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The Newsletter of the Western States Communication Association www.westcomm.org October 2001 Volume 28, Issue 3 Editor: Stephanie J. Coopman, San Jose State U Assistant Editor: Deborah H. Rosengarten, San Jose State U In this issue: President's Column | 2002 Membership | 2002 WSCA Convention News | 2003 Convention in Salt Lake City | Appeal for Convention Hosts | CFN: Model Teaching Program | WSCA Candidate Slate | Search for Editor-Elect of Communication Reports | New Executive Director | WSCA Logo | Top Debut Paper Award Information | CFP: Special Issue on E-Health | CFN: Distinguished Service Award | Membership Form Long Beach Here We Come!!!! Sandra Petronio, WSCA President We are gearing up for the March 2-5, 2002 convention. President-Elect, Katherine Adams is working hard on planning the convention. She has many exciting things in store for you, as I am sure you will find in her column. Just a note about the use of AV equipment—we are asking you to use discretion in requesting this equipment. As always, it is expensive and difficult to obtain. On a brighter note, please make sure you check out the new website (www.westcomm.org) developed by Stephanie Coopman. She is doing an excellent job, thanks Stephanie!!! I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Connie Conlee for her years of service as Executive Director. We welcome Sue Pendell as the new Executive Director of WSCA. Sue is off to a grand start, keeping us on the straight and narrow—Thank you Sue!!! Although we are excited about the prospect of our up coming convention, this is a time for reflection. On behalf of WSCA, I want to extend our support and concern for those families who lost loved ones in the "Attack on America." For being a discipline specializing in messages, it seems difficult at this moment to express the way these actions have shaken the foundation of our beliefs and assumptions. However, the very core of our discipline provides the vehicle that will help all of us make sense of these tragedies. Through our ability to discuss the events and communicate our feelings, we will come to terms with the reasons for this devastation. We will help others use communication to gain perspective and restore hope. When we gather in Long Beach, we can be proud of the usefulness and significance that our discipline has in crisis and in mundane everyday lives. Be well my friends and colleagues and keep up the important work of being communication scholars and teachers. I look forward to seeing you in Long Beach. WSCA 2002 Membership John Cagle, 2nd Vice President Many things happen around us that demand our immediate attention, but it is manifestly clear that our professional organizations are an important part of the infrastructure that supports our lives as scholars and teachers. WSCA boasts exceptional scholarly journals, an annual convention that attracts top scholarship, yet maintains an atmosphere of camaraderie and fun, an informative and useful website, and so on. WSCA strives to maximize member services while keeping costs as low as possible, especially for our younger scholars. In October forms will go out to ask you to renew your membership, invite colleagues and students to join WSCA, consider a life membership (a bargain at $1000 and affordable at $280 a year for 5 years), and encourage your department to support the Association (only $40!). Membership in WSCA is for a calendar year. Forms are available in this newsletter and on the WSCA website. WSCA 2002 Convention News from President-Elect "Communication Creates, Constrains and Liberates" Katherine Adams, WSCA President-Elect The 73rd annual WSCA convention in Long Beach, California is well on its way. Your convention planners have worked hard to promote interesting and challenging programs that will provide numerous opportunities for discussing our convention theme and its ramifications. We will have at least one program for a discussion of the events that shook our nation on September 11. The workshops this year will be accompanied by two workshop sessions in communication and instruction as well as education specifically designed for our K-12 colleagues. Robert Powell is organizing the Basic Course Conference for Saturday, March 2. Please contact him if you are interested in participating in the program. Your program planners have sent in over 130 panels spotlighting not only top scholars in various interest groups but also high profile members of the Southern California community. These panel submissions reflect our members' creativity, insight, and adventure. We continue the "Communication Theories That have Stood the Test of Time" series and the reception for meeting graduate students. This year the audio-visual requests are numerous and range from Internet connections to video screens. We will do our best to meet those needs while adhering to the WSCA AV policy. We ask for your patience and understanding in this matter. Our Keynote Speaker is Judy Shepard, mother of the slain University of Wyoming student, Matthew Shepard. The Long Beach State University administration has helped us bring her to Long Beach and we owe them a huge "thank you." Her Sunday, March 3, presentation on hate speech will move us and ask us once again to consider the role we play as communication scholars in the community at large. We are also working on a surprise for the Convention KickOff. Our Newcomers' Reception is a way for new members to meet WSCA officers and members. And who could miss the Sock Hop!? Our local hosts are putting together one fun evening. Our local hosts Sharon Downey and Mary McPherson are busy organizing what promises to be an unforgettable convention. The Long Beach Westin is made for meeting with friends, working hard and playing even harder. So come for some sun, beautiful ocean views, good food, stimulating discussions, and comforting conversations with colleagues and friends. See you there!! 2003 Annual Convention, Salt Lake City, Utah February 14-18, 2003 "Communicating for Sustainability" Connie Bullis, WSCA First Vice-President WSCA announces the theme, location, and dates for its annual convention. We will meet February 14-18, 2003 at the Marriott Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah. The conference theme will focus on the many ways in which communication can facilitate and inhibit the transition to global sustainability. Sustainable practices, relationships, communities, campuses, institutions, systems, etc. are all related to global sustainability. Papers, workshops, and program proposals that contribute to this theme are encouraged. Plan to share Valentine's Day with your 800 or so WSCA Valentines! WSCA was last in Salt Lake City in1987. Many things have changed and some have remained the same. The Olympics has encouraged a great deal of cosmopolitan development—shops, brew pubs, night life, wonderful eateries, and much more. The hotel is within easy distance of the brand new Gateway project, city center, and the arts complexes. What has not changed is the "greatest snow on earth" and its easy access by public transit. Plans are under way to have good intellectual exchanges and lots of fun. Many Olympic venues (skiing, bobsled, luge, cross country) are open to the public. Cultural and sports events are near at hand and several will have special WSCA seating. The University of Utah's Department of Communication and Salt Lake City are ready to show you what great hosts we have become!! Seeking Convention Hosts Karen Huck, Time and Place Committee Chair The Time and Place Committee seeks schools to host the 2006 WSCA convention in the Northern (Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho) or Southern (So. California and Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii) Regions. Think of the contacts your students and faculty members will make as they act as guides and helpers. The goodwill a school harvests as convention host cannot be bought for silver or gold. Your school does not need to be in the same area as the convention if you can provide enough people to handle hosting requirements. Also, the host does not need to be a single school. Two schools may share the hosting duties. Primarily, local hosts recruit many volunteers to work at the convention in areas such as audio-visual equipment, registration, and local events. If you are interested in being a local host please contact Karen Huck (Central Oregon Community College, khuck@cocc.edu), Christina Beck (Ohio U, Beck@ohio.edu), or Bob Stockton (Katella High School, Anaheim). For more information about the Time and Place Committee, view the WSCA Constitution and WSCA Guidelines on the website. Call for Nominations: Model Teaching Program The Model Teaching Program Award Committee is seeking nominations for the Association's 2002 award. The award may be given to one or more speech or communication programs from elementary schools, secondary schools, or community colleges. Nominated programs should: reflect the breadth and depth of the communication discipline. have teaching personnel with specialized training in communication. integrate curricular and co-curricular activities. have strong administrative support. relate to the mission of the particular institution. Nominations must include at least two letters of support (one of which should be from the school or college; the other should come either from a former student or from someone outside the program) that detail the program's success in meeting the above criteria. Additional supporting documents, such as descriptions of course curriculum and innovative teaching methods, are encouraged. The recipient(s) will be notified in December/January and will present a panel on the Model Teaching Program at the Long Beach Convention. Send nominations by November 14, 2001, to Wenshu Lee, Dept. of Communication Studies, San Jose State U, San Jose, CA 95192-0112. Questions can be directed to Wenshu Lee at 408-924-5371, or wenshulee@aol.com. WSCA Candidate Slate (Election Ballots are sent in the "convention mailing.") First Vice President Myron (Ron) Lustig, San Diego State U Karen Rasmussen, CSU, Long Beach Second Vice President Sara Hayden, U of Montana Paul Mongeau, Miami U of Ohio Legislative Assembly Delegates at Large Jon Bruschke, CSU Fullerton Randal S. Chase, Salt Lake Community College Felicia Coco, Orange Coast College Natalie Dollar, Oregon State U John Howard, Eastern New Mexico U Susan Messman, Arizona State U Kate Motayama, San Mateo College Bill Sharkey, U of Hawaii Kurt Shineman, Glendale Community College Leah Wyman, CSU, Long Beach The Nominating Committee: Dawn Braithwaite (Chair), Nina Reich, Mary Rose Williams, Brenda Allen, Walter Zakahi Conversation is the slowest form of human communication. ~Anonymous Search for Editor-Elect of Communication Reports The WSCA Publications Committee is accepting applications for editor-elect of Communication Reports for the 2004-2006 term. The new editor will begin receiving manuscripts in 2003. If you are interested, please submit a curriculum vitae and letter of institutional support to Dr. Laura Guerrero, Chair, Publications Committee, Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, Arizona State U, Tempe, AZ 85287-1205, or contact Laura via email at laura.guerrero@asu.edu. The Publications Committee, which will make a recommendation to the Executive Council, will begin reviewing materials on November 1, 2001. We will continue reviewing application materials until a suitable candidate or candidates are found. New Executive Director for WSCA Sue Pendell is WSCA's new Executive Director. Contact her for information about joining the Association, subscribing to our journals, or registering for the convention: Sue Pendell, WSCA Executive Director, Speech Communication Dept., 209 Eddy Hall, Colorado State U, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1783; 970-491-5303 (o), 970-491-2160 (f); Sue.Pendell@colostate.edu. Many thanks to Connie Conlee, CSU, Fresno, for her service as the Association's previous Executive Director. Need Feedback on WSCA Logos At its meeting at NCA on October 31, the WSCA Executive Council will choose a logo to represent our organization. The Association will use the logo on the website, the Newsletter, stationary, etc. We have several possibilities, designed by Delia Story. View the logos on the WSCA website so you can provide the Executive Council with your feedback. Email your comments, including your preference, to the Executive Director, Sue Pendell, at Sue.Pendell@colostate.edu by October 25. Top Debut Paper Award The Executive Club sponsors the Top Debut Paper award at the annual WSCA convention. Each program planner needs to send the one best debut paper to: Connie Conlee, Department of Communication, 5201 N. Maple Ave. M/S 46, California State University, Fresno, Fresno, CA 93720; 559-278-2565. Each debut paper is presented within the division's programs. Blaine Goss, the Executive Club President, will announce the winner at the convention luncheon. "He who knows does not say, he who says does not know." Chuang tzu 11 CFP: Journal of Health Psychology Special issue on E-health Editor: Gary L. Kreps, National Cancer Institute This special issue will examine the powerful emerging influences of E-Health. We solicit investigations of the ways computer-mediated communication can disseminate relevant health information, promote public health, influence health care practice, facilitate health care decision-making, and support the needs of health care consumers and providers. We encourage in-depth examinations of health information access, privacy, and quality; ethical constraints in e-health; clinical connectivity between health care providers and consumers; electronic pathways for social support; promotion of self-help; and redefinitions of modern health care. The deadline for submitting manuscripts for this special issue is December, 17, 2001. See the complete CFP on the Health Communication Interest Group website, www.roguecom.com/HCIG, or contact Gary L. Kreps, Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch, National Cancer Institute, 6130 Executive Blvd., EPN 4084, Bethesda, MD 20892-7365 USA, 301-496-7984, Gary.Kreps@nih.gov. Call For Nominations: Distinguished Service Award The Western States Communication Association's Distinguished Service Award Committee seeks nominations for the Association's 2002 award. WSCA's Distinguished Service Award honors persons who have made significant and long-lasting contributions to WSCA and the communication discipline. Recent award winners include Bill Wilmot, U of Montana (2001), Jody Nyquist, U of Washington (2000), David Natharius, CSU Fresno (1999), Robert Boren, Boise State U (1998), and Lucy Keele, CSU Fullerton (1997). The complete list of those honored in past years is available on the WSCA website. Nominations should include a detailed listing of the nominee's accomplishments (and/or vita) and one or more letters describing the nominee's specific contributions to WSCA and the discipline. Please submit nominations no later than December 15, 2001. We welcome and encourage electronically-submitted materials (use rich text format, MS Word, or WordPerfect). Direct questions and nominations to the committee chair: Stephanie J. Coopman, Communication Studies, San Jose State U, San Jose, CA 95192-0112; 408-924-5366 (o), 408-924-5396 (f), sjcoopman@yahoo.com 2002 Membership Form Complete, print, and send in the website Membership Form, following the instructions on the form. OR Print, fill out, and send in the PDF version of the Membership Form, following the instructions on the form.