV Stations The 32 community-owned ETV stations in this country will be the recipients of a $10 million grant from the Ford Founda¬ tion. Matching funds ranging from $50,000 to a maximum of $500,000 per station will be made, beginning in the fall. New com¬ munity stations going on the air for the duration of the four-year program will be eligible for the grants. USOE Names Deadline for Institute Proposals The USOE has invited colleges and uni¬ versities to file proposals to hold institutes for educational media specialists for summer 1966 and the academic year 1966-67. The institutes, officially designated NDEA In¬ stitutes for Advanced Study, are author¬ ized by Title XI of the NDEA. Completed proposals must be mailed to the USOE, postmarked no later than Oc¬ tober 8, 1965. Copies of a manual for use in preparing the proposals may be obtained from the Division of College and Univer¬ sity Assistance, USOE, Washington, D.C. 20202. Early Bird and ETV NET’s first use of a communications satellite was for “Transatlantic Inquiry,” a cooperative venture with BBC. From a school in Birmingham, England, via Early NAEB Newsletter, a monthly publication issued by the Na- NAEB Headquarters: 1346 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Wash- tional Association of Educational Broadcasters, 119 Gregory Hall, ington, D.C., 20036. Phone 667-6000. Area Code 202. TWX 202- Urbana, III. 61803. $5.00 a year. Editor: Betty McKenzie. Phone qac rwoo 333-0580. Area Code 217. V60-UZW. 2 NEWSLETTER