Dawn O. Braithwaite, President
Join
us!
I
do hope you are planning to join us in Coeur d’Alene in February.
I trust you have seen President Elect’s Sandra Petronio’s
convention program on the WWW. It
looks terrific! Many thanks to all of you who submitted papers, panels,
workshops, and volunteered as chairs, respondents, and paper readers.
Local Host Betsy Bach and colleagues have planned many terrific
activities for the outdoor types and those of us who prefer our leisure
indoors. This is truly a
beautiful site, hotel, and very reasonable room rates.
Join
In!
Looking
back over my years with WSCA, I remember well my early conferences when I
knew few people…standing around, hoping to find someone to talk with.
That changed quickly, as I found WSCA members to be friendly, and the
programs intellectually stimulating. I
soon became involved by submitting my own papers, volunteering to join in on
panels, and attending the convention luncheon, social events, and interest
group business meetings (one of the best ways for new people to get
involved). I soon felt very
much at home at WSCA.
For
you new (or newer) members, please do attend our convention Newcomer’s
Reception (come meet the officers and other new members) Saturday at 4:15
PM, followed by the Convention Kickoff and No-Host Reception. For those of
you who are WSCA veterans, please do make a special effort to meet the new
folks at Coeur d’Alene and include them in your plans for the 2001
convention.
Become
a Leader!
I
sometimes hear people say that they do not feel involved in a large
organization. With WSCA, there
are so many ways to be involved,
some of which I mentioned above. Of
course, our central mission is dedication to teaching and research.
Attend the conventions regularly and submit your papers, put together
a panel, or volunteer for a panel through the interest group chair or at
interest group business meetings.
The
other way to be involved is to volunteer or run for leadership positions in
the organization. Let me give you some ideas: (1) Each interest group holds
elections for offices such as chair, secretary, and paper readers; (2)
volunteer to be your department’s representative to the Legislative
Assembly; (3) several elections for association positions are held at the
Legislative Assembly each year, including Nominating Committee and Executive
Council Members at Large. Contact a member of the Executive Council and
volunteer for a committee appointment during the convention (these
committees appear on the web page and in the convention program); (4) If you
are interested in serving as a reviewer for Communication Reports or Western
Journal of Communication, contact the editor and talk with them about
this; (5) Finally, I will be chairing the association’s Nominating
Committee during summer 2001. We
will be nominating for First Vice President, Second Vice President, and ten
Delegates at Large to the Legislative Assembly (many of these delegates are
newer members!). Please think
about becoming involved. We
need you and it is the best way to feel at home at WSCA.
WSCA
has the reputation for being one of our discipline’s best scholarly
conferences and also the most friendly and lively as well! Some of my best
friendships began at WSCA, and I have found my association with WSCA to
incredibly rewarding. I wish
the same for all of you. Thank
you for the great honor of serving as your President.
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GAIN
BY COMING TO COEUR D’ALENE!!!!
Sandra
Petronio, President Elect
This year’s program has so many wonderful choices; coming to the
WSCA convention in Coeur d’Alene will be the best thing you do in 2001. To
start, on Saturday, February 24, you can attend the Preconference.
Capitalizing
on the theme of “Translating Our Scholarship into Practice,” the
preconference examines “Changing Tides of Social Trends.” Daniel J.
Canary and Sally Planalp have developed a spectacular program that spans
translation issues such as symbolic and social problems in the market place,
the impact of technology, social well-being, public debate, service
learning, legal communication, skills training, local and global
environmental crises, conflict mediation, and applied research.
There are many exciting workshops this year. You can learn about
mediation, theory and application, mass media and popular culture, online
survey research, feminist alliances, teaching portfolios, and incorporating
technology in intercultural classrooms.
Let me also point out that you can join a hearty discussion about the
Coordinated Management of Meaning, a dialogue about dialogue, and be sure to
check out the workshop on the election. Just when you think the election
might be decided, it changes. Come and join a lively exploration into the
conundrum of the 2000 presidential election.
There are many, many superb panels. We must give a hearty thanks to
the program planners. Each person worked very hard to get this program
together. Please take a little time out of your conventioning to thank the
following people: Julie Benson-Rosston (Communication and Instruction), John
Reinard (Communication, Law and Freedom of Speech), Mary McPherson
(Communication Theory and Research), Linda Zeuschner (Community College),
Melissa Beall (Elementary and Secondary Education), Julie Yingling (Health
Communication), Anneliese Harper (Intercultural Communication), Beth LePoire
(Interpersonal Communication), Rob Leonard (Performance Studies), Jeffrey
Robinson (Language and Social Interaction), Brian Ott (Media Studies), Cindy
Griffin (Organization for Research on Women and Communication), Angela
Trethewey (Organizational Communication), Benita Dilley (Rhetoric and Public
Address), Duane Fish (Western Forensics Association), and Betsy Bach
(Executives Club).
Don’t miss the “Great Town Hall Debate” challenging the issue
of technology and its effects on human communication. Moreover, please
don’t miss the chance to hear Distinguished Professor Irwin Altman at the
brunch! He is an excellent speaker and promises a provocative presentation.
You might also want to visit with the two nominees for the NCA 2nd
Vice-President so there are office hours with Isa Engelberg on Sunday
starting at 1:00pm Sunday and Gerard Hauser starting at 2:30 on Sunday.
We offer three special panels this year that speak to “Theories
that Have Stood the Test of Time.” Look for a panel featuring W. Barnett
Pearce and his coordinated management of meaning on Sunday at 1:00 pm. Check
out the panel featuring Gerry Philipsen and his Speech Code Theory on Sunday
at 2:30 pm. Enjoy the panel featuring Leslie Baxter and her dialectical
theory on 3:40 on Monday.
We all were saddened by the loss of our dear colleague Diane Lamude.
To celebrate her contributions to the discipline, we are honoring her with a
panel on Sunday at 2:30 pm. Please join us.
For all of those graduate students looking for ways to develop their
career, check out the panel on why NCA doctoral honors seminars are so
valuable at 4:00 pm, Sunday.
There are several panels that focus on important NCA issues. For
example, one gives you the opportunity to talk about the new NCA By-Laws
change with NCA 1st Vice President, Bill Balthrop and committee
member, WSCA President Dawn Braithwaite on Sunday at 4:00pm. On Monday at
10:00 am, you can learn about NCA’s leadership in the national program on
Preparing Future Faculty.
Consider attending the spotlight panel honoring Professor William
Wilmot, who has made a significant contribution to our understanding of
conflict on Sunday at 1:00pm. Likewise, you might want to go to the
spotlight panel for Professor Robert Newman, who has played a noteworthy
role in expanding our knowledge about rhetoric on Monday at 8:30 am.
Don’t forget the Graduate Student Open House for students to find
the perfect graduate programs and for departments to find the perfect
students!!
Last, but never least, don’t overlook the Sock Hop!! This year we
have a theme, thanks to Local Host Betsy Bach. Coeur d’Alene Cajun!! Bring your beads and dancing shoes!
A very heart felt thanks to my assistants at Wayne State University,
David Cichocki and Heather Seipke Stuckey and to Mary Claire Morr at Arizona
State University. They have worked endlessly on this year’s program and
deserve all the recognition we can give them.
SEE YOU IN COEUR D’ALENE!
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Local
Host News:
Let it Snow!
Betsy
Bach, Local Host Coordinator
On behalf of my colleagues at the University of Montana, Idaho State
University, Eastern Washington University, and the University of Idaho, I am
delighted to invite you to the Coeur d' Alene Resort, in Coeur d' Alene.
You can check it out at their website at www.cdaresort.com.
We are staying in a world-class resort that has offered us
rock-bottom prices. Economy
rooms are $77.00 per night, Park Wing rooms are $99.00 per night, and Lake
Tower rooms are $125.00 per night. There is no per-person extra charge.
You will fly to Spokane airport, which is a 45-minute ride from the
Resort. Resort busses will transport you to and from the airport
for $35.00. You must call the resort to arrange your transportation 48
hours prior to your arrival. Arrangements
can be made by calling 800-688-LAKE.
The Resort offers unparalleled service, superb conference
facilities, wonderful restaurants, and a full European Spa. The sock hop
will have a Cajun theme this year, so come prepared to party “Coeur d’
Alene Cajun” style. For
you outdoor types we have all-day ski trips in the works for Friday and
Saturday, and sleigh rides on Sunday and Monday evenings. Those of you more
inclined to stay indoors can enjoy a day trip to Sandpoint (and Coldwater
Creek) on Saturday, a gala wine tasting on Monday evening, and a Cajun
cooking demonstration on Tuesday morning. Pine Salt Glow.
Ask any of your colleagues who have attended the annual meeting of
the Northwest Communication Association at the Resort.
They'll tell you it's fantastic!
We are working with Habitat for Humanity to engage in a day of
service on the Friday preceding the convention.
Plans are still tentative, pending the number of people who sign up
to participate.
We look forward to seeing you in Coeur d’ Alene…and let it
SNOW!
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Sharon
Downey, 2nd Vice President
My
children think I'm redundant, so you might as well too.
In early November 2000, and again as an e-mail reminder last month, all
department chairs in the western states received a letter and membership forms
from me requesting that they encourage all new faculty to join WSCA, punish
less-new faculty somehow (like maybe mandatory readings of Aristotle's
Rhetoric) for forgetting to renew their memberships, and award a one-year free
membership to a deserving undergraduate student and graduate student so that
the continuity of WSCA is assured. A
number of chairs responded to the call and, for that, WSCA and I thank you.
For the rest of you--like my good friend Rich (the chair at CSU,
Pomona)--who might have mislaid the new membership and renewal forms somewhere
on your busy desk, would you please take a moment to find and distribute them
to your faculty? If you still
can't find them, please ask faculty to visit the WSCA website (www.westcomm.org)
for information. It's not too
late to join or to attend our convention in Coeur d'Alene.
Many thanks.
We need to boost the institutional membership of WSCA because only 25
out of more than 160 departments of communication and speech communication at
community colleges and universities in the West are currently institutional
members. This number is way too
low for us to build the unity and power we need to elevate the role of speech
communication in K-20 education. My
guess, though, is that failing to renew your department's institutional
membership is just an oversight and not intentional or due to empty department
budget pockets. So, department
chairs, please see if you can wrest the nominal institutional membership fee
from department resources; and faculty, please remember to remind department
chairs to wrest the nominal institutional membership fee from the department's
coffer. It will mean inclusion,
and will be well worth it. Thanks
again.
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Workshop
on Translating Scholarship for Mass Media
Wish
YOU could get the mass media coverage some of your colleagues get? Or wish you
could better control the mass media coverage you DO get?
Come
and learn how on Saturday, February 24, at the WSCA 2001 Convention Three-Hour
Workshop "TRANSLATING YOUR SCHOLARSHIP & TEACHING FOR THE MASS MEDIA:
HOW TO REACH THE VAST GENERAL PUBLIC," conducted by Mary-Lou Galician of
the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication at Arizona
State University, Tempe, along with special guest presenter Bill Eadie,
Associate Director of the National Communication Association (NCA).
Mary-Lou
Galician (The Original "Dr. FUN!" and Mrs. David Natharius) — a
former journalist and TV talk show host who has coached public figures for
media presentations — has herself appeared on national television
"translating" her own scholarly work, which has also been featured
in national magazines, major newspapers, and local media. She'll share
"secrets" and offer individualized advice, and you'll get a hand-out
packet.
