Proceedings

Volume 83, Spring 2014

The Official Journal of the

Georgia Communication Association, Inc.

Save the Date!

GCA 85th Annual Convention
February 20 21, 2015
Hosted by Georgia Southern University

Please make plans to join us for the 85th Annual GCA Conference on
Friday and Saturday this year! We hope to see you February 20-21 at
Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga.

Spread the Word!

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ii

Proceedings of the
Georgia Communication Association, Inc., Convention
Issue No. 83

Spring 2014
Editor: Paula Dixon, Emmanuel College

Developing an Electronic Textbook for Public Speaking

Chris Moser, Bill Price, Linda Harned, Kim Sisson, Jane Hercules and Laurie OConnor,
Georgia Perimeter College

Jimmy Carters Solar Panels: Drafting a Speech in Plain Style

Evan Johnson, Georgia State University

Digital Textbooks: Fact or Fiction?

Rick Pukis, Georgia Regents University Augusta

10

A Survey of Requirements for Bachelors Degree Programs in the Communication

Disciplines in the University System of Georgia and Beyond
Edgar D. Johnson III, Georgia Regents University

17

Using Music to Fight Dementia

Khadija Graham, Albany State University

24

The Use of Music Torture in Concentration Camps

Alan Kendrick, Albany State University

26

Music as a Means of Treating Premature Infants

Kimberly Smith, Albany State University

28

Why Musicians Oppose the Use of their Music at Guantanamo Bay

Jayla S. Leggett, Albany State University

30

The Benevolent Louis Armstrong: The Early Inspriation for Louis Armstrongs
Philantropy
Michael Decuir, Albany State University

32

The Physical and Psychological Effects of Music on Guantanamo Bay Detainees

Florence Lyons, Albany State University

37

When You Cant Find a Friend, Youve Still Got Radio: What the Lyrics of a
Thousand (Plus) Songs Reveal about Radios Role in our Lives
Laurence Etline, Valdosta State University

40

The Basic Course Isnt Really All That Basic

Sarah Jia Min, Dalton State College

48

On-line Learning: An Augustinian Perspective

Molly Stoltz, Valdosta State University

53

Critical Thinking in the Communication Classrooms

Mark May

57

iii

Framing the Candidates in 2012 Presidential Election by Polarized Media

Raychele Couey, University of West Georgia

63

Weak Ontology and Critical Rhetoric: What Vattimo and White Contribute to Rhetorical
Theory
Nick J. Sciullo, Georgia State University

67

Public Speaking Assignment Make-Overs

Pamela Hayward, Georgia Regents University; Brian Kline, The University of North Georgia;
Ray-Lynn Snowden, The University of North Georgia; Penny Joyner Waddell, Gwinnett
Technical College; Susan Westfall, Georgia Perimeter College-Clarkston

72

Preparing Communication Students for the Mediated Workplace

Allison Joy Bailey, University of North Georgia

81

Conference Schedule

83

iv

Proceedings, the official publication of the Georgia Communication Association, Inc., is an academic
journal concerned with the study and improvement of teaching effectiveness in the fields of
communication in secondary and post-secondary education. All subdisciplines of the general
discipline of communication are welcome. The documents in this issue of Proceedings were
presented at the 2014 GCA, Inc., Convention on the campus of Georgia State University on February
21 and 22 of 2014.
The copyright for all materials in this publication resides with the authors. All material in this document
should be considered under copyright. Special thanks to Christina Campbell.
Volume Number 83 for Spring 2014 is the same as the volume number for Spring 2013. This is
to correct an error from 2003 that was just discovered this year.
Proceedings is automatically sent to all members of the Georgia Communication Association and
anyone who registered for the Convention whether or not they are members.
For more information about the Georgia Communication Association, Inc., visit the website at
http://gacomm.org.
Proceedings is also available in PDF format on the website at http://gacomm.org.

Developing an Electronic Textbook for Public Speaking

Chris Moser, Bill Price, Linda Harned, Kim Sisson, Jane Hercules, and Laurie OConnor,
Georgia Perimeter College

eTextbook Search and Open Educational Resources

Have you checked the prices of the textbooks you require for your students lately? Have you known
students to struggle and even fail because they could not afford the text for the first several weeks of
the term or at all? How many of your desks may be empty because the costs of textbooks prevented
potential students from enrolling?
Because textbook expenses can constitute a serious financial burden for college students, there is a
growing movement toward providing them free electronic texts. At Georgia Perimeter College the
administration is strongly encouraging its academic departments to explore this option.
In the fall of 2012, GPC Interim President Watts addressed the issue of the rising cost of textbooks for
our students. He challenged faculty to consider the cost of textbooks when selecting books for classes
and encouraged us to strongly consider using or developing Open Educational Resources (OERs).
Since our Public Speaking course is required by all students, members of the Communication
Curriculum Committee formed a subcommittee to review resources for consideration.
Information on OERs was shared at a USG presentation in April 2013. According to
Openaccesstextbooks.org, a 2012 Florida Student Textbook Survey reported that 63% of students
reported not purchasing the text, 35% took fewer courses, 31% did not register for a course, 23% go
regularly without the textbook, 14% registered for a course and then dropped, and 7% indicated they
failed a course. All of these percentages are due to the increasing cost of textbook.
Open Educational Resources are defined as teaching, learning, and research materials in any medium
that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits their free use
and re-purposing by others (Creative Commons). David Wiley clarifies any limitations of Open
Resources with what he refers to as the four Rs: Reuse, Redistribute, Revise, and Remix. Reuse
allows permission to make and reuse exact copies, Redistribute allows permission to share copies with
others to reuse, Revise allows permission to change and adapt the resource, and Remix allows
permission to combine with other Open Educational Resources (opencontent.org).
Upon further consideration, the GPC Communication eTextbook subcommittee decided that we should
first begin to search for a quality textbook already available for use instead of developing our own text
from OERs. The committee identified three eTextbooks available as OERs for review:
Communications Boundless Communication Open Textbook, The Public Speaking Project, and Stand
Up, Speak Out: The Practice & Ethics of Public Speaking. After review and discussion the textbook
selected was Stand Up, Speak Out.
Software choices and technical concerns for adopt e-books for a course were discussed. It was
recommended that anyone wishing to use an e-book should: Work closely with your information
technology staff at your institution. Know the format e-book is in and consult with the technology person
to see if it is compatible with your course management system like Blackboard or D2L. Consider how
the e-book reader or other student devices such as ipads, laptops, androids etc. will be used.
Understand that there are four formats of e-text book/webpage; so consider the browser, PDF, most
compatible, Word documents, and proprietary formats for specialized readersApple, Kindle, Nook. It
was suggested that the easiest software program for editing an existing e-book was Dreamweaver.
PowerPoint slides were then shown depicting the editing of the course content in the e-book with
before- and-after screenshots.

The next step was to edit and revise the content of Stand Up, Speak Out, customizing it to GPC
instructors pedagogical requirements and editorial judgments. All committee members submitted
notes on additions, deletions, and revisions they recommended. One member took the lead in revising
the text chapter by chapter. Another created a simple Powerpoint presentation in bullet-point form
based on the original text and the lead editors revision notes.
We presented interim results for piloting the e-text, Stand Up, Speak Out. Nearly mid-way through the
semester, students were expressing frustration with having to scroll through chapters that do not have
page numbers. Returning to find specific information was reportedly tedious and more time-consuming
than a traditional text. However, they enjoy the links dispersed throughout the content that provide
instant access to such things as speeches, articles, and websites. The overriding bottom line, however,
is an affirmative vote for the books price tag. Students like FREE. Since speeches play more of a
central role in Public Speaking than textbook content, the committee considered the pilot successful
enough in the interim to propose the e-text become available for more faculty members to use. The
GPC Communication Curriculum Committee (CCC) has since voted in favor of the proposal and
currently lists Stand Up, Speak Out as an optional text for all faculty members in 2014-15. After a year
of more widespread use, the CCC will vote again to determine if Stand Up, Speak Out will become the
new default text effective 2015-16.
We are in the process of constructing a test bank to accompany the e-book. This process began by
reading the updated, modified e-text book and newly created PowerPoint slides for each chapter of the
electronic text. The first step in each chapter is to create a list of vocabulary and concept terms. From
the newly created list; vocabulary, multiple choice, true or false, and short answer questions are
developed. After each chapter has a set of test questions, they are sent to the faculty members
currently piloting the course. The chapter questions are modified, if necessary, and additional questions
are added. The questions are then used on quizzes and tests in the piloted course sections. All
modified and newly created test questions are then added to the test bank.
Adopting an e-text can be accomplished by simply choosing an existing e-book in its entirety, choosing
and modifying such a text, or developing an original product. The process the GPC Communication
Curriculum Committee followed can be largely replicated by any team wishing to modify an existing
e-book. The venerated Scottish poet Robert Burns observing that the songs and poems he performed
were written by him, revised from existing traditional works, or taken unchanged from tradition -- is
quoted to have said, Some I hatched, some I patched, and some I snatched. We hope this report will
assist you in hatching, patching, or snatching your own e-text. The resulting product can provide both
cost savings for your students and a textbook custom-tailored to your specific needs.

References
Creative Commons. (n.d.). Education. Retrieved February, 17, 2014 from
http://creativecommons.org/education.
Florida Virtual Campus. (2012). 2012 Florida Student Textbook Survey. Retrieved February, 17,
2014, from
http://www.openaccesstextbooks.org/pdf/2012_florida_student_textbook_survery.pdf.
Wiley, David. (n.d.). Four Rs of Open Resources. Posted to http://opencontent.org/blog.

Jimmy Carters Solar Panels: Drafting a Speech in

Plain Style
Evan Johnson
Georgia State University
In the summer of 2013, President Obama had solar panels re-installed on the White House, while he
was on vacation (Eilperin, Washington Post, 2013 Aug 15). This occurred 27 years after President
Reagan took the original panels down in 1986, and thirty-four years after President Carter originally put
them up in 1979. Carter inaugurated the original panels with a short speech in front of an audience of
the top science reporters of Eastern newspapers. After the speech he and Vice President Walter Fritz
Mondale strode up to the panels for a photo op. In contrast to Obamas conspicuous absence last
summer as the panels were resurrected, in June of 1979 there was great fanfare on the original
dedication day.
Carters solar panel speech on June 20, 1979 was a brief eighteen paragraphs. In fact in drafts and
memoranda the speech is alternately called remarks or a statement because of its brevity. Roughly,
the movement of the brief speech follows a four-step progression. Section one (Para.s 1-5) references
Americas historical ingenuity before enumerating recent problem of dependence on foreign oil. This
challenge, is robbing Americans of the courage, confidence and excitement we once had. Section two
(Para.s 6-12) establishes the need for solar energy legislation and the White House solar panels,
claiming that this renewable resource can play a significant part in helping America meet her energy
challenge. Section three (Para.s 13-15) outlines Carters plan in detail and forecasts the effect it will
have in securing the future of an energy-independent America. Section four (Para.s 16-18) reassures
the audience that taking these steps to meet the energy challenge will fulfill the deeper need of
restoring Americas faith and confidence, which Carter believed had been shaken since the gas
rationing of the mid-1970s. Through the dedication of the solar panels, Carter tries to articulate the
notion that his leadership can bring America through its tough economic times. However, in this
speech, as in the following months Malaise Speech, Carter failed to inspire confidence in the
American people.
Despite not having a strong thesis and only three grandiloquent lines, if delivered more passionately the
speech could have resonated with the audience through its theme of confident innovation overcoming
challenges, and the ability of our Protestant work ethic and American individualism to tame the new
energy frontier.i The setting of the speech was poignant, and should have enlivened Carters delivery,
as bright sunlight beamed upon him and his solar panels. But Carters speech was short and his
delivery was halting and off-the-cuff, and the immediate audience of science and technology reporters,
assembled and briefed by the White House Press Office, did not go forth and fervently spread the
solar-panel gospel.ii
In addition to not proposing a grand-enough or practical-enough remedy to Americas challenges, I
argue, the speechs style was too plain and its staging was not conducive to major media coverage.
These factors precluded the speech from achieving the purpose of inspiring national confidence. The
style did not lend itself to sound-byte quoting in the news, and unlike Carters four previous prime-time
energy speeches, this summer-time afternoon address ensured a smaller audience. After the speech,
citizens still lacked confidence and remained in a malaiseprompting that infamous, subsequent
speech. Therefore, in order to better understand the speechs shortcomings, I first contextualize it

within the Carter presidency, before incorporating archival research from the Jimmy Carter Presidential
Library to determine how the speech could have enjoyed broader, more favorable appeal. Speech
drafts and inter-departmental memoranda from the archive suggest that Carters choices of setting, and
his preference for a plain style and off-the-cuff delivery robbed the speech of most of the inspirational
potential contained in its earlier drafts. In the following pages, therefore, Ill first review pertinent
contextual and biographical information about Carter and his presidency before reviewing archival
speech drafts and White House memos that illuminate Carters poor rhetorical choices.

Context
Before the inauguration of the solar panels, Carter had already given four nationally-televised energypolicy speeches. Energy security was indeed a major theme from the start of Carters Presidency, an
issue that had lingered since the OPEC embargo of 1973. After just two weeks in office, on February 2,
1977 Carter spoke to the nation fireside in the White House Library. (Carters First Fireside Chat.)
Today, the speech is remembered due to Carters attirea cardigan sweaterand his advice that
Americans conserve energy by turning down their heat.iii Carter claimed the US was the only
industrialized country without a comprehensive, long-range energy plan (Para. 6) and told the nation he
would send a detailed energy policy to Congress in April of that year.
On April 18, 1977 Carter made good on his promise in his second televised address, detailing specifics
in the energy policy he presented to Congress two days later. A major claim in the speech compares
the moral implications of the U.S. energy crisis to warsince we import 36% of our oil from unstable
Arab countries that already held us hostage with the embargo of 1973 (Zelizer, 2010, p. 60-1). The
speech calls for greater energy production at home, and one of Carters goals was for 2.5 million
American homes to use solar by 1985 (Para. 42).iv
Carters third national address was delivered on November 8, 1977.v This address was Carters final
push to publically promote his Energy Bill, which had stalled in a Senate-House Conference Committee
(Zelizer, 2010, p. 70). Carters foremost warrant for quick reconciliation and passage of the bill was that
the newly-created Department of Energy was now operational and ready to implement the bill (Para. 3).
After a year-long energy campaign, Carter hoped for a policy victory by winning passage of a final
version of his bill.
The energy bill took eleven more months to pass, though, due to both the conference committee
watering-down the bill and Carters shift in focus to foreign affairs. In the eleven months the energy bill
languished in conference committee, Carter ceded the Panama Canal back to Panama, negotiated the
Camp David peace accords between Egypt and Israel, tried and failed to negotiate an updated SALT
treaty with the Soviets, monitored the Iranian devolution into revolution, and attempted to keep the
Democratic Party from mutiny at home (Zelizer, 2010, p. 71-80). When Carters stalled energy bill
passed at long last (Oct 15, 1978), it could no longer truly be called his bill, since many of the bold
reforms had been stripped to the chagrin of progressives and environmentalists (Zelizer, 2010, p. 86).
Hence, upon passage Carter did not grandstand with another speech, but rather issued a brief
statement.vi
Carters fourth nationally televised energy speech should have been different in focus. The occasion of
a partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania called for epideictic
comfort from Pennsylvania Avenue (Zelizer, 2010, p. 92). Puzzlingly, though, the April 5, 1979 speech

only spends only one paragraph discussing Three Mile Island and assuaging fears of a nuclear
catastrophe (Para. 10).vii Carter could have employed his personal knowledge of nuclear reactors from
his naval career on a nuclear submarine, during which he even participated in the cleanup of the 1952
Canadian Chalk River nuclear meltdown.viii This expertise was an obvious source for ethos building, but
was not used. Furthermore, Carter had visited Three Mile Island on April 1st, just a few days after the
meltdown, and could have offered eyewitness testimony as proof the situation was contained. But
Carter skirted ethos building and consoling to give another rote speech on energy policy, this time
beginning phase two of his energy policy, with the goal of legislating those provisions that had been
stripped from his first energy bill (Zelizer, 2010, p. 92). Co-opting the occasion was a miscalculation
Carter himself has since acknowledged (Carter, 2010, p. 313). In sum, before Carter gave his solar
panel speech, hed given four major energy-policy speeches to the American peoplespeeches that
did not always fulfill the rhetorical situation is style or substance. Could the American people take
another, when their biggest concern was jobs and inflation? Dare Carter risk another energy speech
with his approval rating at 33% (Zelizer, 2010, p. 95)?

Speech Templates: Omi Walden Template, 10/16/1978

This section traces the origins and revision of Carters solar panel speech, and demonstrates that the
ethos-building and stylization of the speech suffered throughout the revision process, while strong ideas
for the setting, manner and tone of delivery were also rejected by Carters inner circle. In addition to the
speech drafts, two template speeches appear in the archives. These speeches resemble Carters May
1978 Sun Day address, when he promised to put solar panels on the White House. The first template
speech by Omi Walden is titled Toward Solar America.ix At the time Walden was Assistant Secretary
of Energy. Walden was from Georgia (Carters Georgia Mafia), and she had also been an advisor to
Governor Carter.x The significant policy goal of the speech is for America to use 25% solar energy by
the year 2000. That goal remains in early drafts of the solar panel dedication speech, but by draft three,
the goal is reduced to 20% by 2000. In addition to this goal, other elements of Waldens text linger. For
instance, one line from her speech reads, The era of easy answers is over. This phrase addresses the
big picture in rhythmic, assonant terms. However, Carters professional speechwriters decided not to
keep it verbatim, and instead revised it to This solar strategy will not be easy to accomplish (Para. 10).
The rewrite is lackluster and narrower in scope, focusing on a strategy rather than the era.
Walden also incorporated Carters past to build ethos. [I]f I could choose a niche for myself, I suppose I
would like to be remembered as the nuclear engineer who helped lead America into the solar era.
Although this line calling Carter a nuclear engineer was likely unusable after the Three Mile Island
incident, it shows Walden not only turned a better phrase, but also captured Carters voice better than
the official speechwriters he paid to do so.

HSK Template, 5/16/1979

Another template speech in the file, by the unknown author Harry, was written a month before the
dedication.xi A memorable line from this text which appears in the final speech is the phrase nobody
can embargo the sun, which became the less-succinct and less-rhythmic, No one can ever embargo
the sun (Para. 7). Also, language in this template describing the energy crisis, was changed to
challenge by the speechwriters. (Later in the Malaise Speech crises reappears, when challenge

had not moved the public.) Overall, the President more-closely followed the plain-style speech his
speechwriters crafted than the more-stylized temple speeches.

Gus Speth Memos, 6/7/79 and 6/12/79

Before the speechwriters began working on the solar panel dedication speech, two note-worthy memos
appear in the archive. Both of these memos are from Gus Speth, Acting Chair of the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ). Speth shares ideas for staging the setting and tone of the dedication. In
his first memo, Speth offers five arguments to strongly recommend that the President present a solar
energy message to the nation on prime time TV the night of June 20, after the dedication of the solar
unit earlier that day.xii Speths five reasons for a nationally televised address are, first, the historic
nature of the goal to us 20% solar energy by 2000. Second, the gravity of a television address matches
the importance of the new goal. Third, a TV address would reassert the credibility of the
Administration on energy issues. Fourth, Speth argues the presence of a televised address would be
congruent with Carters four antecedent energy speeches. In fact, the absence of a major speech would
be conspicuous to the press and public. Finally, Speth writes, It is an opportunity to deliver some good
news, while challenging Americans and industry to be leaders in renewable energy. Overall, the
administration should use all means at its disposal. The matter was urgent to Speth, and in case the
five formal reasons were not enough, he ends with a bit of lobbying, writing, Omi Walden . . . also
favors the approach presented here. Under that typed text, Walden and six others have been copied to
the memo. Speth is therefore trying to organize a collegial challenge to the Communications
Departments plan for a low-key inauguration of the solar panels.
No reply from the Communication Department to Speth is in the archive. In lieu of a reply, five days
later Speth used a different strategy, writing to head speechwriter Bernie Aronson. Speth attaches a
copy of his earlier memo and implores,
If the [5] suggestions in the enclosed memo [are] not adopted, that will mean the talk
delivered at the solar unit dedication on June 20 will have special importance. I urge that
you not let the talk be low-key, off-the-cuff remarks; rather, it should be an important,
hopefully historic, statement (emphasis mine).xiii
In order to elevate the speech to a historic level, Speth encloses two reports for evidentiary use. The
first report is a bureaucratic Domestic Policy Report (DPR) on solar energy, and the other is a CEQ
report, which Speth thought may be helpful because the rhetoric is stronger than that in the
subsequent interagency DPR report, which is rather dry. Thus, Speth believed this talk should be a
historic moment, capitalized upon with inspiring rhetoric. Speth urges the speech not match Carters oft
used plain, off-the-cuff stylea style openly denounced by Carters former speechwriter James
Fallows the previous month in a tell-all article in The Atlantic titled The Passionless Presidency.xiv But
although Speth had a clear vision of how to publicize the speech, and boost the credibility of the solar
age, his ideas were mostly unheeded. The speech was not televised and was not very positive in tone,
a precursor to Carters dire, but televised, Malaise Speech.

The Speechwriters Drafts: Draft 1, 6/18/79

Walter Shapiro wrote the first real draft of Carters speech. Shapiro was a new speechwriter whod
replaced the turn-coat Fallows. The first bit of stylization added in the speech is Shapiros attention-

getter, taken from the book Famous First Facts. The text reads, Electricity came during the Benjamin
Harrison administration (1889-1893).xv Unfortunately, Shapiro did not transfer the information
accurately, writing, It was in 1891, during the Administration of William Henry Harrison, that the wires
were installed that brought electricity to the White House. This typo made it into the final draft, and
Carter said the wrong President Harrison. This is indicative of the time crunch speechwriters
experience, and stylistically it demonstrates the speech got off on the wrong foot.
One revision to this draft is a simplification from multiple forms of renewable energy (solar, water, and
wind) to solar alone. This undid another holdover from Omi Waldens template, namely her argument of
the policys strength in its diverse approach. Another Shapiro sentence struck by head speechwriter
Bernie Aronson was, In all cultures, at all times, the sun has been revered as the ultimate source of all
life. Considering Carters religious background, it can be inferred why this quasi-sacrilegious sentence
was struck. Aronson also handwrote on the first draft the speechs conclusion: I hereby dedicate this
solar heater with the faith that America will meet the challenges that lay ahead and build a more selfreliant and secure nation in the generation to come. This is one of the better lines in the speech,
playing on Carters religious faith, using alliteration, and maintaining optimist. Overall, by the time the
official speechwriters had completed draft one, it was clear the speech would be short, in a plain style,
and not the historic, forceful rhetoric Speths memo had proposed.

Draft 2
Draft two mostly worked on wording issues. Adaptations of note are replacing greatest . . . nation in
history with the slightly less arrogant greatest industrial society on earth. Also, the phrase, road not
taken was revised to failure of national will in draft two. However, hand-written edits strike the new
phrase, and changes it back to the more clich, yet less pessimistic, road not taken.

Draft 3, 6/19/79
The most important aspect of draft three is that Aronson suggests striking paragraph five. Paragraph
five is on the chopping block because it achieves stylistic prose in the triadic line We must work
together to turn that vision, that dream, that great potential into a solar reality (old Para. 5). That
sentence and stylistic triad were cut since it was the sort Carter avoided, according to Fallows
indictment in The Atlantic: Whenever [Carter] edited a speech, he did so to cut out the explanatory
[and stylistic] portions and add meat in the form of a list of topics (Fallows, The Atlantic, 1979 May 1).

Draft 4: Insert A and the creation of Talking Points

The significant aspects of draft four are the inclusion of a three-paragraph insert. This addition includes
two anecdotes of solar power in use: a community center in California and a recreation center in
Shenandoah, Georgia. Although these examples made it into the final draft of the speech and the
Talking Points, Carter omitted the examples in his delivery of the speech. Another trope removed by
Carter. In the penultimate paragraph, a phrase our crippling dependence on fossil fuels has been
changed to read our crippling dependence on foreign oil (Para. 17). This line specifies the type of
fuel and uses the dysphemism foreign to create suspicion of imported oil, however, the alliteration of
fossil fuels was deleted.

Draft four also remakes the speech into a Talking Points draft. In the transition from speech to talking
points, five speech paragraphs have been omitted, but the nine remaining talking points are quite
long, and stretch the definition of talking points to full paragraphs. Here the speechwriters are following
what had become standard procedure in the Carter White House to provide talking points alongside a
speech in case Carter had no time to practice or was just tired of formal speechmaking (Fallows, The
Atlantic, 1979 May 1). Speaking from talking points is what gives the impression that Carter is speaking
off-the-cuff, and although this suited him while campaigning, Fallows makes the case in his Atlantic
article that Carter never practiced his formal or informal oratory, and never improved either (Ibid).

Final Talking Points Memo & Final Speech Draft

At the end of the second busy day of speech drafting, two memos were sent to the President. The first
memo is the Talking Points from Walter Shapiro and Bernie Aronson. The formatting of this document
may be important because the nine lengthy talking points fit into the text-body of a two-page, singlespaced memo.xvi The formatting gives the impression that this version is substantively shorter than the
accompanying speech, which is double-spaced and six-and-one-half pages. This optical illusion
constructed by the speechwriters indicates that they were tired of laboring over speeches the President
sometimes left in his jacket pocket while he fired from the hip. The writers had evidently learned to rewrite speeches, nearly in its original, and call the slight revision talking points.
A copy of the final speech draft was sent to the President, not by head speechwriter Aronson, but by its
young author, Shapiro, and by Jerry RafshoonCarters hand-picked communications man, returned to
the White House to save the [unpopular] Presidents ass (Zelizer, 2010, p. 79). The memo reads:
[W]e are enclosing both a statement and talking points. This event . . . gives us the
opportunity to announce some hopeful news about energy. After being a bearer of bad
news for so long, we should take advantage of this opportunity. I would prefer that you
read the statement, but the talking points are available if you do not have enough time for
preparation.xvii
The memos emphasis on good news and seizing the opportunity echo Gus Speth. This advice
coming from Rafshoon and the speechwriters office makes it appear that multiple offices are in the
same page. Overall, the tactic seemed to work.

Delivered Speech
The speech Carter delivered was much closer to the final draft than the talking points. In fact, Carter
altered the speech more with additions than omissions. One sizable omission by Carter was an early,
highly-ornamented sentence, lamenting a mood of national hypochondria about the energy crisis.
False prophets of doom now claim that the future will be worse than the present. Instead, Carter used
a subtler triad to convey a less-pessimistic mentality: disconcerted, discouraged, almost a state of
panic (Para. 2). Thus, one of the speechs two highly-stylized sentences, that made the final draft was
omitted by Carter on the spot. The other stylish line remained, and warned that the White House solar
heater that could either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or a small
part of one of the greatest adventures ever undertaken by the American people (Para. 16).

Conversely, Carter made some additions to the speech. These include a joke about Carters choice to
light the [outdoor] ceremony with solar power (Para. 2), an appeal to remember God gave us the great
renewable energy of solar power (Para. 6). Also, a new final sentence attempts a memorable
peroration. In his new finale Carter summarizes the plan and encourages the audience that if they
assent, solar energy can become a clean, sure, economical, exciting part of Americans lives (Para.
18). The list does not roll off the tongue; it is cumbersome and unmemorable.
Within minutes of the delivered speech, the Office of the White House Press Secretary published the
transcribed text as a press release.xviii A fact sheet and diagram explaining the solar system
accompanied the press release.xix These materials assisted evening news teams quickly write a story
about the inauguration of the solar panels. But to reiterate Gus Speths objections, ten or thirty seconds
of news coverage is a far cry from a half-hour nationally-televised address.

Conclusion
Carter did ornamented one phrase in the speech, however. In the speechwriters draft, the pedestrian
phrase read, This strong Federal commitment to solar energy will be sustained in the years to come.
Carter changed the phrase to This strong Federal commitment will be sustained year after year
after year after year. It will not be a temporary program (Para. 14). Repeating year three extra times
and adding another declarative sentence helps the critic realize the conviction with which Carter viewed
solar energy policy, even when the rest of his language failed to truly reflect his conviction.
The original panels, though, like Carters Presidency, did not grace the White House year after year
after year after year. Merely twenty-five days after solar panel inauguration day, Carter delivered
another speech, which was acutely criticized. In the Malaise Speech of July 15, 1979, the countrys
challenge had turned into a crisis of confidence, and the pessimism was heightened. Americans
were not persuaded by this pessimism and were losing faith in Carters leadership style, by which he
called for Americans to mortification and repentance of their sins of overconsumption and international
interventionism (Brummett, 1981, p. 256). In the election of 1980, Americans instead elected a better
speaker, Ronald Reaganthe candidate who refused to condemn an American malaise, like Carter,
and instead transcended Americas woes with abstract, but positive talk about a shining city on a hill
(Brummett, 1981, p. 264). Reagan won, and dealt with the U.S. energy crisis through de-regulation
specifically, overturning Carters regulations on oil imports in Reagans first Executive Order.xx
Following Reagans re-election, he chose to not upstage Carter visually and symbolically by removing
the solar panels from the White House in 1986. Therefore, the two most stylized phrases in Carters
speech, for a President who usually insisted on plain style, were either contradicted or became selffulfilling prophecies. The initiative that will not be a temporary program, became temporary; and the
White House solar heater that could either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not
taken, or a small part of one of the greatest adventures ever undertaken by the American people,
literally became a museum piece. You can see that museum piece at the Jimmy Carter Presidential
Museum, which is attached to the Jimmy Carter Library in Atlanta, GA, where I did the archival
research for this paper.

Notes

i
Dedication of White House Solar System, 6/20/79, Video Recording, Jimmy Carter Library.
ii
Notes, 06/18/79, Bradley Woodwards Subject Files, Jimmy Carter Library.
iii
Jimmy Carter (1977 Feb 2). "Report to the American People - Remarks From the White House
Library.
iv
Jimmy Carter (1977 Apr 18). "Address to the Nation on Energy.
v
Jimmy Carter (1977 Nov 8). "National Energy Plan: Address to the Nation.
vi
Jimmy Carter (1978 Oct 15). "National Energy Legislation Statement on Congressional Approval of
the Legislation.
vii
Jimmy Carter (1979 Apr 15). "Energy Address to the Nation.
viii
Arthur Milnes (2011), Jimmy Carters exposure to nuclear danger, CNN.com.
ix
Omi Walden, Toward Solar America, 10/16/78.
x
Jimmy Carter (1978 Jan 25). "Department of Energy Nomination of Omi G. Walden To Be an
Assistant Secretary.
xi
The text was written by someone named Harry with the initials (HKS), However, the Carter Library
archivist, and an internet search, have yielded no further information on who the author is.
xii
Memo, Gus Speth to Gerald Rafshoon and Greg Schneiders, 6/7/79.
xiii
Letter, Gus Speth to Bernie Aronson, 6/12/79.
xiv
James Fallows (1979 May 1). The Passionless Presidency: The trouble with Jimmy Carters
Administration, The Atlantic.
xv
Photocopy of book Famous First Facts, 3rd edition, by Kane, Undated, Jimmy Carter Library.
xvi
Memo, Walter Shapiro and Bernie Aronson to The President, Talking Points for the Inauguration of
the West Wing Solar System, 6/19/79.
xvii
Memo, Jerry [Gerald] Rafshoon and Walter Shapiro to The President, 6/19/79.
xviii
Press Release: 1:31 P.M. EDT, Remarks of the President upon Announcement on Solar Policy and
Dedication of White House Solar System, 6/20/79.
xix
Press Release 1:30 PM EDT, Fact Sheet: The White House Solar System, 6/20/79.
xx
Ronald Reagan (1981 Jan 28). "Executive Order 12287 - Decontrol of Crude Oil and Refined
Petroleum Products.

References
Brummett, B. (1981). Burkean Scapegoating, Mortification, and Transcendence, Central States
Speech Journal, 1981, 254-264.
Carter, J. (2010). White House Diary, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Eilperin, J. (2013, Aug 15) White House solar panels being installed this week, The Washington Post.
Fallows, J. (1979, May 1). The Passionless Presidency: The trouble with Jimmy Carters
Administration, The Atlantic. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1979/05/the-passionlesspresidency/308516/.
Milnes, A. (2011). Jimmy Carters exposure to nuclear danger, CNN.com,
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/04/05/milnes.carter.nuclear/index.html
PBS, Timeline: Jimmy Carter: American Experience, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/
americanexperience/features/timeline/carter/1/. Accessed 9/21/2013.
Zelizer, Julian (2010). Jimmy Carter, Series: The American Presidents, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr and
Sean Wilentz (Eds), New York: Times Books.


Primary Speech Texts
All from The American Presidency Project, online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley,
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=32503.
Carter, J. (1979, Jul 15). "The Malaise Speech.
Carter J. (1979 Jun 20). "Solar Energy Message to the Congress.
Carter, J. (1979 Jun 20). "Solar Energy Remarks Announcing Administration Proposals.
Carter, J. (1979, Apr 5). "Energy Address to the Nation.
Carter, J. (1978 Oct 15). "National Energy Legislation Statement on Congressional Approval of the
Legislation.
Carter, J. (1978 Jan 25). "Golden, Colorado Remarks at the Solar Energy Research Institute on South
Table Mountain.
Carter, J. (1978 Jan 25). "Department of Energy Nomination of Omi G. Walden To Be an Assistant
Secretary.
Carter, J. (1977 Nov 8). "National Energy Plan: Address to the Nation.
Carter, J. (1977 Apr 18). "Address to the Nation on Energy.
Carter, J. (1977 Feb 2). "Report to the American People - Remarks From the White House
Library.
Reagan, R. (1981 Jan 28). "Executive Order 12287 - Decontrol of Crude Oil and Refined Petroleum
Products.
Jimmy Carter Presidential Library Archival Materials
Dedication of White House Solar System: The West Terrace, 6/20/79. Video recording, Jimmy
Carter Library.
Box 11:
Notes, 06/18/79, Bradley Woodwards Subject Files, Records of the White House Press Office Media
Liaison Office Collection, Solar Editorials Solar Energy File, Box 11, Jimmy Carter Library.
Box 49, Folder 1: Records of the Speechwriters Office, 1977-1981, 6/20/79 Remarks
Inauguration of West Wing Solar [Energy] System [1].
Letter, Gus Speth to Bernie Aronson, 6/12/79.
Memo, Gus Speth to Gerald Rafshoon and Greg Schneiders, 6/7/79.
Memo and Speech Draft, Harry K. S. to Kitty and Tom, 5/16/79.
Speech, Omi Walden: Toward Solar America, 10/16/78.
Box 49, Folder 2: Records of the Speechwriters Office, 1977-1981, 6/20/79 Remarks
Inauguration of West Wing Solar [Energy] System [2].


Press Release: 1:31 P.M. EDT, Remarks of the President upon Announcement on Solar Policy and
Dedication of White House Solar System, 6/20/79.
Press Release 1:30 PM EDT, Fact Sheet: The White House Solar System, 6/20/79.
Memo, Jerry [Gerald] Rafshoon and Walter Shapiro to The President, 6/19/79.
Memo, Walter Shapiro and Bernie Aronson to The President, Talking Points for the Inauguration of the
West Wing Solar System, 6/20/79, 6/19/79.
Memo, Walter Shapiro to Kitty Schirmer, 6/19/79.
Memo, Walter Shapiro to Anne Wexler, 6/19/79.
Memo, Walter Shapiro and Bernie Aronson to the President, Talking Points, 6/19/1979.
Photocopy, Famous First Facts, 3rd edition, by Kane, Undated.

Digital Textbooks: Fact or Fiction

Rick Pukis, Georgia Regents University Augusta

Abstract
Students enjoy some of the benefits of digital texts but still prefer paper textbooks.
I am a professor of Communications and a filmmaker. As a filmmaker I work extensively with digital
technology. When I got the opportunity to teach a film appreciation course in the fall of 2013, I looked at
using a digital text or e-text (electronic textbook). The field of Broadcast Communications is a
challenging field to teach in because of the constant rapid rate of digital transformation. But perhaps
this time it would be advantageous to use an e-text. I believed leveraging digital formatting for a Film
Appreciation class would be a definitive use of evolving digital technology.
I imagined embedding film clips in the e-text to give examples of the film or film technique being
described. For example, the e-text explaining the concept of pulling focus with a movie clip that
students could watch where focus was being pulled. Or while reading about the opening scene of
Francis Ford Coppolas classic Apocalypse Now students could actually see the opening scene. I
could not wait to embrace my first e-text. I could move completely to e-texts and store them all on my
iPad mini. I wouldnt have to carry a heavy backpack of paper textbooks back and forth on my walking
commute to work each day. However, instead of discovering manna from heaven I discovered the
current apocalyptic nature of the e-textbook.
I picked author Jon Lewiss book Essential Cinema by Cengage Publishing. One of the reasons I
picked this text is that there are only e-texts available for more recent titles. I checked on switching to etext for all my other classes but found no digital editions for Broderick Foxs Documentary Media:
History Theory Practice released in 2010 and Musbugers and Kindems Introduction to Media
Production: The Path to Digital Media Production, released 2009. Essential Cinema is a native digital
e-text released 2013.
There are two different types of e-texts. Native digital, materials are similar to traditional software or
web-based content, allowing for adaptive learning opportunities, learning takes place in relative
isolation. You can print and use digital course materials. They are interactive pieces of software.
Enhanced print, digital replicas of printed textbooks or course materials, can include digital
enhancements and study tools (McFadden, 2012). However, Essential Cinema did not have any
desired embedded movie files. None of the e-texts I examined did. The author had a 2-3 minute on-line
supplement film explaining each chapter with copyright free ancient archival film clips. This was not the
strongest way to leverage digital technology in a native digital electronic textbook. It was disappointing.
The second disappointment of using the e-text was the slew of anti-pirate measures put into place.
Digital books like digital music can be easily copied so publishers have tried to protect their authors
content. For example, if I wanted to read the e-text I had be connected to the Internet. This was going
to be problematic for me since I only have connectively at work and not home. I desired a third party
solution. For example, CourseSmart is an application (app) I installed on my iPad to be able to read
the e-text without a live Internet connection. However, I had to download the app and the e-text via
WIFI and the Universitys WIFI is very slow. When a digital problem arose I had to call CourseSmart
to get approval to delete the e-text and app and reinstall. After having issues where I had to do this
twice I went back to the paper text.

Student Attitudes
I was curious about student attitudes too. The research indicates that students still prefer paper texts.
The majority of research to date has indicated that either students prefer print textbooks to e-textbooks
or the results are inconclusive (Ciampa, 2013). But student attitudes and behaviors are becoming
more receptive to and accepting of using digital textbooks each year (Weisberg, 2011). Student
performance did not significantly improve using an e-text (Murray & Prez, 2011; Sheppard, 2008), but
the user experience rests not only in the e-text but the device the book is read on. Functionality such as
page turning, navigation tools and accessibility features that enhance the experience is important
(MacWilliam, 2013).
In a qualitative/quantitative survey (sample size 32) from students in my classes, attitudes ranged from
liking e-texts to still preferring paper texts. Students preferred traditional paper text by a 2:1 margin.
Comments included:
I love them just wish storage was available for them. My storage is limited.
Im a lot less likely to carry around a bag of books versus a tablet or laptop.
You can take it with you everywhere. Literally cannot lose it.
Digital textbooks are convenient especially if you forget your textbook and only have your
mobile device. On the flip side, you cannot highlight or make notes in the book itself.
Digital Awesome. I feel its a step toward the right direction.
I dont have to carry around a large book in my bag. Its also a lot easier to find the page you
need.
If it were more interactive I would use it more often.
If the price were reasonably cheaper, I would consider digital.
Digital - They are cool but not for school.
Cheaper than paper books and also easier to zoom in or out.
More compact, more available because of the Internet.
Often when not logged on you cant access the text. Then at the end of the semester you cant
sell back the book.
Paper - I can highlight easier. Lot easier to flip back to find material.
I like to be able to hold the book, write in it, plus if the power or Wi-Fi went out I would
Great idea saves clutter, but I prefer hardcopy.
Digital - They are inconvenient
They seem okay to use, Ive never tried using digital textbooks but I would like too.
Digital - Lighter cheaper
I see the potential in digital textbooks; they are more portable and (in some cases) cheaper than
paper texts. However its just not for me. I struggle to focus on a digital screen.
I like them if I can get them free.
Prefer paper - having the textile feeling of paper in my hands.
Some of these attitudes reflect lack of information about e-texts.
I checked with our campus bookstore and found hardly any e-texts were being purchased for my
classes. Why? No one bought Essential Cinema because a student had found a .pdf file of the book
and students downloaded the book for free. In my film editing course only four students purchased the
e-text because the author had supplemented the e-text with a series of movie files for each chapter.
Those files were uploaded to YouTube where students could view them. Many students watched the
videos instead of purchasing the e-text. The same trend was exhibited in the fields of business and
mathematics.

Table 1
Correlations between Enrollment, Textbooks Ordered and Bought
Course
Enrollme E-text
Traditional
E-text
nt
ordered
ordered
bought
Final cut
8
10
0
4
pro x
Essential
11
20
0
0
cinema
Accounting 155
287
99
23
Algebra/
1685
231
1127
122
Precalculus

Traditional
bought

27
617

Beginning in 2015, McGraw Hill and Cengage will only offer traditional paper textbooks as print on
demand (G. Parker, personal communication, February 21, 2014). Whether students and/or
instructors begin to embrace them more, e-texts are coming and coming fast. Cengage Publishing is
releasing a native digital history e-text this spring that is supposed to leverage the format with amazing
interactivity. This was something on the level I was looking for film appreciation. Cengage has high
hopes for this e-text. The production of this native e-text was very expensive and if it is not embraced
might impact further development of native digital e-texts that leverage interactivity technology (G.
Parker, personal communication, February 21, 2014).
In summary, e-texts are here and are being used but not to the level publishers want. Many e-texts are
just digital copies of analog books. That could be one of the reasons they are not being widely used.
Publishers are working on more interactive e-texts but they are expensive to produce. Publishers are
looking toward instructors to help persuade students to purchase and use e-texts (G. Parker, personal
communication, February 21, 2014). As for my desired e-text for film appreciation class, because of the
copyright costs of using motion picture film content, it will probably take a partnership between a book
publisher and a major motion picture studio that owns the rights to many feature films to make that
dream come true.

References
Ciampa M., Thrasher, E., Marston, S., Revels, M., (2013). Is acceptance of e-textbooks discipline
dependent? Comparing business and non-business student perceptions. Research In Higher Education
Journal, 20.
MacWilliam, A. (2013). A human-centered evaluation of the ebook user experience. The engaged
reader. Publishing research quarterly, 29(1), 1-11
McFadden, C. (2012). Are textbooks dead? Making sense of the digital transition Publishing research
quarterly, 28(2), 93-99.
Murray, M.C. & Prez, J. (2011) E-Textbooks are coming: Are we ready? Issues in Informing Science
and Information Technology, 8.
Sloan, R. H. (2012) Using an Textbook and iPad: Results of a pilot program. Journal of Educational
Technology Systems, 41(1), 87-104.
Sheppard, JA., Grace, J.L. & Koch. (2008). Evaluating the electronic textbook: Is it time to dispense
with the paper text? Teaching in Psychology, 35(1), 2-5.


Weisberg, M. (2011). Student attitudes and Behaviors towards digital textbooks. Publishing Research
Quarterly, 27(2) 188-196.
Table 1 H. T. Pope, personal communication, February 10, 2014

A Survey of Requirements for Bachelors Degree Programs

in the Communication Disciplines in the University System
of Georgia and Beyond
Edgar D. Johnson III, Georgia Regents University

Introduction
Recent consolidations among eight universities in the University System of Georgia have resulted in a
variety of changes for the schools impacted by these actions. Georgia Regents University (GRU) has
been reclassified within the USG as a research university. However, achieving the sorts of programs at
the master's and doctoral associated with the typical research university will require many years for
many departments and programs. In some cases, the effort will take decades.
The success of this author's department at Georgia Regents University will depend, first, on the
development of its five curricular concentrations in communication studies, journalism, public relations,
television and cinema, and theatre. At present the Department of Communications at GRU has no
graduate programs, and the development of such programs will derive from building upon its
undergraduate programs, both in terms of providing curriculum on par with peer and aspirant
institutions, and in terms of building the enrollment numbers of undergraduate majors required to
support graduate studies programs and faculty. With little additional funding available to support sui
generis development of graduate programs, the resources needed must come from increased
enrollment and the tuition and fees associated with increased enrollment.
In the meantime, though, each of the departments in GRU's Pamplin College of Arts, Humanities, and
Social Sciences, including the Department of Communications, has been tasked with an assessment of
its curriculum. This assessment has the broader goal of ensuring that the programs offered by the new
university are up to the standards of a research university. However, because the growth of
undergraduate programs will be a precursor to the development of graduate programs, this assessment
is most likely a first step toward the development of the department's existing areas of concentration
into two or more stand-alone bachelor's degree programs, from which those graduate programs can
develop. Planning and implementing such majors is a project that should span several years, possibly a
decade, and ultimately will require approval from the USG. Even to get to that point will require a survey
of the economic market for graduates, assessment of the department's resources and capabilities, and
careful analysis and benchmarking of available program models, both within the USG system and
outside of it. The current study provides such an analysis of programs, and includes 82 degree
programs/concentrations within the USG system and 53 degree programs/concentrations outside of it.

Selection of Programs
The Department of Communications at GRU offers a bachelor of arts degree, in five different areas of
concentration: communication studies, journalism, public relations, television and cinema, and theatre.
The programs surveyed were in any of these (or generically similar) areas of concentration. In some
cases, the degrees/concentrations were in a single department, sometimes in multiple departments,
and sometimes in multiple colleges. The degree programs/concentrations selected for this study
included:

Bachelor's degree programs offered at any USG school in any of the areas of concentration
taught in the GRU Department of Communications.
Bachelor's degree programs offered at selected "immediate peer" and "aspirational peer"
institutions, covering these same areas of concentration.

Criteria Measured
During the course of this research, a variety of criteria were considered. Because the nature of the
study was comprehensive of all of the disciplines in the author's academic unit, these criteria are
structural in nature, and lacking in granularity. Essentially, they provide a "high-altitude" overview of the
scope and nature of programs in the various areas represented by the GRU Department of
Communications. The criteria included are:

Degree Offered
Siting of Programs (Department and College)
Areas of Concentration (where applicable)
Total Credit Hours in the Major
Minor Program Requirement
Foreign Language Requirement/Curriculum Area
Number of Courses/Hours of Required Coursework at Lower (1000/2000) level
Number of Courses/Hours of Required Coursework at Upper (3000+) level
Number of Courses/Hours of Elective Coursework
Total Number of Hours for Degree (including those outside of the major requirements)
Requirement of Senior-level Terminal Assessment of some kind.

The criteria for which data were gathered provide a sense of the broader outlines of the degree
programs examined. Future analyses may include discipline-specific course offerings in communication
studies, learning outcomes and assessment thereof, and differentiation of degree programs across
(and beyond) USG schools. For now, because of sheer number of degree programs/concentrations
examined (n=135), this lack of granularity is appropriate. As the department continues to plan for
reorganization, it will be important to develop more specific metrics relevant to the particular degree
programs/concentrations to be offered. More particularly, the author will conduct additional research
about the curricular scope and content of communication studies programs, in hopes of developing a
bachelor's degree program in that discipline.

Surveyed Degree Programs and Concentrations

The following is a broad description of the degree programs/concentrations offered across all the
disciplines examined. They are ordered first by university system (USG/non-USG), then by university
and degree, with the specific concentrations offered by degree in parentheses after the particular
degree program. The undergraduate enrollments of the universities surveyed follow the name of each
university surveyed (U.S. News and World Report, 2014). The information below, and contained in the
appendix to follow, was gleaned from publicly available documents, including the respective
universities' online catalogs, and relevant college and departmental websites. Those sources will not be
listed in the references section of this work.

University System of Georgia Institutions

The author surveyed 18 University System of Georgia (USG) institutions, including all universities which
granted a bachelor's degree in one or more of the concentrations represented by the Department of
Communications at Georgia Regents University (see immediately below).

Georgia Regents University (6,245)

B.A. in Communications with five different concentrations (communication studies, journalism,

public relations, television and cinema, and theatre)

Albany State University (3,803)

B.A. in Mass Communication with two different concentrations (print journalism and electronic
media)
B.A. in Speech and Theatre with two different concentrations (speech and theatre)

Armstrong Atlantic University (6,731)

B.A. in Theatre with three different concentrations (performance, design/technical, and

management)

Clayton State University (6,808)

B.A. in Communication and Media Studies

Columbus State University (7,025)

B.A. in Communication with three different concentrations (communication studies, mass media,
and public relations)
B.A. in Theatre
B.F.A. in Theatre Performance
B.F.A. in Theatre Design and Technology

Fort Valley State University (3,250)

B.A. in Mass Communications

Georgia Institute of Technology (14,527)

B.S. in Science, Technology, and Culture (media studies)

Georgia College and State University (5,568)

B.A. in Rhetoric

Georgia Southern University (17,993)

B.A. in Theatre
B.S. in Communication Studies
B.S. in Journalism
B.S. in Multimedia Communication with three different concentrations (digital filmmaking,
information, and production)
B.S. in Public Relations

Georgia Southwestern State University (2,749)

B.A. in Dramatic Arts with three different concentrations (communication and media arts, theatre
design and tech, and performance)

Georgia State University (24,665)

B.A. in Speech with two different concentrations (public and political communication, and
lifespan communication)
B.A. in Film and Visual Media
B.A. in Journalism with three different concentrations (journalism, communication and society,
and public relations)
B.A. in Theatre with two different concentrations (performance studies, and design and
production)

Kennesaw State University (22,684)

B.A. in Theatre and Performance with four different concentrations (acting, performance studies,
design/technology, and musical theatre)
B.S. in Communication with four different concentrations (organizational communication, public
relations, media studies, and journalism and citizen media)

Savannah State University (3,200)

B.F.A. in Visual and Performing Arts in dance/theatre, with theatre emphasis

B.A. in Mass Communication with three different concentrations (online journalism, audio and
video production, and public relations and advertising)

Enrollment for this school was not included in U.S. News and World Report college information. It came
from the university's website (Savannah State University, 2014).

Southern Polytechnic State University (5,402)

B.A. in New Media Arts

B.A. in English and Professional Communication
B.S. in Technical Communication with two different concentrations (information design, and
digital media and graphics)

University of Georgia (26,259)

B.A. in Communication Studies

B.A. in Theatre
B.A. in Film Studies
A.B.J. in Advertising
A.B.J. in Public Relations
A.B.J. in Journalism with four different concentrations (magazine journalism, public affairs
journalism, publication management, and visual journalism)
A.B.J. in Digital and Broadcast Journalism
A.B.J. in Mass Media Arts

University of North Georgia (5,851)

B.F.A. in Design and Technology for Theatre with seven different concentrations (costume
technology, technical direction, stage management, scenic design, lighting design, costume
design, and sound design)

Valdosta State University (10,290)

B.F.A. in Speech Communication with three different concentrations (general speech,

intercultural and organizational communication, and public relations)
B.F.A. in Mass Media
B.F.A. in Theatre with three different concentrations (performance, production, and musical
theatre)

University of West Georgia (9,963)

B.A. in Theatre

Non-USG Immediate Peer and Aspirant Peer Institutions

These universities are GRU-designated "immediate peer" and "aspirational peer" institutions, and were
surveyed in this inquiry to benchmark the author's department's program/concentrations against
relevant non-USG programs/concentrations (Georgia Regents University Division of Institutional
Effectiveness, 2014). The author has included information about these peer institutions' undergraduate
enrollments, their various degree programs, and the available concentrations within those programs.

University of Alabama- Birmingham (11,291)

B.A. in Communication Studies with four different concentrations (communication management,

mass communication-broadcasting specialization, mass communication-journalism
specialization, and mass communication-public relations specialization)
B.A. in Theatre with three different concentrations (general theatre, pre-professional design and
technology, and pre-professional performance)

University of Buffalo (19,505)

B.A. in Communication
B.A. in Theatre
B.F.A. in Theatre with two different concentrations (performance and design/technology)
B.F.A. in Music Theatre
B.A. in Media Study with two different concentrations (critical studies and production)
B.A. in Film Studies

University of Dayton (8,042)

B.A. in Communication with six different concentrations (communication management,

communication studies, electronic media, journalism, public relations, and theatre)

East Carolina University (21,298)

B.A. in Communication with three different concentrations (communication studies, public

relations, and print journalism)
B.S. in Communication with five different concentrations (interpersonal/organizational
communication, journalism, media production, media studies, and public relations)
B.F.A. in Theatre Arts with five different concentrations (professional actor training, musical
theatre, theatre design and production, stage management, and theatre for youth)

University of Louisville (15,727)

B.A. in Communication
B.S. in Communication
B.S. in Theatre Arts

University of South Florida (30,289)

B.A. in Communication with six different concentrations (culture and media, health
communication, organizational communication, performance studies, public advocacy, and
relational communication)
B.A. in Mass Communications with seven different concentrations (advertising-creative
specialization, advertising-media specialization, magazine-multimedia journalism and production
sequence, news/editorial-multimedia journalism and production sequence, public relations
sequence, telecommunications news-multimedia journalism and production sequence, and
telecommunications production-multimedia journalism and production sequence)
B.A. in Theatre with three different concentrations (performance, design, and theatre arts)

Discussion
The author's home department houses five distinct disciplinary areas but treats them as five
concentrations within a single degree program. While there is a small, unifying core of common course
work, each concentration is quite distinct from the others. Nonetheless, they all produce students who
receive the same bachelor of arts degree in Communications when they graduate.
When this author began the present inquiry, it was assumed that the programs surveyed would be
roughly comparable, and would provide easily parsed structural metrics which could be used for further
development of the GRU Communications program. Instead, the sheer amount of variability in the
degree programs/concentrations, makes that assumption a foolish one. If one thing has been
demonstrated, it is that communications programs are highly variable. The number of disciplines that
can placed under the umbrella term, "communication," is large. Within those disciplines, the number of
potential concentrations ramifies this variability. Simply, there is no "average" area of concentration
across all of these programs.
Answering the question, "What should my program look like?" depends on the answers to a long list of
potential questions. How one answers those questions hinges on the question of outcomes. What is the
department trying to produce in terms of student outcomes. After surveying 135 degree
programs/concentrations, the answer to that question is, "It depends on what you want from your
students."

Conclusion
In developing communication programs, there are a variety of important decisions which must guide.
The following questions (and a few follow-up questions) suggest a few of those decisions, which are
beyond the scope of the present research:
1. What should be the total required hours for completion of this degree program/concentration?
2. Should foreign language study and/or study abroad be a prominent requirement in the degree
program/concentration?
3. Should this major require a minor, list of restricted electives, or other area of content in addition
to the major requirements?
4. How should one split the curriculum among upper- and lower-division courses, and how many of
the hours completed should be required and/or elective?
5. What is the best mix of lower-division courses for the degree program/concentration? Why?
6. What ratio of theoretical/conceptual, applied/practical, and content courses should be used to
complete the degree program/concentration?
7. In cases when a degree spins off multiple concentrations, how variable can those
concentrations be without producing different student outcomes? Also, if those student
outcomes are sufficiently different, then should the concentration be a major degree program,
instead?
8. What emphasis should research have in the curriculum? Also, what courses should be used to
teach the research, writing, and presentation skills needed to produce original student
research?
9. Should students be required to complete a capstone course, internship, or other terminal
assessment? If so, what kind and why? Also, how does the rest of the curriculum prepare the
student for its successful completion?
10. In what ways should students encounter the professions for which they are preparing? Should
they be required to get practical experience? Should their coursework include professional


preparation beyond knowledge domains and skill sets? How should they manifest that aspect of
their learning?
11. Should the department require interdisciplinary work? If so, how so? If not, why not?
12. Should the department offer one or more certificate programs? If so, which one(s)?
13. How should this major related to other majors in the department, and to what degree should its
coursework be distinct or similar?
While there certainly are a variety of other questions one might ask, these provide a sense of the many
decisions faced by the author's department in assessing and developing its existing programs, and in
modifying those programs or developing new ones.

References
Georgia Regents University Division of Institutional Effectiveness. (2014). GRU peer analysis.
Retrieved from http://www.gru.edu/ie/ir/peers.php
Savannah State University. (2014). Savannah State University information for students. Retrieved from
https://simba.savannahstate.edu/students/
U.S. News and World Report. (2014). College search. Retrieved from
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges

Using Music to Fight Dementia

Khadija Graham, Albany State University
When I was two years old, my grandfather died from complications due to dementia. Unfortunately, I
dont remember him, but my family has shared remarkable stories regarding his tenure as a Merchant
Marine, his ability to speak several languages fluently, and his subsequent career as a chef and a
musician. Once he was diagnosed with Alzheimers, however, at the age of 70, he couldn't remember
the names of his own children. Yet when he heard music from his past, such as Stomping at the
Savoy, it was as if he was never diagnosed with the disease. He would fondly recall the times when he
took my grandmother to the Cotton Club and other memorable events. Repeatedly, songs from his past
reminded him of a happier time in his life. My grandfather died in 1996, and thankfully since that time
medical scientists have learned that the use of certain musical selections can be used to decrease the
effects of dementia.
Studies have shown that music therapy significantly improves the mental and physical health of those
suffering from different forms of dementia, including Alzheimers. This breakthrough couldnt come at a
more opportune time. Approximately five million people in the United States alone have Alzheimers.
The number of Americans 65 and older with Alzheimers is expected to triple to 13.8 million by 2050.
This paper will examine how music therapists select music which is appropriate for dementia patients
and how music therapy is used to lessen their symptoms.
The initial step in using music to treat dementia is choosing the appropriate music. The mental stage of
the patient will determine how receptive they are to the therapy. In the earlier stages of Alzheimers it is
easier for the patient to receive therapy. It is important to encourage the person with Alzheimers to sing
along when their favorite song is played. Music helps patients in the middle stage of Alzheimers
because it relaxes them and hence improves behavioral problems.
While music therapy benefits patients in the late stage of Alzheimers, it is difficult to initiate music
therapy if the person cannot express what type of music he or she prefers. In that instance, a caregiver
or family member can suggest music options. Regardless of the stage of Alzheimers, it is important to
choose music from the patients earlier life. According to, Alicia Ann Clair, professor and director of the
Division of Music Education at the University of Kansas, Selections from the individuals young adult
years ages 18-25 evoke the strongest responses and the most potential for engagement (CBS,
2013). It is also important to understand that upbeat music activates, while sedative music quiets
(Beacon Square, 2013).
Therapists use music therapy to help make connections to the patients past. Singing can offer a way
for patients who have not been able to communicate a new found way to enable dialogue. Music
therapy helps build a source of communication or relationship between the therapist and their patient.
Music therapy can also help the patient become more socially active with other people. Some people
with Alzheimers find themselves becoming very angry when they are unable to do activities that once
came easy for them. Music therapy can help give dementia patients a sense of entitlement back in to
their lives.
Physical and mental factors are also some aspects that improve with listening to music. Patients begin
to walk better, become more flexible, and overall become more physical. They tend to eat and take
medication without the hesitation that once existed. The stages in which a dementia patient is in can
also affect their physical health. For those who only have a mild case of Alzheimers, moving to music
can benefit them physically. This can provide them with daily exercise which will result in a healthier
and longer life. Those who are further into the disease may have a more difficult time in the physical
aspect because there is already a limitation on what theyre capable of performing. However, there is


always an alternative depending on the age or physical abilities. Since music makes workouts seem
shorter, it can be enjoyed by anyone no matter the circumstances.
Those with Alzheimers find it easier to express themselves through a song. The rhythm within the song
helps to recall the music. Music therapy enhances the memory and helps to bring up old memories that
the patient probably forgot as a result of Alzheimers. Kimmo Lehtonen, professor of education at the
University of Turku and a clinical music therapist shared a moving incident regarding the mental
benefits of music therapy. Lehtonen worked with an 80 year old man who couldnt remember his own
name. During the sessions with Lehtonens patient, the therapist would sing Finnish folk songs to the
patient. After each song, the elderly man would sing Italian romantic songs in a broken voice. It was
evident to Lehtonen that the sessions assisted his patient in remembering melodies and lyrics.
According to Lehtonen, His voice and expression were so strong and authentic that it put shivers down
my spine (Schaeffer, 2014). Lehtonen believes that music therapy can not only assist dementia
patients, but it can also act as a preventative measure. This research has examined the benefits of
music therapy for dementia patients and how music is selected to treat them. It is comforting to know
that even though my grandfather did not experience music therapy, others with this condition will
benefit from it.

References
Beacon Square. (2013 October, 17). Music Therapy for People with Alzheimers. Retrieved from

http://beaconsquareliving.com/music-therapy-people-alzheimers/
Schaeffer, J. (2014). Music Therapy in Dementia Treatment-Recollection Through Sound. Retrieved
from http://todaysgeriatricmedicine.com/news/story1.shtml
CBS Los Angeles. (2013 June, 26). Music Helps Dementia Patients Improve Their Memory. Retrieved
from http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/06/26/music-helps-dementia-patients-improve-theirmemory/

The Use of Music Torture in Concentration Camps

Alane Kendrick, Albany State University
During World War II, Nazi soldiers used music to humiliate, torment, deceive, and control. While music
often provides pleasure and encouragement, in concentration camps it was used as an instrument of
pain, exclusion, and hatred. Almost every camp inmate was inescapably confronted in one way or
another with music in the course of their imprisonment. German soldiers would often force Jewish
prisoners to sing Nazi group and solider songs. The guards at Dachau played Richard Wagners music
to persuade prisoners to accept the German cause. Loud speakers blared nightly radio broadcasts from
German radio stations depriving prisoners of sleep. German soldiers would often force prisoners of the
camps to sing while their friends and loved ones were marched to their death. This paper explores the
types of musical torture utilized in concentration camps and describes the consequences of torture on
the Jewish prisoner.
Nazi soldiers used many methods to punish the concentration camps inmates, but the most common
form of torture was singing on command (Fackler, 2007). Singing on command was derived from a
military tradition used to develop discipline. It was also used to encourage marching rhythm and to
exercise the mental and physical well-being of soldiers. After a long day of hard work, Jewish prisoners
were forced to sing which weakened prisoners who were already exhausted. Several hours of singing
would make some inmates unable to produce a note. If prisoners did not sing to the satisfaction of
German soldiers they were beaten. Jewish prisoner Eberhard Schmidt reported, Anyone who did not
know the song was beaten. Anyone who sang too softly was beaten. Anyone who sang too loudly was
beaten. The S.S. men lashed out wildly (Fackler G. ,2004). The practice of singing on command
intimidated, frightened, and humiliated prisoners. For example, former Jewish prisoner of the
Mauthasen concentration camp, Joseph Drexel, was forced to sing a church hymn while being beaten
to the point of unconsciousness. In addition to singing hymns, German folk songs and German
marching songs, Jewish prisoners were required to create a special anthem, which served as an official
signature tune for each concentration camp. This torture took place on several occasions, while
marching, and during roll call.
Not only were Jewish prisoners required to sing on command, they were forced to play on command
(Fackler G. , 2004). Auschwitz had a brass band comprised of 120 Jewish musicians and a symphony
orchestra with 80 Jewish musicians. They were instructed to play marches, camp anthems, dance
music, classical music and opera excerpts. The inmates were ordered to play on special occasions
such as Hitlers birthday and other Nazi public holidays. This trend caused a devastating emotional
effect. According to Guido Fackler, an assistant Professor at the Department of Volkskunde, Institute of
German Philology at the University of Wrzburg, prisoner orchestras performed under the most
inhuman of circumstances, causing some surviving musicians to experience feelings of guilt and
depression for the rest of their lives (FCIT, 1999). Since musicians had been forced to watch helplessly
as their friends and families were destroyed the suicide rate among these artists was higher than that
of most other camp workers except the death details. In the Majdanek extermination camp, loud
speakers mounted on vehicles played blaring dance music such as the fox trot to confuse the victims of
genocide, to quiet them, and to also to drown out the screams of the dying. I have shared the main
types of torture in concentration camps and how music was used on the Jewish prisoners. It is
important to understand and appreciate the dire ramifications of music torture used on Jewish prisoners
in World War IIs concentration camps.

References
Fackler, G. (2004). Music and the Holocaust: Camp Anthems. Retrieved from
http://holocaustmusic.ort.org/: http://holocaustmusic.ort.org/places/camps/camp-anthems/


Fackler, G. (2007). Music in Concentration Camps. Retrieved from http://www.music.ucsb.edu/:
http://www.music.ucsb.edu/projects/musicandpolitics/archive/2007-1/fackler.pdf
The Florida Center for Instructional Technology . (1999). Music of the Ghettos and Camps. Retrieved
from http://fcit.usf.edu: http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/arts/musvicti.htm

Music as a Means of Treating Premature Infants

Kimberly Smith, Albany State University
Characteristics of a premature infant include low body fat, thin skin, sealed eyes, fatigue movements,
and little to no hair. When a baby is born at least three weeks prior to their due date they are
considered to be preterm. Approximately half a million newborns, about one out of every nine infants,
are born prematurely every year in the United States alone. Early child births may result in severe
health problems causing newborns to be hospitalized shortly after their delivery. Although there are
many different techniques used to aid the developments of premature infants, music therapy is reported
to be one of the safest and most effective techniques used to calm preemies before procedures. When
receiving therapeutic treatments premature infants tend to show improvements in heart rate, sucking
behavior, sleep patterns, and calorie intake.
This paper includes background information about premature births and provides evidence on how
music is used therapeutically to improve the health of premature infants during their stay in the
Neonatal Intensive Care Units also known as the (NICU). Infants that receive some type of music
therapy while in the NICU have shown to be in the hospital for a shorter amount of time than those who
did not receive any. This paper will furthermore focus on the three different techniques used within
music therapy such as live singing, playing Remo ocean discs, or performances on the gato box drum.
Premature births are not limited to anybody in particular. There is not always a specific reason why a
baby is born prematurely. Women who do everything right during their pregnancy can still be at risk of
going into premature labor. Full term pregnancy last approximately thirty-nine to forty weeks therefore
when babies are delivered prior to that they are not fully developed causing complications outside of
the womb. Due to these complications, infants are placed in the NICU where further treatment is
rendered. The NICU is a section in a hospital that specializes in caring for premature and extremely ill
newborns. The environment in the NICU can usually generate a lot of sound which can generally come
from technically advanced machinery. Doctors and nurses can also contribute to the sound during
medical rounds made within this unit. Helen Shoemaker, a music researcher at Murdoch Childrens
Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia opines, Sound can be damaging. But meaningful noise is
important for a babys brain development (Belluck, 2013). Music is significant noise that benefits
newborns rather than harm.
Music therapy is used in the NICU to gain physical and emotional healing and wellness. A little over two
dozen United States hospitals offer music therapy in their Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The use of
music therapy in the NICU is on the rise. The Louis Armstrong Department of Music Therapy at The
Beth Israel Medical Center in New York has one of the most well-known music therapy departments in
the United States. This department offers many services which include daily individual sessions,
bonding experiences, pain management, bi-weekly group meetings, and environmental music therapy.
According to Beth Israel Medical Center, a member of the Mount Sinai Health System, music therapy
has been shown to deepen infant sleep-state, support infant self-regulation, assist in stabilization of
breathing and heart rates, enhance parent/infant bonding, sooth irritability, re-enforce feeding/sucking
rhythms, and promote a sense of safety during painful procedures (Louis Armstrong Department,
2014). Joanne Loewy, a music therapist who directs the music and medicine department at the Beth
Israel Medical Center, made a significant contribution to the growth of music therapy. Loewy and her
colleagues tested the effects of music on 272 premature newborns in multiple NIUCs. During the test
they examined the three different techniques use in music therapy. Lowey insists that Gentle
simulation applied by any of these three interventions, brought significant changes in the babies
responses (Pearson, 2013). By observing the different techniques they were able to demonstrate how
music affects the health of preemies.
There are three different techniques used within music therapy which include live singing, playing of
Remo ocean discs and performances on the gato box drum. These three different techniques are used


to recreate a womb like environment through sound and music. This environment is well-defined by the
mothers voice, heartbeat and breathing pattern. Live singing is a method where music therapists are
able to sing lullabies as soothing song interventions. These lullabies are sung either A Cappella or
accompanied by a guitar. The use of live singing can be adapted to meet the needs of the baby. The
Remo ocean disc is a circular musical instrument filled with small metal balls. The disc is used to create
sounds that are controlled, soft, and serve to replicate the fluid sounds of the womb. This sound tends
to have a comforting sleep enhancing effect. These discs help regulate the infants inhalation and
exhalation cycle. Lastly, the gato box drum is a rectangular instrument that is used to provide a
soothing rhythm that simulates a heartbeat sound (Loewy, Stewart, Dassler, Telsey & Homel, 2013). All
three have shown to have different health benefits. Live singing increases activity and alertness. The
ocean disc helps improve sleeping patterns and the gato box helps with sucking behavior, which
ultimately helps with swallowing and breathing.
This paper has explored the benefits of music therapy for premature infants during the first few weeks
of their lives. The use of music therapy on infants in the NICU works best at improving health. Thanks
to music therapy newborns can devote more energy to normal development which ultimately results in
healthier babies. Music therapists suggest that music helps those born sooner than expected adjust
and adapt to life outside the womb.

References
Belluck, P. (2013, April 15). Live music's charms, soothing premature hearts. The New York Times.
Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/health/live-music-soothes-prematurebabies-a-new-study-finds.html
Loewy, J; Stewart, K; Dassler, A; Telsey, A and Homel, P. (2013, April 15). The Effects of Music
Therapy on Vital Signs, Feeding, and Sleep in Premature Infants. Retrieved from
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/131/5/902.fullhtml
Louis Armstrong Department of Music Therapy. (2014) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Retrieved from http://www.musicandmedicine.org/
Pearson, C. (2013, April 04). How music therapy helps preemies. Huffington Post. Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/15/music-therapy-preemies-lullabies_n_3085154.html

Why Musicians Oppose the Use of their Music at

Guantanamo Bay
Jayla S. Leggett, Albany State University
Music has the ability to soothe the mind, body, and soul, which is why music is sometimes used to treat
patients with illnesses. It is surprising however, that music could and would be used as a method of
torture. Music torture, better known as torture lite is one of the most commonly used forms of torture
at Guantanamo Bay. It is used to persuade detainees to divulge information. Music torture includes
placing detainees in extremely cold rooms, with loud blaring music, continuously from one to several
days.
Some musicians embrace the idea of using music as torture. James Hetfield, the lead singer of
Metallica viewed the use of his music positively. Hetfield posited, I take it as an honor to think that
perhaps our song could be used to quell another 9/11 attack or something like that (Heim, 2009).
Other prominent musicians are campaigning to close Guantanamo Bay and demanding that their music
not be used to torture detainees. This paper examines the reasons why musicians and musical groups
such as Peter Gabriel and Rage Against The Machine oppose music torture. This paper also explores
the efforts of protest groups such as Zero dB, which is comprised of various successful musicians, that
are determined to encourage widespread condemnation of the practice.
Some people assume that music played for Guantanamo Bay prisoners could not possibly have been
torturous since listening to music is typically an enjoyable experience. However, it is important to note
that music played for the Guantanamo Bay prisoners was played at an earsplitting volume for an entire
day to sometimes several days. A former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Ruhal Ahmed described his
experience with music torture. After being shackled in a sitting position that lasted an entire day, music
was finally introduced into Ahmeds interrogation. He stated, It makes you feel like youre going mad,
its very scary. After a while you dont hear the lyrics, you only hear heavy banging (Swash, 2008).
The band Rage against the Machine was so disgusted by the use of music as torture at Guantanamo
Bay that since their reunion in 2007 they have made it a practice of dressing in the notorious bright
orange jumpsuit and black hoods in order to imitate Guantanamo Bay prisoners. In doing so, they
voiced their opposition to the use of torture lite at Guantanamo Bay. Tom Morello lead guitarist for Rage
against the Machine opined, The fact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity
sickens mewe need to end torture and close Guantanamo now (Heim, 2009).
Tom Morello as well as 20 other prominent musicians have endorsed a campaign named Close Gitmo
Now. The goal of the organization is to seek the declassification of the government documents on
music related abuses. On Close Gitmo Nows website, citizens have the opportunity to sign an open
letter to congress which denounces music torture at Guantanamo Bay. Other musicians that are
members of Close Gitmo Now include Rosanne Cash, The Roots, R.E.M., Bonnie Raitt, and Jackson
Brown among others. A representative from the group has stated, We have spent the past 30 years
supporting causes related to peace and justiceto now learn that some of our friends music may have
been used as a part of the torture tactics without their consent or knowledge is horrific. Its antiAmerican, period (Slajda, 2009). Rosanne Cash endorsed the R.E.M. by sharing, I think every
musician should be involved. It seems so obvious. Music should never be used as torture. It is beyond
the pale. Its hard to even think about it (Swash, 2008).
Close Gitmo Now, through The Freedom of Information Act, has requested that the files be made
public. The files are housed in the National Security Archive, which is made up of an independent
research institute in Washington, D.C. The members of Close Gitmo Now plan to acquire all records
related to the use of music during the interrogation process. Their plan also coincides with a call made
by veterans and generals to close Guantanamo Bay. Television and radio ads were launched by the


National Campaign to Close Guantanamo, led by Tom Andrews and a former congressman from
Maine.
Zero dB is a group, made up of various musicians. Their hope is to close Guantanamo Bay and bring
an end to music torture by gathering the support of musicians whose songs have been used in the
controversial interrogation techniques. Reprieve, the human rights charity that provides lawful
representation for inmates at Guantanamo Bay, is behind the campaign. Alex Grace, a press officer for
Reprieve stated, In the long-term, we hope raising awareness of this issue will pressure the United
Nations and British government to uphold the treaties that ban the use of torture (Swash, 2008).
Broadcaster Jon Snow, Martha Lane Fox and former Guantanamo Bay captive Bisher al-Rawi have all
vowed to agree and sign the campaign, which urges musicians to stop the use of music as part of
psychological torture. Reprieve uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row
to Guantanamo Bay. Their aim is to investigate and educate. They work hard to provide legal support to
prisoners unable to pay for it themselves, promote the rule of law worldwide, and protect each persons
right to a fair trial. The charity has reportedly represented 33 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and has
also conducted ongoing investigations into the secret detention of unnamed prisoners in the war on
terror. According to Reprieve, they are continuing to stand up for artists whose music has been used in
this approach. Musicians are using this campaign to express their disapproval with the misuse of their
work. They have joined with the Musicians Union who is also hoping to form support among its
300,000 affiliates. They have been doing so by sending out articles condemning the use of music
torture. The campaign received huge support. Singer and musicians such as, Rage Against the
Machine, Bruce Springsteen, Massive Attack and other prominent names and organizations all stood in
silence to register their protest.
Grammy Award winning musician Esperanza Spalding wrote to her congressman asking him to close
Guantanamo Bay. When nothing was done, she wrote a song and created a video, protesting music
torture at Guantanamo Bay, entitled We Are America. In the video, she is joined by artists such as
Janelle Monae, Stevie Wonder, and Harry Belafonte. Esperanza also sponsored a concert in January
2014 which highlighted the use of music torture at Guantanamo Bay. This paper has illuminated the
multiple artists who have protested music torture at Guantanamo Bay. Although their efforts have not
yet closed Guantanamo Bay, their work has effectively informed the public on the atrocities prisoners
have suffered while they are incarcerated there.

References
Swash, Rosie. (2008). Musicians tell US to Ban Using Songs as Torture. Retrieved in
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/dec/10/stop-the-music-torture-initiative
Heim, J. (2009, October 22). Musicians Seek Guantanamo Records on Detainee Torture. Retrieved
from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/21/AR2009102103743.html
Slajda, R. (2009, October 22). Retrieved from http://closegitmonow.org/pages/music-used-to-torture

The Benevolent Louis Armstrong: The Early Inspiration for

Louis Armstrongs Philanthropy
Michael Decuir, Albany State University
I became interested in the scope of Louis Armstrongs Philanthropy upon discovering the existence of a
Music Therapy Department at the Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital named for Armstrong. The music
therapy wing was established in 1994 through a contribution from the Louis Armstrong Foundation.
Having been involved in extensive research with regards to my dissertation subject, I decided to
explore the roots of Armstrongs benevolence, particularly family, acquaintances, and institutions from
his childhood and adolescent years in New Orleans. It is my theory that because there were so many
situations when individuals and institutions intervened on his and his familys behalf, that they served as
indicators for the spirit of philanthropy benevolence present during most of his career. I shall examine
the impact of an infrastructure of institutions created on Armstrong some of those instances, specifically
particular individuals such as his mother, the Karnofsky family, Captain Joseph Jones, Peter Davis, and
band leader Joe King Oliver.
Louis Armstrong was born August 4, 1901 to a single mother (May Ann) and part time laborer (Willie
Armstrong) in a New Orleans neighborhood that was so inundated with drugs, heavy alcohol
consumption, prostitution and all the business dealings associated with such activity, it was called the
Battlefield. May Ann was unemployed and turned to prostitution or domestic labor when available.
Except for relatively few instances, Armstrongs father was largely not involved in his life. Their
neighborhoods prosperous (relatively speaking) individuals primarily were pimps, drug dealers, and
number runners. Most of them were at odds with each other daily, and conflict resolution more often
than not was attain through violence. However, they unanimously adored little Louis. The impression
of neighbors who expressed their frustrations with life through vices and violence, and yet embraced his
existence was to have a lasting impact upon Armstrong.
Seminal to Armstrongs lifelong benevolent attitude and artistic choices was the fact that his mother
experienced a spiritual awakening and began attending church regularly, eventually being baptized.
She was originally (like so many others in New Orleans) Catholic, then converted to the Baptist faith.
However it was her eventual conversion to the Pentecostal or Sanctified Church that had the most
effect on Louis artistic choices. Traits of West African musical practices were readily found in Sanctified
services which Armstrong attended weekly with his mother. The communal approach to making music
was prevalent during church service as worshipers were free to join the choir via singing along, playing
make shift instruments or tambourines and just like their West African counterparts, clap their hands
and stomp their feet. The resulting musical style where phrases are filled with rhythms and or sounds
inspired by spontaneous response was discussed by composer/musicologist, Olly Wilson (1974, p.15):
There seems to be a profusion of musical activities going on simultaneously,
as if an attempt is being made to fill up every space. This partially is a result
of stratification commonly found in the instrumental music of the culture we are
considering, but it is also present in solo songs---where the singer seems to furnish
his own counter voice.
During the third decade of the twentieth century, writer Alain Locke observed evolving attitudes with
regards to politics and the arts in the black community and referred to the collective changing attitude
as The New Negro. In response to the emerging and evolving African- American culture and its
African influences, Locke, who used the term The New Negro argued the need for artists to look to
African artistic practices for inspiration. According to Locke: (1925, p.254) There is a real and vital
connection between this new artistic respect for African idiom and the natural ambition of Negro artists
for a racial idiom in their expression Author Thomas Brothers (2006, p.40) noted the obvious African
expression in worship and its influence on Armstrong:


Sanctified churches are famous not only for rhythm and movement but also for
communal participation. The doors in the building are open to anyone, regardless of
status or appearance. Everyone---every child, novice, tone deaf adult --- is
encouraged to sing, move, clap, shout and testify. Armstrong said he learned to sing
in a Sanctified church, and the congregants applauded his efforts. Throughout the
African diaspora, music has been conceived as being tied to bodily motion.
To this end, musicians such as Buddy Bolden (considered by many historians as the first to play blues
and rags with the distinct style resulting in jazz), Freddie Keppard, Bunk Johnson and John Robicheaux
were revered due to their importance in almost every aspect of culture in New Orleans. The music
young Armstrong heard was influenced by nineteenth century French military bands, the blues
(imported by migrant workers from Mississippi), and slaves who maintained vestiges of their West
African ancestral music and cultural behavior and their posterity, two and three generations later, were
some of the creators of a new American music unique to this region called jazz.
The French military band influence combined with the west African cultural practice of a communal
approach to music making, (non-musicians are expected to join in) were and still is evident in the New
Orleans culture, particularly during parades. Parade attendees not only watched the moving festivity,
but followed their favorite bands in rear thus were called second liners. This behavior was particularly
present during funerals as the citys African-American community coped with mourning much like the
Ewe people of West Africa. The deceases life is celebrated and dancing is welcomed expression of
sorrow. To this end, early Jazz bands called brass bands became an integral part of funeral
celebrations, as they escorted the deceased and mourners as a musical from a church to the burial
ground. Author Thomas Brothers (2006, p.86) commented on the activity after participants departed the
graveyard: Mourners, hearse, and preacher linger at the grave as the band turns around and marches
back to the home of the deceased. Umbrellas come out, and the sounds of up-tempo ragtime cause the
second line to expand dramatically. Brothers (2006, p.87) elaborated further with regards to the
celebratory atmosphere:
When more than one band is hired for a funeral (and also in parades), the second line
is sometimes handed a special treat. The first band splits its two files, making room
for the second band to march through the middle; both continue playing their
different tunes in full Charles Ivesian anarchic splendor.
Just as Armstrong could not have eluded the early childhood and adolescent neighborhood, he could
not have escaped the outreach of an infrastructure of benevolence present in New Orleans at the turn
of the twentieth century. Primarily, the creation of mutual aid societies which were sometimes called
social aid and pleasure clubs. The organizations principal goal was to assist with burial costs as well as
other emergency needs. Both as a citizen and a hired musician, Armstrong benefitted from the kind
gestures for bereaved families.
In an atmosphere of immense poverty, racism, and vice, young Armstrong began working for the
Karnofsky family. He helped deliver coal to many of the brothels and saloons in the Battlefield and the
familys influence on him was significant. According to Brothers (2006, p.32):
A family named Karnofsky provided his main and perhaps only Jewish
connection in New Orleans. He worked for them as a teenager, picking up rags and
hauling coal. They may have been the only white family he knew very well. They
fed him in their home and tried to improve his pronunciation of standard English,
encouraging him the say this and that instead of dis and dat.
Often, deliveries were next door to a saloon where musicians such as cornetist, King Oliver were
performing and Armstrong would purposely linger to hear the popular artist. Each day, after hours of
lifting and deliveries, Mrs. Karnofsky insisted Armstrong ate a meal before going home and she
regularly sang lullabies after dinner. After considerable cajoling, the family advanced Armstrong five


dollars to purchase his first cornet from a local pawn shop. The humanitarian spirit shown by the
Karnofsky family is indicative of a spirit of social activism prevalent in the New Orleans Jewish
community dating back well into the nineteenth century as many were abolitionists and Armstrong
developed a conscience level allowing for the ability to see the beauty in individuals from all segments
of society. His consciousness would not have allowed the memory of the Karnofskys to be obliterated,
rather manifested in the Louis Armstrong Music Therapy wing of the Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital.
Educators who shared Lockes sentiment and the institutions they created were prevalent throughout
the south. In addition to Booker Washington they included Mary Macleod Bethune at Cookman College
and Dr. Joseph Holley, Albany Bible and Manual Training Institutes founder. These institutions
curriculum combined religious study; industrial education as well as formal education to descendants of
slaves, were hugely successful. Though established as a penal institution, in New Orleans, The
Colored Waifs Boys Home served the same purpose and transformed Armstrong and others. The
vision and benevolence of Spanish-American War veteran Captain Joseph Jones resulted in
transformation of an edifice for indigent black youth into boarding school complete with a curriculum
that included industrial and fine arts. Indeed he enjoyed the structure in his life which was heretofore
absent. Though not an institution of higher learning, (normal or straight school) the Boys Home used a
combination of military discipline, formal education, and in Armstrongs case formal music training.
Twelve year old Louis Armstrong was not immune to the temptations and pitfalls of surviving in an
environment such as the Battlefield and was caught discharging a weapon on New Years Eve 1912.
He was sentenced to serve an indefinite period of time at the Colored Waifs Boys Home and for the
first time, a degree of discipline was present in his life. The home utilized military tactics including early
morning revelry, daily chores and exercise. Eventually, it was the institutions band that caught
Armstrongs attention. Having played a make-shift horn, and then cornet while delivering coal for the
Karnofsky family, Armstrongs quest to join the group was with a degree of confidence despite the Mr.
Peter Davis (music director) apprehension. After a period of time, Davis finally allowed Armstrong to
play the cornet, and for the first time in his musical career, he received formal musical training. It was
not long before Armstrong was the best cornetist in the group while embracing Davis weekly lessons
and fatherly advice.
Davis and the Homes faculty were examples of a growing number of educators who were inspired by
Booker Washingtons sentiment of, success through accountability, hard work and excellence in and
out of the classroom. Indeed the Colored Boys Waifs Homes curriculum encouraged self respect, self
dependence through a curriculum inclusive of the arts, therefore encouraging self expression; all
tenants of the New Negro attitude. Davis no-nonsense style along with the refusal to accept excuses
for tasks and assignments not completed proved very influential on Armstrong. Though not an
institution of higher learning, The Home in New Orleans, particularly its music teacher, Professor Davis
was an example of Washingtons self reliance. The institution not only served a need in terms of
addressing juvenile delinquency, but in many cases it became a conduit for reform and vehicle for
formal education and an introduction to the arts. Daviss and the schools mission of reform through
discipline proved successful particularly in young Armstrongs case. Regiment, discipline, accountability
and responsibility are the same educational practices present on the campuses in Tuskegee, AL,
Albany, GA, Baton Rouge, LA and Daytona, FL., to name a few.
The twentieth century began with enormous challenges particularly the atmosphere after Plessey v.
Ferguson. The training mentioned earlier received by Armstrong and his class mates at the Colored
Waifs Boys Home was indicative of both Dubois and Washingtons philosophies. The institution took
pride in successfully training wayward and or delinquent young men through the merits of discipline,
trustworthiness often convincing the local judiciary to send habitual juvenile delinquents such as
Armstrong to them and according to Armstrong (1954, p.38): The keepers were all colored. Mr. Jones
and a young man who recently served in the Calvary, drilled us every morning in the court in front of the
Waifs Home, and we were taught the manual of arms with wooden guns. Mr. Alexander taught the


boys how to do carpentry, how to garden and how to build camp fires. Mr. Peter Davis taught music
and gave vocational training. Each boy had the right to choose the vocation which interested him.
According to Brothers (2006, p.100) commented: Forced to stay put, the boys learned how to read
and write. It is certainly possible that Armstrong would not have become fluently literate without this
schooling. His contemporary Sidney Bechet for example, never learned to read.) He probably did not
return to school after he was released from the Home, at the age of thirteen. That would not have been
an unusual educational trajectory for the time. Education for wayward boys of this type proved
successful and commenting on Armstrong and the military aspect of the training Brothers said:
Superintendent Joseph Jones was fresh from duty in the tenth cavalry; he drilled the boys every
morning with wooden guns. Armstrong eventually gained the privilege of blowing Reveille, Taps and
Mess on the bugle. And with this military orientation cameinevitably for New Orleans in 1913, but also
common to similar institutions in other parts of the country---a brass band for the boys, which carried
the name Maple Leaf Band.
Among the many musicians and bands Louis Armstrong heard as a child and young adult were Buddy
Bolden, Freddie Keppard, Bunk Johnson, Kid Ory, and The Tuxedo Brass Band. However none had a
more profound influence on him than cornetist Joseph King Oliver who earned adulation and respect
from musicians and community members alike. Unlike many established artists on the scene, Oliver
was always willing to help aspiring musicians with songs and or improvisational choices and
Armstrongs musicianship and reputation rose quickly as a result of diligence, hard work, curiosity and
Olivers tutelage, (which included many performances with the early jazz master). Upon Olivers
departure to Chicago, Armstrong became the bandleader and lead cornetist. Indeed Olivers departure
was an example of thousands of blacks departing the south.
From the time of his release from The Colored Waifs Boys Home in 1914, Armstrong became one of
the top trumpeters in a community inundated with virtuoso trumpeters. His ability to perform popular
rags, dirges, blues and spirituals with the high degree of intellect necessary to successfully improvise
as well as maintain the instrumental role(s) established by his predecessors Bolden, Kid Ory, King
Oliver and Bunk Johnson among others amazed older musicians and jazz lovers alike. The cultural
tradition of street parades as well as the celebratory atmosphere surrounding funerals served as
catalysts in terms of Armstrongs professional career. Despite being a relatively young musician, and
early in his professional career, his reputation as a consummate artist grew. Though not yet recorded,
he began changing the focus of jazz from the ensemble oriented music to the soloist thus the artist and
artistry. He secured a job performing on a steamboat which traveled the Mississippi River to distances
as far away as Davenport, Iowa and that reputation rapidly traveled beyond New Orleans via curiosity
seekers who enjoyed the music wherever the steamboat docked. However, like any other artist and
despite the fact that he was a child prodigy, Armstrong at times struggled and he too had to develop his
craft.
The secular music Armstrong and most of New Orleans heard most, Jazz, has its roots in the cultural
practices as well as performing venues. Lawn parties, parades, funerals and picnic celebrations at the
west end of the city on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, all served as conduits for the development of
improvisational skills. Outdoor venues were particularly conducive to wind ensembles which also
utilized percussionists. Brothers commented (2006, p.222):
Since there was little or no overhead---both literally and figuratively; no
building, no roof and hence no need for capital investment in a venue----the
whole outdoor enterprise was monitored loosely or not at all. Wind instruments
carried well in the open air, and the low pay and low status of these jobs created
a demand for unskilled players. This is precisely where we find Armstrong at age
sixteen, as on of the many little routine fellows playing wind instruments outdoors.
Outdoors was where uptown African Americans could express themselves loudly
and without restraint or caution, as Danny Barker observed.


Finally, more than anyone else, Joe King Oliver left the most lasting impression on Armstrong. Oliver
acts of kindness to the developing musician as well as professional etiquette to the prodigy that was
Armstrong served to inspire him throughout his career. Armstrong (1954) commented When other
musicians were breaking their necks to get to the Eagle Saloon, they had no time for us. But when wed
ask Papa Joe how you make that happen he always took time to show us. Thats why we all loved Joe
Oliver. Armstrong heard him on many occasions when delivering coal. He also benefitted from music
lessons from the jazz artist. Oliver willingly shared his art with Armstrong without the expectation of
remuneration. Olivers improvisational art had by then become legendary in a community with a
plethora of extraordinary artists. Armstrong internalized not only Olivers indulgence but his craft. He
carried the spirit of helping others, including struggling musicians such as Bix Beiderbecke and Bunk
Johnson. When musicians such as Beiderbecke were restricted from learning through interacting with
artists such as Oliver because of Jim Crow laws, Armstrong led the movement to ignore the legal
barriers and teach any interested artist, regardless of race.
An excerpt from the Louis Armstrong Music Therapy wing at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospitals mission
statement reads: Our team is trained to offer the most current music psychotherapy techniques in
clinical improvisation, music meditation, pain management, sedation, end-of-life, and breathing
modalities of music and healing. Indeed the mission began on the streets and in the cultural
experiences of Louis Armstrongs coming of age in New Orleans. The intercession on his behalf by his
parents, neighbors, as well as Captain Jones and Peter Davis and the tutelage and mentoring form Joe
King Oliver were all contributing factors. However, gratefulness for the Karnofsky familys kindness
resulted in a deep abiding love and respect for the Jewish faith. It was Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital
that treated Armstrong for congestive heart failure in 1969. What more way to exemplify Armstrongs
life and music than to create such a facility in his honor.

References
Armstrong, Louis. (1954). Satchmo. New York, NY: Da Capo Press, Inc.
Brothers, Thomas. (2006). Louis Armstrongs New Orleans. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co.
Locke, Alain. (1925). The New Negro. Call & Response: The Riverside Anthology of the African
American Literary Tradition. Gen.Ed. Patricia Liggins Hill. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 254
Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital. Retrieved from http://www.bethisrael.org/
Wilson, Olly. (1974). The Significance of the Relationship Between Afro-American Music and
West African Music. Black Perspectives in Music, VOL.2 no.1, 3-22.

The Physical and Psychological Effects of Music Torture on

Guantanamo Bay Detainees
Dr. Florence Lyons, Albany State University
Historically music has been used in military combat, serving to intimidate the enemy while rousing the
troops and their feelings of solidarity. Mexican soldiers played music all night to unnerve American
soldiers before the siege of the Alamo, and Civil War troops taunted each other with popular songs that
were audible across enemy lines. In the modern era, however, music has been used as a means of
interrogating prisoners. Since 2002, detainees at Guantanamo Bay have been exposed to the
extremely loud music for prolonged periods (Cusick, 2006). While some were exposed to the sound of
Christina Aguileras music, others were forced to listen to Brittany Spears song, Hit Me Baby One
More Time, which was blasted from speakers. Songs by Neil Diamond and Metallica were also on the
torture playlist. The playlist was indeed an eclectic mix and ran the gamut from Neil Diamonds hits to
I Love You, the popular childrens song by Barney the dinosaur. Interrogators referred to the
manipulation as no touch torture or torture lite because the process didnt leave evidence of physical
abuse. However, it is important to note that such procedures were far from harmless and often inflicted
as much or more long-lasting damage than beatings or other forms of physical punishment. This paper
explores the damaging psychological and physical results of music torture on the detainees at
Guantanamo Bay.
Prior to 2003, interrogators Guantanamo Bay were required to follow the Interrogation and Counter
Resistance Policy, which explicitly stated that music could be used to increase a detainees fear level to
an extremely high degree, a state called Fear-Up Harsh. These polices were revised in October 2003,
and the use of loud music was prohibited. Declassified documents reveal, however, that interrogators
frequently request an exception to the policy in order to subject detainees to loud music over a seventytwo-hour period in conjunction with sleep deprivation and stress positions (U.S. Department of Army
2003).
In the UK The Guardian, it was reported in February 2005 that interrogation techniques at Guantanamo
included placing detainees on a floor draped in an Israeli flag and immersing them in loud music and
strobe music (Meek, 2005). Two years later, The Guardian again reported that Guantanamo Bay
detainees were subjected to strobe lighting, loud music, and extremes of hot and coldall meant to
break them psychologically(Dodd, 2007).This was part of a regime that the Red Cross reported
causes psychological suffering that has driven inmates mad, with scores of suicide attempts and three
inmates killing themselves last year (Dodd, 2007).
Scores of detainees and others have documented the frequent use of music as an interrogation
technique. Australian detainee David Hicks reported hearing excruciating loud music from nearby
interrogation cells (Allard, 2007). An FBI agent described incidents involving Guantanamo Bay
detainees being chained to the floor and subjected to extreme heat, extreme cold, or extremely loud
rap music (Cusick, 2006). Detainee Martin Mubanca stated, Being chained to the floor with loud
music on, people think that maybe thats not so harsh but Just think if you have to put up with that for
years. Its going to affect you (Cusick, 2006).
When detainees are exposed to loud repetitive music during interrogation as well as constant noise
within detention facilities, it creates a highly distressing and chaotic environment. Such conditions
disrupt normal thought patterns and biological cycles. As a result, the detainees resistance is lowered
which is intended to facilitate the interrogation process. Music torture has debilitating consequences.
Intense sound is capable of inducing nosebleeds, severe ear pain, massive anxiety, disorientation, and
disrupted cognition.


Numerous studies have chronicled the effects of noise on cardiovascular and sleep function. Exposure
to loud noise has been associated with impaired cardiovascular function, impaired memory encoding
activity, and increased recall errors (Andren, 1982; Burow, Day, & Campeau, 2005; Eggertsen,
Svensson, Magnusson, & Andren, 1987; Gesi et al., 2001; Hirano et al., 2006). Stress brought about by
music torture can cause posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychiatric disorders, including
depression, anxiety (Nemeroff et al., 2006), and dissociative disorders (Simeon et al., 2007).
In studies concerning sleep cycle disruption, participants developed a variety of severe psychological
and medical problems, including gastrointestinal and metabolic disturbances. Sleep deprivation
contributes to infection, fibromyalgia, cancers, decreased cognitive performance, impaired emotional
function, mood disturbance, cumulative neurobiological changes, and ineffective coping (Rogers,
Szuba, Staab, Evans, & Dinges, 2001). These factors replicate biological changes associated with
biological changes associated with depression and other mood disorders (Meerlo, Sgoifo, & Suchechi,
2008). Moreover, impaired sleep decreased memory process, predisposing one to ongoing
posttraumatic stress, and impedes recovery (Breh & Seidler, 2007; van der Hart et al., 2008).
Music is used on detainees despite the fact that for many Muslims listening to music is forbidden. This
is not the only time that the detainees religion has been used to manipulate and punish prisoners.
Detainees are forced to shave despite the fact that it is prohibited by Islamic law. In one case, a
detainees beard was shaved leaving a cross-shaped patch of hair. In some instances the prisoners
pants were removed. Pants are required for participation in Muslim prayer. Religious items, such as
prayer cloths were also confiscated (CCR, 2006).
Despite the negative physical and psychological effects of music torture at Guantanamo Bay, it still
persists today. Objections to the procedure are numerous. Multiple music artists have adamantly
expressed an opposition to the use of their music as an interrogation tactic. Singers and musicians,
such as Rage Against the Machine, Bonnie Raitt, and Roseanne Cash have formed groups to protest
the use of music as torture. These groups, which include Zero dB and Close Gitmo Now, have put up a
united front to express their disapproval of music torture. Despite their efforts, little has been done to
curtail music torture at Guantanamo Bay. In President Obamas recent State of the Union address, he
expressed a commitment to closing Guantanamo Bay.

References
Allard, Tom. (2007). Hicks: My Life of Terror and Torture. Retrieved from http:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/03/01/1172338791480.html
Andren, L. (1982). Cardiovascular effects of noise. Acta Medica Scandinavica
Supplementum, 657, 145.
Breh, D. C., & Seidler, G. H. (2007). Is peritraumatic dissociation a risk factor for
PTSD? Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 8(1), 5369.
Burow, A., Day, H. E., & Campeau, S. (2005). A detailed characterization of loud
noise stress intensity: Analysis of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis and
brain activation. Brain Research, 1062, 6373.
Center for Constitutional Rights. (2006). Report on torture and cruel, inhuman, and
degrading treatment of prisoners at Guantnamo Bay, Cuba. New York, NY:
Author.
Cusick, S. G. (2006). Music as torture / music as weapon. Transcultural Music Review,
10. Retrieved from http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/trans10/ cusick_eng.htm
Dodd, Vikram. (2007, January 12). This is a U.S. Torture Camp. Retrieved from http:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/jan/12/thisisaustorturecamp
Eggertsen, R., Svensson, A., Magnusson, M., & Andren, L. (1987). Hemodynamic


effects of loud noise before and after central sympathetic nervous system
stimulation. Acta Medica Scandinavica, 221, 159164.
Gesi, M., Fornai, F., Lenzi, P., Natale, G., Soldani, P., & Paparelli, A. (2001).
Time-dependent changes in adrenal cortex ultrastructure and corticosterone
levels after noise exposure in male rats. European Journal of Morphology, 39,
129135.
Meek, James. (2005, February 18). Nobody is Talking. Guardian, p. 2-5.
Meerlo, P., Sgoifo, A., & Suchecki, D. (2008). Restricted and disrupted sleep: Effects
on autonomic function, neuroendocrine stress systems and stress responsivity.
Sleep Medicine Review, 12, 197210.
Nemeroff, C. B., Bremner, J. D., Foa, E. B., Mayberg, H. S., North, C. S., & Stein, M. B.
(2006). Posttraumatic stress disorder: A state-of-the-science review. Journal of
Psychiatric Research, 40, 121.
Rogers, N. L., Szuba, M. P., Staab, J. P., Evans, D. L., & Dinges, D. F. (2001).
Neuroimmunologic aspects of sleep and sleep loss. Seminars in Clinical
Neuropsychiatry, 6, 295307.
Simeon, D., Knutelska, M., Yehuda, R., Putnam, F., Schmeidler, J., & Smith, L. M.
(2007). Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function in dissociative disorders,
post-traumatic stress disorder, and healthy volunteers. Biological Psychiatry,
61, 966973.
U.S. Department of Army. Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center. (2003). Retrived from http:
www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/signal/iraq/reports/TAG94-exceptionrequest.pdf

When You Can't Find a Friend, You've Still Got the

Radio: What the Lyrics of a Thousand (Plus) Songs Reveal
about Radios Role in Our Lives
Laurence Etling, Valdosta State University
When You Can't Find a Friend, Youve Still Got the Radio:
What the Lyrics of a Thousand (Plus) Songs Reveal about Radios Role in Our Lives.
That the media have played a formative role in shaping societys social, economic, and political
structures is beyond dispute. The term mediatization has been coined to describe the nature
of these influences on American culture.1 One of the most significant has been radio, the
oldest of the electronic media. A search of the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database
discloses hundreds of studies covering almost every imaginable aspect of radio broadcasting,
including music programming, using various research methods.2 This study utilizes a different
approach: a content analysis of the lyrics of songs of various genres. Just as film has been
said to reflect contemporary cultural norms,3 so, too, may song lyrics provide a unique view of
radios role in, and impact upon, American society.
Radio and the Music Industry
Radio alone among the media has held a particular attraction for songwriters and musical
performers, which is not surprising considering the synergy between music and the electronic
medium. Since its earliest days, radio has provided an outlet for the creative expressions of
writers and performers, and has been an important marketing tool for the recording industry.4
Analyses of the lyrics of hundreds of songs shows that radios importance to the music industry
cuts across genres, from rap to country to rock. This does not include the [sometimes uneasy]
relationship between record companies and radio stations as regards payment for music
played on the air (often in the form of payola). The music/radio connection is exemplified by
the dozens of musical groups that have used some form of radio in their names:
Alan Freeds Radio; Alien Radio Station; All Night Radio; Big Wooden Radio; Bronze
Radio Return; Burn the Radio; Danger Radio; DiRTY RADiO; Filter Free Radio; FM
Static; Ghosts on the Radio; Go Radio; The Hourly Radio; Human Radio; Joe Mullins &
the Radio Ramblers; Killradio; Kitchen Radio; Late Nite Radio Band; Little Red Radio;
LoveSick Radio; Memphis Radio Kings; The One AM Radio; Pirate Radio;
Playradioplay!; Primitive Radio Gods; Psycho Radio; Public Radio; RadioActive Band;
Radio Active Cats; Radio Birdman; Radio Birds; Radio Days; The Radio Dept.; Radio
FM; Radio Free America; Radio Jarocho; Radio Revellers; Radio Futura; Radio
Havana; Radio Iodine; Radio Killer; Radio Nationals; Radio Romeo; Radiohead; Red
City Radio; Radio Free Music; Radio Moscow; Rock Radio; Roosevelt Radio; Sounds
Under Radio; Standover Radio; Starlite Radio; State Radio; Stateside Radio; Stuck in
Your Radio; Sub Minute Radio; Sweet Talk Radio; Texas Radio Band; Transistor Radio;
TV on the Radio; Under Radio; The Underground Radio.
Numerous other band names have included related terminology:
Angels and Airwaves; Antenna; Antennas Up; Broadcast; Broadcast 2000; The
Broadcast Review; Broadcast the Nightmare; Emergency Broadcast Network; Live Alien

Broadcast; The Payola$; Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters; The South Carolina
Broadcasters; Twilight Broadcast; Voxhaul Broadcast.
The number of songs making some reference to radio is literally countless, since songwriters
practice their craft daily. Dozens of songs have been titled Radio or The Radio and song lyrics
have referred to radio for decades. For example, the 1929 composition Aint Misbehavin,
which has been recorded by artists such as Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday
concludes with Im home about eight/Just me and my radio/Aint misbehavin/I'm savin my
love for you.
For the present study, I reviewed the lyrics of hundreds of songs, obtained through various
search engines, and compiled a list of more than a thousand compositions that include at least
one significant reference to radio, or in which plays a central role. Content analyses revealed
some interesting themes. For the purposes of this presentation, four broad categories will be
discussed:
a. radio as a companion (especially at night), or the radio DJ as a friend
b. requests for a DJ to play a song (often for a romantic purpose)
c. of or about DJs, or the DJs perspective on the radio industry
d. the state of radio today (usually lamenting the poor state of radio), and technologys
effects on the medium

Radio as a Companion
The most common radio theme demonstrates the mediums companionship role or, frequently,
the DJ as a friend, especially for the lonely. The best example of this may be the 1979 song by
British singer/songwriter Charlie Dore Pilot of the Airwaves: Pilot of the Airwaves/Here is my
request/You dont have to play it/But I hope youll do your best/Ive been listening to your show
on the radio/And you seem like a friend to me. More to the point is Nanci Griffiths Listen to
the Radio: When you cant find a friend/Youve still got the radio. The Spirit of Radio by Rush:
Begin the day with a friendly voice/A companion unobtrusive/Plays the song thats so
elusive/And the magic music makes your morning mood. Radio People by Zapp was featured
in the 1986 film Ferris Buellers Day Off: In the morning/Your DJ wakes you up/In the
afternoon/You can take him on the freeway/Late at night/Hell still be there for you (for you)/On
your radio/You get music on/Your radio/Radio, radio.
The night-time companionship of the electronic medium was also explicated by John Denver in
Late Night Radio: A world unknown to daytime/Is forever going on/The airways of the
nation/Between midnight and the dawn/Late night radio/Take it everywhere I go/My best friend
when Im lonely/Is my late night radio. And Triumphs Magic Power: She climbs into bed, she
pulls the covers overhead/And she turns her little radio on/Shes had a rotten day so she
hopes/The DJs gonna play her favorite song/It makes her feel much better/Brings her closer to
her dreams/A little magic power/Makes it better than it seems. Likewise, Alan Jacksons
Thank God for the Radio: Thank God for the radio/When Im on the road/When Im far from
home/And feelin blue/Thank God for the radio/Playin all night long/Playin all the songs/That
mean so much to me and you.
At least two songs have been titled Mr. Radio. A country song by Trisha Yearwood: Oh, what
a sunny day/When they carried the radio home/Bringing him in off a truck/And the dogs

wouldnt leave us alone/Mr. Radio, you come down here to keep us company. In a somewhat
different mood, R&Bs Chrisette Michele: Thank you for your tone to make love to/I heard it
before/Thank you for your love song Mr. Radio. And for those in a somewhat more difficult
situation, Joshua Kadisons Beaus All Night Radio Love Line: Beaus All Night Radio Love
Line,/The show for hearts in despair/If you got somethin to say to a love that got away/Beau
wants to put you on the air.
Requests for a DJ to Play a Song
Companionship is often heard in some lyrics requesting a DJ to play a song or type of music.
For example, Van Morrisons Hey Mr. DJ: Hey Mr. DJ/Im in a sad mood tonight/Play me
something just for me and my baby/Wont you make everything alright. Hey DJ (aka Request
Line) by Black Eyed Peas, with Macy Gray: This is a re-quest, Mr. Radio Man/Just one desire
from a hip-hop fan/Hey DJ (your on the line girl)/Hey DJ (the request line girl)/Play the record
by my favorite band. Hey DJ by Tynisha Kell (aka Tynisha Keli): Hey DJ/ Tell me, could you
play/My song on the radio?/So I can let my baby/Know Im going crazy without him/And hell
come back home.
Country music lyrics often reflect the heartache that is one hallmark of that genre. Merle
Haggards Please Mr. D.J.: Hello Mr. D.J. wont you play a song for me/The girl I love just said
goodbye and Im lonely as I can be/Oh please Mr. D.J. play that song I heard you play/And
send it out to someone who broke my heart today. Mister DJ by The Charlie Daniels Band:
Mr DJ wont you please play me a song/Play it for an old boy whos a long long way from
home/With a thousand miles ahead and a thousand miles behind/A dollar in his pocket and a
woman on his mind. Just Might Have Her Radio On by Trent Tomlinson: Hey, Mr. DJ, can I
make a request?/Somebody I love just up and left/An if I know her, shell drive all night
alone/An she just might have her radio on/Yeah, I pray she has her radio on/Just in case she
aint that far from town/Play somethin thatll turn her car around/And send it out from a fool
whos done her wrong/Hey, she just might have her radio on.
Songs Of or About DJs
Several songs have had disc jockeys as their subjects. These include Stonewall Jacksons
1963 country hit B.J. the D.J., about a fast-living air personality who comes to a tragic end in a
car accident as he rushes to sign on the station at 5 a.m.: B.J. the D.J. only twenty-four/A
wreck at ninety miles an hour/Hell spin the discs no more. The song reached number one on
the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in February, 1964. The titular DJ was actually named
after long-time air personality B.J. Johnson of WRJW Picayune, Mississippi, who, fortunately,
never died in an accident.5 In another country song, George JonesRadio Lover, He kisses her
goodbye and heads for the radio station/Oh, he hates to leave her but hes got another show to
do/He knows she gets lonely so he lets her know hes thinking about her/And though millions
are listening she knows who hes talking to. But one day he tapes his show and arrives home
unexpectedly to find his love with another man and As he walked in on her and her lover/He
heard himself saying/The last words that they ever heard. Country D.J. by Bill Anderson,
himself a one-time air personality, painted a less romantic version of a small-town DJs life:
Sign on sign off pick up records pick up trash cut commercials/Cut the grass carry out orders
carry out garbage answer to the boss/Answer the phone good mornin radio station.
Harry Chapins W.O.L.D. (I Am the Morning DJ) epitomized the iterant life of the disc jockey: I
am the mornin DJ at W.O.L.D./Playin all the hits for you wherever you may be/The bright
good-mornin voice whos heard but never seen/Feelin all of forty-five going on fifteen/The

drinkin I did on my last big gig made my voice go low/They said that they liked the younger
sound when they let me go. The song details the effects of the radio lifestyle on the DJs
marital relationship. According to Chapins wife Sandy, Harry had a great affinity for DJs and
realized their importance in creating hit songs.6 An actual WOLD-FM is licensed to Marion,
Virginia, but Chapin apparently did not base the song on that stations particular call letters and
his references to disc jockeys was a composite of various air personalities he had met while
promoting his music.7
In the 1975 song Lonesome DJ by the Dutch band Golden Earring, the disc jockey begs for his
lost love to call him before you leave the stations range: I have no choice, baby/I sell my
voice, maybe/Im just another lonesome D.J. But since she doesnt call, I might as well have
a ball and play some ROCK & ROLL!
Mark Germinos Rex Bob Lowenstein takes us into the DJs mind as he plays the discs: He
lives for his job and he accepts his pay/You can call and request Lay Lady Lay/Hell play
Stanley Jordan, The Dead and Little Feat/And hell even play the band from the college down
the street. The song obviously does not depict the computerized radio programming of today:
Well his name is Rex Bob Lowenstein/Hes frequently heard, but hes seldom seen/His
formulas simple and his formats big/I just play anything, you call and tell me what you dig.
A more prosaic vision of the DJs lifestyle was depicted in Basing Street by The Minus 5: Its
four twenty-nine and out on the airways/Late night DJ plays for the lost and lonely and their
late night ways/Poppin pills washed down with coffee.
The State of Radio Today
Many writers have reflected, in their lyrics, concern about the current state of radio
programming. Technological advances such as satellite program distribution and computerized
control room operations (including DJ voice tracking) have greatly reduced the number of
people involved in program decision-making as well as local content. Ownership consolidation,
spurred by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, has also contributed to a homogenization of
sound prevalent in many cities today.8 Additional challenges come from the proliferation of
online music services such as Pandora, Spotify, and many more. This has resulted in fewer
songs being added to the playlists of many stations, making it more difficult for new artists and
songs to get valuable airtime.9 Ownership consolidation in the music industry in recent years,
as well as technological change, has likewise made it harder for new artists to get signed by
major labels.10
Songwriters have cast a critical eye on these changes. Dead American Radio by the punk rock
band Left Alone: And I dont care about your top 100 list/And I dont care about your ad
campaign/I say kill the suits that run it all/The ones who sell the lies every day. Empty Radio
by Angry Salad: Do they feign the rage/That plays so well on empty radio?/Everything is
destroyed/Everything is empty radio/And the radio is turning me off. Flashback Radio by
Axxis: I turn the radio off/Dont wanna hear that crap/All this computer stuff/Sounds like a
handicap. Radio Nowhere by Bruce Springsteen also noted the influence of technology: I was
trying to find my way home/But all I heard was a drone/Bouncin' off a satellite/Crushing the last
long American night/This is radio nowhere/Is there anybody alive out there?/This is radio
nowhere/Is there anybody alive out there?

Down by Laws Nothing Good on the Radio: No bands in rock thats playing today/Radio
programs are plain insane/Spin the dial, looking for The Clash/But all you find is worthless
TRASH!/Theres nothing good on the radio (Nothing!). Turn the Radio Off by Reel Big Fish: I
hate the music business, its filled with greed/Its run by old men who dont know what I
need/Im getting older fast, I hope this anger lasts/So I can have the strength to keep fighting
back/Turn it off/Turn it off/Turn the radio off/Dont you know youre turning into zombies/Turn it
off/Turn it off/Turn the radio off/Try thinking for yourself for once in your life.
Radio Suckers by rapper Ice-T: Some stations dont care, theyll never put on the air/Nothin
but commercial junk, their brain powers impaired/They dont listen or try to hear what I
write/Maybe just think once or try some school at night/Theyre makin radio wack, people have
to escape/But even if Im banned, Ill sell a million tapes. Megan Slankards Radio Blues: I
turned on the radio just the other day/I let out a holler, I let out a hey/Somethings wrong here,
but I paid my dues/My radio station stopped playing the blues. D.J. Play My Blues by Buddy
Guy: Oh, mister D.J., I kept wondering why/You dont play much blues anymore/I dont know
what you got against me/Whatever it is, I sure would like to know. Vanilla Radio by The
Wildhearts summarizes this disenchantment: Turn the radio down/Turn the radio down,
down/Vanilla Radio/Vanilla Radio/Vanilla Radio/Remember radio?/Being lost in the audio?
Neil Youngs Payola Blues addressed the issue of pay for play: No matter where I go/I never
hear my record on the radio/Well, heres three thousand/That ought to get it on/Well, thanks a
lot man/I love your new song/Payola blues. Cynicism was also reflected in The Spirit of Radio
by Rush: One likes to believe in the freedom of music/But glittering prizes and endless
compromises/Shatter the illusion of integrity/For the words of the prophet were written on the
studio wall/Concert hall/And echoes with the sounds of salesmen. Of salesmen. Of salesmen.
The criticism of radio programming cuts across music genres. Rappers Public Enemy on How
to Kill a Radio Consultant: Only black radio station in the city/Programmed by a sucker in a
suit/Slick back hair he dont even live here. A Real Country Song by Dale Watson: I miss that
station I grew up on/K.I.K.K./When it was real, and country to the bone/And heartfelt stories in
every song/I might like it, if you could swing it/Let Bob Wills take me home/Hey, Mr DJ/Could
you please play/A real country song. Murder on Music Row, which has been recorded by
numerous artists, likewise decried the demise of the traditional country sound: Ol Hank
wouldnt have a chance/On todays radio/Since they committed murder/Down on music row.
Another murderous theme was found in In the Melody by Wheatus: The sound of American
radios making me feel like I killed my mom and dad.
A desolate note was also heard in The Human Leagues WXJL Tonight: And 20 years ago no
one seemed to care/The people must have known, the DJs role was only there/To fill the
space between the songs that talk of love and other things/As if they didnt matter/Automatic
stations came and sent them all away/And now Im left alone, I havent got a word to say/And
youre the one who makes the choice/To turn me on or turn me off/But now it really matters.
Conclusion
The titles mentioned in the foregoing discussion are only representative examples; time
precludes a more comprehensive analysis (a complete list of the thousand-plus titles is
available upon request). Summarizing the findings: radio has played a significant (and, in my
opinion, under-appreciated) role in American culture. Beyond entertainment, radio DJs and
their music provide companionship and also a means of connecting listeners, through requests

to DJs to play specific songs for specific listeners for specific reasons. Radio songs also trigger
memories of past loves and other experiences. However, a note of cynicism and even despair
over the content of radio today appears to be setting in, due mostly to the influences of
changing technology and ownership consolidation. These changes, I (and many
songwriters/musicians) believe are altering the heretofore personal relationship many listeners
have had with their radio station and the DJs heard thereon. This may mark a turning point in
the role that radio has historically played in American society. It may be that radio, almost a
century from its introduction to the American public, may no longer be, as Marshall McLuhan
once referred to, a subliminal echo chamber of magical power.11

References
1

Hjarvard, S. (2008). The mediatizaion of society. Nordicom Review, 29(2), 105-134.

See, for example:
Barney, D. V. S. (1994). The gospel announcer and the black gospel music tradition.
Doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University.
Carlat, L. E. (1995). Sound values: Radio broadcasts of symphonic music and American
culture, 1922-1939. Doctoral dissertation, Johns Hopkins University.
Shields, S. O. (1988). Creativity, climate, and creative control in the work of American
music radio announcers. Doctoral dissertation, University of WisconsinMadison.
Taniguchi, A. (2003). Music for the microphone: Network broadcasts and the creation of
American compositions in the golden age of radio. Doctoral dissertation, Florida State
University.
VanCour, S. G. (2008). The sounds of radio: Aesthetic formations of 1920s American
broadcasting. Doctoral dissertation, the University of WisconsinMadison.
3
Wexman, V. W. (2010). A history of film (7th ed.). New York: Allyn & Bacon. Also Belton, J.
(2009). American cinema/American culture (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
4
Suisman, David. (2009). Selling sounds: The commercial revolution in American music.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press. See also the video documentaries Before the Music
Dies (2006, B-Side Entertainment), Corporate.FM (2012, Good Egg Productions), and The
Way The Music Died (2004, PBS Home Video) for discussions of the music/radio
symbiosis.
5
Sullivan, W. (1992, November 29). The D.J. who brought the stars to Picayune. Picayune
Item. Downloaded December 2, 2013 from http://www.wrjwradio.com/bjjohnson.html
6
Sandy Chapin (n.d.). Songwriter interviews. Songfacts. Downloaded November 15, 2013
from http://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/sandy_chapin/
7
Ibid.
8
See Note 3 above and also the video documentaries Broadcast Blues (2009, Public Interest
Pictures); Disappearing Voices: The Decline of Black Radio (2008, Black Waxx
Multimedia); Radio Wars: The Historic Battles that Redefined Radio (2011, Mohr
Productions); and Where the DJs Roam (2008, KRL Productions).
9
Karp, H, (2014, January 16.) Radios answer to Spotify? Less variety. Wall Street Journal.
Downloaded February 1, 2014, from
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303754404579313150485141672
10
See, for example, Byrne, D. (2012). How music works. San Francisco: McSweeneys. Also
the video documentary Before the Music Dies (2006, B-Side Entertainment).
2


11

McLuhan, M. (1966). Understanding media: The extensions of man. New York: Signet, p.
241.

Songs Cited
Aint Misbehavin (Harry Brooks, Andy Razaf, and Thomas Fats Waller; Warner/Chappell
Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group, EMI Music Publishing)
Basing Street (Nick Lowe; Plangent Music Visions Inc.)
Beaus All Night Radio Love line (Joshua Kadison; EMI Music Publishing)
B.J. the D.J. (Hugh X. Lewis; Universal Music Publishing Group)
Country D.J. (Bill Anderson; Mr. Bubba Music Inc./Sony ATV Tree Publishing)
Dead American Radio (n/a; n/a)
D. J. Play My Blues (Buddy Guy; Bug Music)
Empty Radio (Bob Whelan; EMI Music Publishing)
Flashback Radio (Bernhard Weiss and Harald Oellers; EMI Music Publishing)
Hey DJ (Black Eyed Peas) (George Pajon, Jr., Natalie Hinds, Allan Pineda, James Everette
Lawrence, Michael Fratantuno, and Will Adams; EMI Music Publishing, Universal Music
Publishing Group, Tuono Music % South Hudson Music, BMG Rights Management US,
Sony/ATV Music Publishing)
Hey DJ (Tynisha Kell) (n/a; n/a)
Hey Mr. DJ (Van Morrison; Universal music Publishing Group)
How to Kill a Radio Consultant (Carlton Ridenhour, James Henry Boxley III, and Gary J.
Rinaldo; Universal Music Publishing Group, Reach Music Publishing)
In the Melody (Brendan B. Brown, EMI Music Publishing)
Just Might Have Her Radio on (Ashe Underwood and Trent Tomlinson; Cal IV Entertainment)
Late Night Radio (Bill Danoff and Taffy Danoff; n/a)
Listen to the Radio (Nanci Griffith; Universal Music Publishing Group)
Lonesome DJ (Barry Hay and George Kooymans; Sony/ATV Music Publishing)
Magic Power (Gil Moore, Michael Stephen Levine, and Richard Gordon Emmett; Universal
Music Publishing Group)
Mister DJ (Charlie Daniels, Jr. Crain, Charles Fred Hayward, Fred Laroy Edwards, William Joel
Di Gregorio; Songs of Universal, Inc.)
Mr. Radio (Chrisette Michele) (Chrisette Michele Payne and Mo Jazz; EMI Music Publishing)
Mr. Radio (Trisha Yearwood) (Roderick Taylor; Bug Music)
Murder on Music Row (Larry Shell and Larry Cordle; MDI Music, BMG Platinum Songs
Sony/ATV Music Publishing)
Nothing Good on the Radio (n/a; n/a)
Payola Blues (Neil Young and Ben Keith; n/a)
Pilot of the Airwaves (Charlie Dore; Warner/Chappell Music)
Please Mr. D.J. (Merle Haggard; n/a)
Radio Blues (Megan Slankard; n/a)
Radio Lover (Curley Putman, Ron Hellard, and Bucky Jones; Sony/ATV Cross Keys
Publishing, ATV Tree Publishing)
Radio Nowhere (Bruce Springsteen; Sony/ATV Music Publishing)
Radio People (Larry Troutman and Terry Troutman; Sony/ATV Music Publishing)
Radio Suckers (Tracy Marrow and Charles Andre Glenn; EMI Music Publishing, Reach Music
Publishing, OBO Rhyme Syndicate Music)
A Real Country Song (Dale Watson; n/a)

Rex Bob Lowenstein (Mark Germino; Universal Music Publishing Group)

The Spirit of Radio (Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Elwood Peart; Core Music Publishing)
Thank God for the Radio (Max D. Barnes and Robert John Jones; Sony/ATV Music Publishing)
Turn the Radio Off (Adam Matthew Polakoff, Andrew Ernest Gonzalez, Matt Brendan Wong,
Tavis Jeremeny Wertz, Scott Allen Klopfenstein, and Aaron Asher Barrett;
Universal/MCA Music Ltd.)
Vanilla Radio (David Leslie Walls; Conexion Media Group)
W.O.L.D. (I Am the Morning DJ) (Harry Chapin; Story Songs)
WXJL Tonight (Ian Craig Marsh, Philip Oakey, Martyn Ware, and Philip Adrian Wright; EMI
Music Publishing)

The Basic Course Isnt Really All That Basic

Sarah Jia Min, Dalton State College

Introduction
In primary and college education, communication is a subject of vast importance that receives
negligible attention (Berko, Morreale, Cooper, & Perry, 1998; Hall, Morreale, Gaudino, 1999; OKeefe,
1995; Witkin, Lovern, & Lundsteen, 1996). Numerous communication scholars argue that
communication instruction provides students with the foundational skills they need to be successful in
their academic, professional, social, and personal endeavors (Hendricks, 1980; Jennings, 2003;
Morreale, Osborn, & Pearson, 2000; Morreale & Backlund, 2007; Thompson & Jennings, 2006).
However, even among such scholarly documentation, the discipline of communication continues to
struggle to maintain its position in schools throughout the United States. Many factors contribute to this
struggle including state- and nation-wide standardized testing (Hall et al., 1999; Harrington, 1977;
Jennings, 2003), budgetary cutbacks, and the progression of communication curricula to include more
than public speaking instruction (Most, 1994).
Previous studies have attempted to gauge the amount of speaking and listening instruction that occurs
in both primary and college schools throughout the United States (Hall et al., 1999; Jennings, 2003).
While valuable data have been generated from these studies, much of it is contradictory. Some studies
show a decrease in speaking and listening instruction, while others demonstrate an increase. Each
scholar has used his or her own design. Specifically, different participants ranging from administrators
to state board of education curriculum directors have been surveyed, and each study has posed a
variety of similar, yet different, questions regarding instructional trends. Therefore, the results can only
be compared with skepticism. A long term study that gathers data over the span of many years, similar
to the college basic communication course long term study currently being completed by Morreale,
Hugenberg, and Worley (2006), would ultimately provide the most valuable data concerning college
basic communication course practices. Additionally, previous studies have only surveyed the inclusion
of standards for speaking and listening in state and national learning standards. As Rubin and Hampton
(1998) report, contemporary surveys of state curriculum guidelines indicate that oral communication
is already well represented in such documents, but their impact on what happens in classrooms
remains questionable (p. 186). To gain a better understanding of actual classroom practices, individual
teachers must be considered.
While the question that previous researchers have attempted to answer, is communication being
taught in United States all colleges and universities? is of extreme importance, several other questions
must be answered before a realistic picture of the status of communication education can be painted.
As the discipline continues to evolve, we must ask if college students learning how to become better
public speakers, or are they receiving instruction that also focuses on listening, interpersonal
communication, group communication, media literacy and civic engagement? To prepare students at
the college level for high functionality in society, these additional realms of communication instruction
must be addressed. We must also inquire about the individuals charged with the task of teaching
communication at the college level. Research shows that those teaching such courses may not be
highly qualified (Hall et al., 1999; Jennings, 2003). Due to a lack of understanding of both the design
and instruction of the basic communication course in college curricula, many questions arise. First, and
most generally, are we teaching students what they need to know to communicate successfully in a
variety of contexts? Many students today do not attend college and thus, the only instruction in
communication they receive is in their primary and college coursework. This instruction must prepare
them for a lifetime of communicative encounters

Definition of Communication
Since its inception, the discipline of communication has suffered from an ill-defined identity. Many
debates have been wrought concerning the nature of the field. A variety of axioms, or guidelines, have
been wrought concerning the nature of the field. A variety of axioms, or guidelines, have been
forwarded, such as the notion that you cannot not communicate. However, each of these axioms
has been met with skepticism and opposing viewpoints. For the purposes of this study, we use a
definition proposed by the National Communication Association (NCA) that incorporates
conventional and present-day views of communication to define it as a field that focuses on how
people use messages to generate meaning within and across various contexts, cultures, channels,
and media (Cooper, 1998, p. 4). In addition, a more specific definition of communication can be
used to examine the necessary elements to be included in a secondary level basic communication
course. . According to Morreale and Backlund (2002), in 2000 the NCA was asked to provide the
U.S. Department of Education a definition of a program in communication studies. The NCA
responded with the following description:
Communication studiesis a program that focuses on the scientific, humanistic, and critical study
of human communication in a variety of formats, media, and contexts. It includes instruction in the
theory and practice of interpersonal, group, organizational, professional, and intercultural
communication; speaking and listening; verbal and nonverbal interaction; rhetorical theory and
criticism; performance studies; argumentation and persuasion; technologically mediated
communication; popular culture; and various contextual applications. (p. 7)

The Importance of Teaching Communication in College Education

Through the two preceding definitions offered, we can see that the discipline of communication includes
a wide array of foci. Communicating is not as simple as talking and hearing, as some would assert. A
main argument made against the inclusion of oral communication instruction in college education is that
humans have been speaking and listening since they were born. However, various communication
scholars attest that while vocalizing and hearing may be physiological procedures practiced throughout
life, the specific skills of communication must be learned; communication is not an ability that people
are given at birth (Morreale, Osborn, et al, 2000). Consequently, Cooper (1998) explains that students
should no more be deprived of intentional, organized education in speaking, listening, and media
literacy than they are deprived of instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, or science (p. 5). We do
not assume that students understand English because they are able to form sentences at a young age;
however, many assume that students understand the process of communication for reasons of similar
merit.
When students are provided instruction in oral communication, they gain a vast repertoire of skills that
are necessary for full functionality in a variety of realms (Morreale & Backlund, 2007;Thompson &
Jennings, 2006). The NCA (n.d.b) explains that indeed, oral communication skills may be the most
critical competences that college graduates need in the complex, diverse, and information intensive
world of the 21st century. College students must function as effective communicators in their personal
lives, their academic work, and their professional careers (p. 1). In making this assertion, however, the
NCA has overlooked an important fact. Many college graduates do not further their education in a
university setting. Thus, for many the only chance at learning valuable communication skills is in
primary and college education (OKeefe, 1995). By only providing communication instruction in higher
education, we are displaying an elitist attitude. All children, regardless of ability level, must have
speaking and listening instruction as part of their basic education (OKeefe, 1995, p.15).
To better depict the wide-ranging importance of the study of communication, Morreale, Osborn, et al.
(2000) reviewed nearly 100 documents on the topic of communication. Five topics of importance


emerged including the role of communication education in: (a) improving the work of education
(academic success), (b) advancing careers in the business enterprise (professional success), (c)
developing the whole person (personal success), (d) advancing the interests of society and bridging
cultural differences (societal and democratic success), and (e) educating
specialists for the purpose of teaching communication education.
The first area of communication importance highlighted by Morreale, Osborn, e. al., (2000) is academic
success. First, communication skills impact students ability to listen in the classroom (Morreale,
Osborn, et al., 2000). Students who cannot listen well will undoubtedly fail to understand important
information. Second, students who cannot speak clearly are often misjudged as being unintelligent
(Morreale, Osborn et al, 2000). Good communication skills enable students to competently share their
ideas and understandings. Finally, students high in communication apprehension do not participate well
in classroom related communication, either with teachers or peers. This results in low levels of learning,
which contributes to a downward spiral of lacking communication skills (Cooper, 1998). As succinctly
claimed by Dance (1980), The student who is denied study and experience in speech communication
and its subject matter of spoken language is essentially denied the essence of a liberal education (p.
331). If students do not learn to communicate well while still in school, their chances of success later in
life are limited. This leads to the next area of importance identified by Morreale, Osborn, et al. (2000),
and professional success.
Top business executives consistently rank communication skills as the most sought after skills by
employers. Communication skills, such as oral and the ability to solve conflict, are required in most, if
not all, occupations (Morreale & Backlund, 2007). Even more, people with strong communication skills
(OKeefe, 1995). Unfortunately, when political, business, and community leaders criticize higher
education, they often point to graduates lack of communication skills upon entering the workplace
with oral communication skills topping the list (National Communication Association, [NCA], n.d.a, p.
4). While institutions of higher education may be somewhat to blame for their graduates lack of
communication skills, the education system in general should also be held responsible. Students are
not provided with opportunities to learn and understand the process of communication throughout their
entire educational experience. Instead, they are introduced to the study of communication at a late age,
thereby limiting their familiarity. Thus, the education system itself is perpetuating this problematic lack
of communication skills in the workforce.
In an article concerning college communication curricula, Morreale and Backlund (2007) created a list
of expectations for speaking and listening for college graduates that includes basic and advanced skills.
Problematic to this list is that even students who do not graduate from college also need such skills to
be successful, further justifying the fact that communication skills must be taught at the college level.
The authors themselves explain that, basic skills are considered to be minimal expectations necessary
for effective functioning in society and in the workplace (p. 9-10). People who do not graduate from
college must still function effectively in society. If young people who do not attend college do not
receive instruction and training in these specific skills, they will not be able to be as successful in their
professional lives as those who do receive such instruction.
While much of our adult lives are spent in the workplace, in order to lead satisfying lives, we must also
engage in personal relationships. Again, communication instruction provides us with the skills
necessary to develop and sustain such relationships. Communication allows for social adjustment and
the creation of strong, satisfying interpersonal relationships (Morreale, Osborn et al., 2000). Through
interpersonal and group communication, we develop friendships, communicate with significant others,
experience conflict in these relationships, and grow throughout our lives. In addition, through
intrapersonal communication, we better understand our own sense of self. Cooper (1998) summarizes
the importance of communication in personal success by explaining:


Understanding and skill in communication must be a vital part of K through 12 educations. There is
growing awareness of the relationship between student success in grades K through 12 and
competent communication skills. Communication shapes our sense of self and the way we interact with
our environment, from gathering and presenting information to managing conflict (p.5).
The final area of importance determined by Morreale, Osborn, et al. (2000) is societal success. Proper
instruction in communication prepares students to participate in civic and democratic processes
(Morreale & Backlund, 2007). For example, through communication training students learn how to
create arguments in support of a position, present these arguments in a clear and understandable
manner, avoid using fallacious argumentation, be aware of issues of ethics and bias, listen to others,
and overcome conflict. In fact, politics and democracy could not exist without communication! Hillygus
(2005) exemplifies this point by explaining that, to write a letter to a public official, an individual must
feel comfortable in finding the words .To engage in political persuasion an individual must have the
verbal acuity to communicate a position. Political philosophers have long emphasized the relationship
between politics and language (p. 36).
In looking at the four major areas of the importance of oral communication, it becomes even more clear
that the United States education system must re-think its incorporation of speaking and listening
instruction at the college level. It is necessary for all students to achieve a high level of communication
competency before graduating college (Hall et al., 1999).

Reference
Berko, R. M., Morreale, S. P., Cooper, P. J., & Perry, C. D. (1998). Communication standards and
competencies for kindergarten through grade 12: The role of the National Communication
Association. Communication Education, 47, 174-182.
Cooper, P. (1998). K-12 speaking, listening, and media literacy standards and competency
standards. Retrieved March 11, 2008 from the National Communication Association Web site:
http://www.natcom.org/nca/files/ccLibraryFiles/FILENAME/000000000119
/K12%20Standards.pdf
Dance, F. E. X. (1980). Speech communication as a liberal arts discipline. Communication Education,
29, 328-331.
Hall, B. I., Morreale, S. P., & Gaudino, J. L. (1999). A survey of the status of oral communication
in the k-12 public educational system in the United States. Communication Education, 48, 139148.
Harrington, A. E. (1997). The need to begin diffusing communication concepts. Communication
Education, 26, 235-236.
Hendricks, B. L. (1980). The status of elementary speech communication education. Communication
Education, 29, 364-369.
Hillygus, D. S. (2005). The missing link: Exploring the relationship between higher education and
political engagement. Political Behavior, 27, 25-47.
Jennings, D. K. (2003, November). The teaching of K-12 communication: Re-instating, re-training and
re-assessing oral communication instruction. Paper presented at the meeting of the National
Communication Association, Miami Beach, FL.


Morreale, S. P., & Backlund, P. A. (2007). Large scale assessment of oral communication: K-12 and
higher education. (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: National Communication Association.
Morreale, S. P., Cooper, P., & Perry, C. (2000). Guidelines for developing oral communication curricula
in kindergarten through twelfth grade (2nd ed.). Retrieved Feb 11, 2014, from the National
Communication Association Web site: http://www.natcom.org/nca/
files/ccLibraryFiles/FILENAME/000000000118/OralCommStandards.pdf
Morreale, S. P., Hugenberg, L., & Worley, D. (2006). The basic communication course at U.S. colleges
and universities in the 21st century: Study VII. Communication Education, 55, 415-437.
Most, M. G. (1994). Certification standards for speech communication teachers: A nationwide survey.
Communication Education, 43, 195 204.
National Communication Association. (n.d.a.). Integrating communication into the general education
curriculum. [Brochure]. Washington DC: Author.
OKeefe, V. (1995). Speaking to think, thinking to speak: The importance of talk in the learning process.
Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers.
Rubin, D. L. & Hampton, S. (1998). National performance standards for oral communication K-12: New
standards and speaking/listening/viewing. Communication Education, 47, 184-193.
Thompson, E., & Jennings, D. K. (2006, April). Incorporating speaking and listening instruction in p-8
schools: The Lake Forrest School District model. Paper presented at the meeting of the Central
States Communication Association, Indianapolis, IN.
Witkin, B. R., Lovern, M. L., & Lundsteen, S. W. (1996). Oral communication in the English language
arts curriculum: A national perspective. Communication Education, 45, 40-58.

On-line Learning: An Augustinian Perspective

Molly Stoltz, Valdosta State University
The news may come as a shock to some, but the case for the effectiveness of on-line education was
made over ten years ago. A 2002 study sponsored by The Sloan Center for OnLine Education
(SCOLE) reviewed 19 studies about online learning and found that 11 of those studies found online
courses to have better outcomes than traditional courses and 8 of them found no difference in the
outcomes between on-line courses and traditional courses (Hiltz, Zhang and Turoff). Further, Thomas
L. Russels (2001) book and website listing 355 studies that found no significant difference in the
learning outcomes between students taking a course a traditional classroom setting and those taking
the course using an alternative (i.e. on-line) format. But what does that mean? How much does
instruction method matter? Can a student who cannot learn material through lecture learn it when a
different method is used? Richard Clark (1983) argues that the delivery method of the instruction does
not improve learning. Others, such as Kozma (1991) and Twigg (2000), argue that an instructor must
find the right kind of media to deliver the message or instruction to his/her learners. This idea that a
teacher should tailor his/her message to an audience and that not all audiences are the same
points to the idea that teaching and learning are rhetorical. This paper contends that it is the
unchanging rhetorical nature of education and not the constantly changing technology used to deliver
instruction that explains the effectiveness and explosive popularity of on-line education.
The roots of understanding education from a rhetorical perspective can be found in the work of
Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, who lived in the ancient Algerian city from 391 to 430, nearly 1600 years
ago. Augustine was a professor of rhetoric for a time. He wrote about education from a rhetorical
perspective in many works including On Christian Teaching. In that book he defined teaching and
learning as the use of signs. All teaching is either about signs or things, but all learning happens
through signs (Augustine, Teaching 106). Murphy (1971) writes that, for Augustine, Man is obliged to
be as rhetorical as he can in order to assist his neighbors in learning about the universe and God to
mean that every person has an obligation to teach and learn from others about the universe and God
and also accepts the notion that rhetoric can help us learn the various ways in which the loving
expositor chooses the particular signs he will lay before the learner in order to prompt him (p. 209).
Here one can see that rhetoric lies at the heart of his philosophy on and that Augustine has a unique
perspective on teaching and learning.
When thinking about Augustines perspective on education, one can first begin by realizing that, as
Paffenroth (2000) writes, Augustine saw formalized education as he experienced it as powerful
instrument of evil, yet another in a long list of group activities that only make people behave worse than
they would have on their own (p. 10). While Augustine did not see the traditional classrooms of his
time as the ideal place for learning and teaching to take place, he certainly believed that learning could
happen; however, he believed that the role and motivation of both student and teacher had to be
appropriate. Further describing Augustines understanding of the proper role and methodology of the
teacher, Paffenroth (2000) writes: Augustine saw the positive role of learning, but saw the teacher as a
very limited part of that activity (p.10). Baldwin (2000) explains that in Book One of Confessions
Augustine sets forth two different styles of teaching and two different methods of teaching: fear
inspiring compulsion and free curiosity or desire (p. 15) and argues that Augustine saw the second
more effective.
Augustine makes the same point in his book Concerning the Teacher, when he points out that man is
only prompted by words in order that he may learn, and it is apparent that only a very small measure of
what a speaker thinks is expressed in his words; according to Murphy (1971), this indicates a clear
reliance in communication upon an individuals powers as a private learner as opposed to
communicative reliance upon an exterior persons ability to instruct the hearer or for that matter to
persuade him merely by the force of the conventional signs he uses against him. Perhaps Murphy


(1971) offers the most succinct description of what a good teacher is and does when he writes that, for
Augustine: The manifest love that passes between teacher and learner will help them to keep trying
out different signs until the learner learns the message (p. 209). So for Augustine, the teacher has a
limited role in the learning process and the idea of love should guide how a teacher teaches and
interacts with students.
While Murphy (1971) briefly mentions the idea of love in connection with learning and teaching, Cary
(2000) extensively treats the notion in connection with Augustines ideas about both teaching and
learning in his article Study as Love. In that article, Cary (2000) writes:
In his treatise On the Trinity, Augustine treats study as a form of love, the desire to learn what
one does not yet know. Teaching too is love, though of a different kind. While study is love of
truth, and therefore falls under the first and greatest commandment (you shall love the Lord your
God), teaching demands love of another human being, and therefore falls under the second
great commandment (Love your neighbor as yourself). To put teaching and learning in the
category of love is, for Augustine, to put them in the realm of ethics - for Augustine ethics is,
famously, an ethics of love, based on an exigesis of these two commandments. (p. 62)
Clearly, from Augustines point of view, love should guide the actions of the teacher but of the
student as well; this notion that love should guide the actions underlies Augustines belief that student
should not seek knowledge for its own sake or for the potential for personal gain.
Daniel Doyle (2000) writes about Augustines philosophy of education and particularly his issue with
education for its own sake: Although the value of education for its own sake is recognized as a
commonplace in the academy, the bishop had little tolerance for those who pursued learning for its own
sake, especially when motivated by selfish ambitions (p. 81). Hughes (2000) makes the case that
Augustine saw the liberal arts education of his time as producing the type of people for which he had
little tolerance. Lending insight to what Augustine sees as the proper reason for seeking knowledge,
Murphy (1971) writes that Augustine believes that each man is an individual leaner placed in the
universe by a God who has given him, as an individual, the means by which he may learn about the
universe, therefore about God, and therefore about the role in the universe which God intends him to
play (Murphy 205). Thus, one can say that Augustine believes that students should not learn for the
sake of learning but to have the will of God and the well-being of others in mind when they seek
knowledge.
Now that one has looked specifically at how Augustine understands the role of the teacher and the
student, one can examine those roles in the on-line classroom. The argument can be made that the online classroom fulfills Augustines criteria for effective education. Kern (2010) defines the average online
student as: a female between 25 and 44 who is employed full time and is pursuing an undergraduate
degree on-line, according to a survey of 68,760 online learners from 87 institutions between 2006-2009
by Noel-Levitz, a consulting company that helps colleges with enrollment and student success;
according to the same survey, more than half of the surveyed online learners are married, and 35
percent are married and have children. When asked about their motivation, Amber Brehmers response
is typical of on-line students:
The number one reason I went back to school online was because of my daughter. We don't put
my daughter in day care, so my husband and I actually work opposite shifts so we don't have to
do day care. I wasn't willing to take that extra time away from her and put her somewhere where
she wasn't going to be around her family. I wanted to figure out a way where I could still learn
and not have to sit in a classroom. I didn't benefit from having a teacher standing there talking to
me. With the online school, it's all reading and it's visual and that's the way I learn. (Kern, 2010)
Here one can see that the motivation of this student, and so many like her, is not to make more money
or learn something for its own sake, but to help their families.
Further, the role of the teacher in the on-line classroom tends to be more limited. The teacher does not
have to prepare a lecture or speech to persuade students that the material is important and give


them a particular perspective on it. Rather, the teacher in an on-line classroom, the teacher is much
more likely to make resources available for the students and ask the students to reflect and often write
about their own thoughts and applications of the material. This limits the role of the teacher in the
classroom and focuses on the student learning. Minjuan Wang, Donald A. MacArthur, and Bob Crosby
(2003) address this in their work when they list one of the benefits of on-line learning as: refocusing
educational institutions from teaching to learning and from teacher to student (p. 28). In other, while
many teachers may try to flip the traditional dynamic of face-to-face education, it still tends to places
the teachers rhetoric rather than the students learning at the forefront than on-line classes, which, in
Swans (2003) words, has the potential to support particular ways of knowing and learning as well as
significant paradigm shifts in teaching and learning along with individualized instruction (p. 16).
When considering the effectiveness of online education, however, Swan (2003) cautions that looking
at online education simply as another way to deliver instruction, generally to be used only in so far as it
produces the same learning outcomes as so-called traditional delivery, will likely lead to less than
optimal learning (p. 16). In other words, while the rhetorical nature of learning and teaching may
account for why so many students succeed in on-line classes and the numerous studies that support
the notion that they are just as effective as traditional classes may be behind the popularity of such
classes, the future of on-line education and learning does not lie in its ability to be just another way to
teach and learn, but in its potential to foster for engagement and innovation from students than has
been previously imagined or achieved by other methods of instructions.

References
Augustine. The Confessions of Saint Augustine. Trans. John K. Ryan. New York: Image
Doubleday, 1960.
Teaching Christianity De Doctrina Christiana. Trans. Edumund Hill, O.P. Ed. John E.
Rotelle, O.S.A. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/11. Hyde
Park, NY: New York City Press, 1996.
Baldwin, Debra Romanick. Models of Teaching and Models of Learning in the Confessions.
Augustine and Liberal Education. Eds. Kim Paffenroth and Kevin L. Hughes. Burlington:
Ashgate, 2000.
Brown, Peter. Augustine of Hippo. Berkley and Los Angles, Calif.: University of California
Press, 2000.
Cary, Phillip. Study as Love. Augustine and Liberal Education. Eds. Kim Paffenroth and
Kevin L. Hughes. Burlington: Ashgate, 2000.
Doyle, Daniel. The Bishop as Teacher. Augustine and Liberal Education. Eds. Kim
Paffenroth and Kevin L. Hughes. Burlington: Ashgate, 2000.
Hiltz, Star Roxanne, Yi Zhang and Murray Turoff. Studies of Effectiveness of Learning
Networks. Elements of Quality On-Line Education: Volume 3 in the Sloan-C Series. Eds. John
Bourne and Janet C. Moore. Sloan-C, 2002.
Hughes, Kevin L. The Arts Reputed Liberal Augustine and Liberal Education. Eds. Kim
Paffenroth and Kevin L. Hughes. Burlington: Ashgate, 2000.
Johnson, W. R. Isocrates Flowering: The Rhetoric of Augustine. Philosophy and
Rhetoric. 9.4 (1976): 217-231.


Kern, R. How One Online Student Balances Family, Work, and School. U.S. News. Web. 23
Jul 2010. 10 March 2014.
Murphy, James J. Philosophy & Rhetoric. Fall1971, Vol. 4 Issue 4, p201-214. 14p.
Paffenroth, Kim. Bad Habits and Bad Company: Education and Evil in the Confessions.
Augustine and Liberal Education. Eds. Kim Paffenroth and Kevin L. Hughes. Burlington:
Ashgate, 2000.
Russell, T. L., & IDECC (Organization). (2001). The no significant difference phenomenon: A
comparative research annotated bibliography on technology for distance education : as
reported in 355 research reports, summaries and papers. S.l.: IDECC.
Swan, Karen. Learning Effectiveness: What the Research Tells Us. Elements of Quality OnLine Education: Volume 4 in the Sloan-C Series. Eds. John Bourne and Janet C. Moore.
Sloan-C, 2003.
Wang, Minjuan, Donald A. MacArthur and Bob Crosby. A Descriptive Study of Community
College Teachers Attitudes Toward Online Learning. Tech Trends 47:3 (Sept/Oct 2003) 28.
Wills, Gary. Saint Augustine. Viking, 1999.

Critical Thinking in Communication Classrooms

Mark S. May
Critical thinking has been conceptualized in many ways. In 1987, at the Eighth Annual International
Conference on Critical Thinking and Education Reform, Michael Scriven and Richard Paul began their
definition of critical thinking by stating it is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully
conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or
generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication as a guide to belief and
action (a more complete definition is available at The Critical Thinking Community website:
https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766 ) John Chaffee (1997), author of
several textbooks on critical thinking, defines thinking critically in his textbook Thinking Critically (5th
edition) as an active, purposeful, organized cognitive process we use to carefully examine our thinking
and the thinking of others, in order to clarify and improve our understanding (p. 40).Through critical
thinking, scholars explain, we learn to reason well, solve problems, make sound judgments, and
evaluate arguments while avoiding the biases and prejudices that often infect our thinking processes.
Critical thinking courses typically attempt to develop critical thinking skills through a study of
argumentation, often including formal logic, scientific reasoning, theories of persuasion and the study of
fallacious reasoning. Communication with its roots in rhetoric, has much to contribute to the study of
critical thinking. In communication classrooms, an important goal is for instructors to enhance the
higher order thinking skills of students and help them to avoid and combat fallacious reasoning.

Developing Basic Argumentation Skills

One reason why it is difficult for communication instructors to develop critical thinking skills in the
classroom is because the students abilities vary widely. Some students have highly developed thinking
skills while others struggle to provide reasons to support a position, define problems, establish criteria
for evaluations or consider arguments without bias. Why do some students have weak critical thinking
skills? First, some students have little experience with argumentation because they believe arguments
are emotional conflicts that are best avoided. One way to dispel this myth is to define argumentation
and explain its value. Showing Monty Pythons skit, the Argument Clinic (available on YouTube), is a
good way to begin a discussion about the nature of an argument. Second, some students have never
given much thought to why they hold the beliefs they do or why they choose the actions they do. Asking
students to take a position on a basic issue that affects their lives is a good approach for helping
students to understand how to develop reasons. Campus issues often work well for everyone. Asking
students whether they should be required to take the communication course may be a good issue to
discuss. Prompting them about the issue by repeatedly asking them Why? helps to get students to
start reasoning. This approach can be used to complement most lessons. In a public speaking class,
for example, the issue could be whether or not a particular political speech or political commercial
reflects adapting to an audience or lying. How do they know? This activity can be conducted as a
discussion, in small groups, or online. Third, some students have not learned how to connect their
reasons to persuade someone else. They may be able to list the reasons they have to support a
position, but are not skilled at inductive or deductive reasoning or are not strategic. A good approach to
help students learn how to form an argument is to have them analyze arguments. The starting point for
this analysis is to first identify the conclusion to the argument. Talking about signal words for reasons
(because, since, due to, etc.) and for conclusions (hence, thus, therefore, etc.) will help them identify
the conclusion to an argument. Students often struggle with this task because they are unfamiliar with
the abstract arguments often found in college-level classes. If asked to develop an argument, given a
context they are comfortable with, such as a poor coaching decision made in a recent athletic contest,
many would be able to give detailed, logically organized support. It is thus helpful to have students
study abstract arguments outside their comfort zone that they can understand with effort. Teaching
them how to translate each proposition of an argument into their own words while continually testing
their translation as they continue to read the work is a fruitful initial approach. John Lockes argument


about property, from the Second Treatise on Government, is an example of a difficult argument that
students have to dissect to understand its structure and point:
Though the earth and all inferior creatures be common to all men, yet every man has a property
in his own person; this nobody has any right to but himself. The labor of his body and the work
of his hands, we may say, are properly his. Whatsoever then he removes out of the state that
nature has provided and left it in, he has mixed his labor with, and joined to it something that is
his own, and thereby makes it his property.
Ask the students to study the argument one line at a time and put it into their own words. Then they
should identify the conclusion and see how the premises are used to support that conclusion. This is
basically a process of helping students to strengthen their reading skills and improve their ability to
decode arguments. The fourth reason why some students have weak critical thinking skills is because
they often want to evaluate an argument before they understand it. They may have little patience for
struggling to understand something or they may already feel comfortable with their existing views. They
tend to read into arguments, focus only on the parts they already understand, or supply their own views
in areas where their understanding is weak. Once most of your students are able to understand the
basics of an argument, they are prepared to concentrate on developing high order thinking skills.

Developing More Advanced Argumentation Skills

Having students analyze a number of arguments by translating them into their own words and
identifying the structure of the arguments will help them to become more proficient at constructing their
own arguments. Point out the logical connections between the reasons and identify nested arguments.
A good activity in public speaking class is to clarify the basic arguments found in sample persuasive
speeches. Once students understand how the arguments are structured, they are ready to evaluate
them. To do this, they need to understand how criteria are used to evaluate an argument. This means
of evaluation may involve a new thinking process for many students, so it is advisable to introduce the
concept of criteria by having them develop criteria for something they already understand, like buying a
car or buying a house. Ask students what factors should be considered to make a good decision about
which car or house to buy. Pictures of different types of cars or houses that represent various criteria
may help engage the students. Students may end up arguing over which car or house is the best,
which shows the value of establishing criteria. The following criteria are suggested for evaluating an
argument:

Relevant: Is the evidence or are the reasons properly related to the conclusion?
Reliable/True: Is the testimony reliable or is the evidence true?
Sufficient: Is there enough evidence to draw the conclusion as given?
Logical: Is the inference from the reasons or evidence to the conclusion logical?

More advanced questions to consider when evaluating an argument include:

What assumptions does the argument make?
Has any evidence been left out that needs to be considered?
Could different conclusions be drawn using the same evidence?
Are there other arguments on this issue that should be considered?
Once students understand how to evaluate an argument, they should be able to identify fallacies.
Identifying fallacies is a good exercise for studying the reasoning process and for learning how to
classify. Students need to understand that bad arguments exist which are aimed at supporting
wonderful conclusions. Students should find the conclusions of fallacious arguments, break down the
arguments into their component parts and examine the relationship between the evidence and the
conclusions. Give students the definitions of the fallacies you are considering and provide them with


examples of each one. Then, it is helpful to have them identify the fallacies when the arguments are all
on the same topic (see Appendix A). Alternative activities include giving students an issue and asking
them in groups to create fallacious arguments or asking them to find television commercials on
YouTube that illustrate various fallacies. Asking students to explain why the fallacious arguments are
weak (not to just name the fallacy) often helps them to understand how to apply the basic criteria, given
above, for evaluating arguments.

Developing Skills in Interpretation

Once students are able to evaluate arguments, they are ready to develop more sophisticated thinking
skills. One such skill, useful in many communication classes, involves interpretation. Interpretation may
be more difficult than evaluating an argument for many students. Interpretation often requires
sophisticated language skills and requires creative thinking in so far as it requires students to think
symbolically, draw from other texts, and/or synthesize. In effect, they have to be able to construct an
argument to defend an interpretation based upon a consistent reading of the evidence found in the text.
One way to help students begin to become proficient at interpretation is to invite them to compare
between drafts of a speech. The first draft of Franklin Delano Roosevelts declaration of war (The Day
of Infamy speech) is available at his presidential library at the following address:
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/_resources/images/sign/fdr_36.pdf#search=speech. Asking students
about the challenges FDR faced, the goals of the speech, and the strategies they would use in these
circumstances is a good way to begin this activity. Then ask students to read the draft and evaluate it.
Finally, show students the actual speech (available on YouTube). Ask why they think FDR made the
changes in the final version of the speech (available at the American Rhetoric website) is a good
exercise for learning how to interpret texts. A more modern example of this kind of exercise is John F.
Kennedys Second Inaugural Address. There were several drafts of Kennedys speech. Appendix B
provides a draft of the last part of the speech and the last part of the actual speech.
A more sophisticated exercise in interpretation involves comparing two versions of the same poem.
Some of Emily Dickinsons poetry was first published by friends of hers who tried to make the poems
more popular by making them conventional. They gave titles to the poems, changed some of the
punctuation, and capitalized some terms. Later editors returned to her original writings and restored her
poems to their original form. Asking students to interpret one of these poems as it was first published
and then to compare it to the same poem as it was published in a more faithful form provides an
interesting interpretive task. Students come to realize that small changes can have a significant in how
something is interpreted. (See Appendix C for two versions of Dickinsons poem, Come slowly
Eden!).

Conclusion
The best way to teach critical thinking skills is to try to incorporate activities that require higher-order
thinking skills and self-reflection throughout the course and throughout the communication program of
study. Critical thinking skills develop slowly and require a considerable amount of practice. Once
students have developed basic argumentation skills, they will be prepared to create and evaluate
sophisticated arguments and to interpret texts and works of art. Critical thinking helps students in their
personal lives as well as in their academic endeavors and careers.

Appendix A: Fallacy Worksheet

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.

Ad Hominem (Attacking the Person)

Popularity (Band Wagon)
Appeal to Authority
False Dilemma (Either-or Fallacy)
Slippery Slope
Two Wrongs Make a Right
Appeal to Ignorance
Hasty Conclusion
Appeal to Pity
Appeal to Tradition

You so and so
Everyone else is doing it
Listen to this non-expert or biased expert
Your choice: this or that
If this, then this, which results in a disaster
This person does it too!
We dont know, so I am drawing a conclusion
A few samples leads to a broad conclusion
Give me a break because I am pathetic
Why change when the past is good?

Examples
1. __________Ive always admired Charlton Hestons acting skills. Hes played some memorable
movie roles. He said that having guns on campus was a freedom that everyone should be able
to enjoy. I agree.
2. __________The police report indicated that one of the injured students was a skilled marksman.
If only he would have had his gun, the tragedy would have been averted. We must encourage
students to carry weapons on college campuses.
3. __________We are either going to have to allow people to carry concealed weapons on
campus or we will have more school shootings.
4. __________Officer, please dont arrest me for carrying a weapon. I grew up poor and lived in a
tough neighborhood. When I was younger I stayed at home most of the time because I was too
scared to go out. Now I know that this campus is safe, but Im still afraid to be out in public
without a gun, especially at night.
5. __________If we allow students to carry weapons on campus, then well have to arm the
teachers. Theyll probably need bullet proof vests too. Once teachers are carrying weapons,
then staff and administrators will need weapons as well. Who is going to pay for all this? Well
end up having to raise tuition just to pay for all the guns, bullets, gun lockers, and vests.
6. __________The University of Georgia System has never allowed students to carry guns on
campus. This approach has served the system well for a long time. Why change now?
7. __________All my friends own Glocks, one of the worlds most popular guns. Thats good
enough for me. I want one too.
8. __________Listen, I am well aware that concealed carry is illegal on college campuses, but I
have a friend who told me he does it all the time. Im bringing my gun to class.
9. __________ Allowing guns on campus is a mistake. Youve seen the state senator who wrote
the legislation, havent you? Hes so old, I doubt he could hit the broad side of a barn with a
bazooka.
10. __________We really dont know why school shooters decide to kill students, so we better be
prepared by allowing students to carry concealed weapons.
ANSWERS
1-C, 2-H, 3-D, 4-I, 5-E, 6-J, 7-B, 8-F, 9-A, 10-G

Appendix B
Draft of JFKs Inaugural Address (p. 6)
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
www.jfklibrary.org
In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, lie the final answer. Were we to suffer open armed
attack, our decision would be clear, our response instant, our dedication to the cause complete. We
would not pause to count the cost or weigh the odds. We would not heed the voices of surrender, fear
or panic. Every man and every woman would answer to the call of the trumpet.
Today the trumpet sounds its urgent call againnot a call to arms, though arms we neednot a call to
battle though embattled we arebut a call to a broader, more basic struggle against the enemies of
mantyranny and poverty and war itself.
Will you join heart and soul in that historic battle? Will you give to the defense of self-government the
same full measure of self-denial you would give to the fight for self-survival?
If we fail now, we fail our heirs, our forbearers and all mankind. But if we prevailif at the end of the
tunnel of darkness we find the lightthen shall we fulfill the dreams of those who love this land most
not for what it was, not for what it is, but for what it can and will someday be.
So ask not what your country is going to do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. Ask of your
leaders the same high standards and sacrifice that we will ask of you. And ask the Lord above to grant
us all the strength and wisdom we shall need. (Handwritten) With a clear conscience our only sure
reward, with history the final judge of our motives, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His
blessing and help, but knowing that here on earth Gods work must truly be our own.

Actual speech
In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course.
Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony
to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the
globe.
Now the trumpet summons us again--not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need--not as a call to
battle, though embattled we are-- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and
year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"--a struggle against the common enemies of man:
tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.
Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that
can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending
freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it. I do not
believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The
energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it-and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your
country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can
do for the freedom of man. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of
us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good
conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the
land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly
be our own.

Appendix C
First Published Version of Poem by Emily Dickinson
Edited by Mabel Loomis Todd & T.W. Higginson
Apotheosis
Come slowly, Eden!
Lips unused to thee,
Bashful, sip thy jasmines,
As the fainting bee,
Reaching late his flower,
Round her chamber hums,
Counts his nectars enters,
And is lost in balms!

More Accurate Version of Poem Published Later

Come slowly Eden!
Come slowly Eden!
Lips unused to Thee
Bashful sip thy Jessamines
As the fainting Bee
Reaching late his flower,
Round her chamber hums
Counts his nectars
Enters and is lost in Balms.

Framing the Candidates in 2012 Presidential Election by

Polarized Media
Raychele Couey, University of West Georgia

Abstract
The purpose of this study is to see if and how the media polarize news content concerning the
presidential candidates during the Presidential election campaign in 2012. Framing provide theoretical
framework for media analysis. Media framing is evident in news content surrounding candidates during
this election which suggests who is responsible for a problem and who can help solve the problem.
During our research it is discovered that depending on the media source the traits of the presidential
candidates are presented differently. And the tone is partially significant. Content analysis of three
media networks was conducted: NBC Nightly News, CNN with Anderson Cooper 360, and Foxs
Special Report with Bret Baier. We coded six traits moral, leadership, caring, knowledge, intelligence
and honest. Foxs media content was more favorable for Romney while CNNs media content was more
favorable for Obama.

Introduction
Medias salience and influence amongst Americans play an important role in how we form and reinforce
our attitudes and values. Media coverage during presidential elections tell U.S. citizens on what to think
about concerning the presidential candidates. There is no shortage of news sources to help keep us
informed. According to a Gallup poll (Saad, 2013) conducted on June 20-24, 2013, consisting of 2,048
national adults, concluded 55% rely on television as their main source of news on current events.
Networks tend to frame stories that reflect their ideologies in which like-minded viewers are attracted to.
The Gallup poll (Saad, 2013) results surmised network viewership as follows, 8% Fox viewers, 7%
CNN viewers, and 1% NBC news viewers. Saad (2013) also noted Americans who rely on Fox news as
their main news source identify themselves as Republican, whereas CNN core viewers identify
themselves as Democrat. Fifty-Seven percent of the CNN group approved of the job President Barack
Obama is doing and just 2% approval from the Fox news group. The purpose of this study is to see if
and how the media polarize news content concerning the presidential candidates during the
Presidential election campaign in 2012. Framing provide the theoretical framework for media analysis.

What is Media Framing?

Entman (1993) describes framing as such To Frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality
and make them more salient in a communicating text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem
definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation for the item
described. Framing judgments on what to say may be a conscious or unconscious decision guided by
frames that shape their belief system (Entman, 1993).

How is Framing used by the Media?

Construction of news stories thru particular word choice and organization can encourage particular
trains of thought (Pan and Kosicki, 1993). For instance, during the 2008 presidential election traits of
candidates were highlighted to establish an identity. Media content repeatedly described Obama as
young and depending on the media sources framing this was either a positive (energetic, fresh ideas)
or a negative (inexperienced). Whereas McCains age afforded him the necessary experience to run
this country (positive) that change will not happen with McCain (negative). Entman (1991) compared
and contrasted U.S. media coverage of the KAL and Iran air incidents. Media presentation of these


similar events emphasized the perpetrating nations guilt and ethical bankruptcy in the first incident and
de-emphasized guilt of U.S. by focusing on technical problems (Entman). Comparison of two media
sources regarding CNNs latest closed-caption win shows the first media source, which happens to be
located in California where the lawsuit originated, framed the issue as CNNs ethical duty while the
other media source framed the issue as a legal issue in favor of CNN.
According to Pan and Kosicki (1993) framing practices are designed to renew and resonate certain
elements of American culture loaded with emotions for the purpose of creating a political atmosphere
favorable to one candidate and ideological orientation.
H1. There will be a difference in traits attributed to presidential candidates by media source.
H2. There will be a difference in tone attributed to presidential candidates by media source.

Method
Media Content analysis of three media networks was conducted: NBC Nightly News, CNN with
Anderson Cooper 360, and Foxs Special Report with Bret Baier. A total of 1740 samples were used to
conduct research. We examined news coverage of the two presidential candidates during the months
of July and August in 2012. Regarding the time frame of sampling, time-lag of media effects proved in
previous studies was considered. It takes 4-six weeks for information to be processed. The news
transcripts were collected from the LexisNexis Academic data base using the keywords Obama and
Romney.
We coded six traits, moral, leadership, caring, knowledge, intelligence, and honest. Leadership,
knowledge and intelligence apply to competency. Moral, caring, and honesty apply to personality. A list
of coding words implying positive traits (e.g., lead, inspiring, confident, sensitive, warm,
concern, trust, decent) and negative ones (e.g., weak, shortsighted, liar, out of touch).
Tone, such as positive, neutral and negative, of each trait was also examined. The unit of analysis is a
mention.
Inter-coder reliability was calculated based on 10% of the sample. The general agreement was
98%. Following are the values of each variable: moral (.99), tone (.99), leadership (.95), tone (.91),
caring (.97), tone (.96), knowledge (.99), tone (.96), intelligence (1), tone (1), honest (1), tone (1).

Results
The findings were consistent in all three content analysis. In response to H1 the analysis of the 1740
samples presented significant differences in traits depending on medium. The frequency for Obama
mentioned in the analyzed media content is 948 times (54.5%). And Romneys frequency totaled 792
times (45.5%). Media content analysis of traits pertaining to Obama showed CNNs coverage was
more pro-Obama while Foxs media coverage was more pro-Romney. Coverage about Obamas traits
was significantly different at .001 level among three media with a value of chi-square 90.37. The two
dominant traits media focused on in regards to Obama were leadership (55.6%) and honest (27.4 %,)
(see table 1). Coverage about Romneys traits demonstrated a statistical difference ( ! = 44.85, p <
.001). Romneys two dominant traits media focused on were honesty (44.2%) and leadership (29.8 %,)
(see table 2). Hypothesis 1 is supported.
In response to H2 the analysis of samples presented a partially significant difference in tone for Obam
(Saad, 2013)a ( ! = 128.76, p < .001) see table 3 . Analysis of samples were not significant for
Romney ( ! =8.98, p<.1) (see table 4). Hypothesis 2 is partially supported.
NBC was relatively neutral. Analysis of tone also showed CNN as pro-Obama. But interesting enough,
CNNs negative tone was higher than expected. NBCs positive tone with regards to Obama is a lot


higher than CNNs. Results also showed Foxs tone as pro-Romney. Although the networks
presented content that leaned toward supporting the candidate that reflected their political views,
collectively, media content was very negative.

Conclusion and Discussion

Considering how Americans rely on broadcast news to keep informed on current events such as
presidential elections and their candidates, theoretical framing should be an emphasis in news
dissemination. Miller, Andsager and Riechert (1998) contend voters will have a difficult time making
informed decisions if media focuses on distortion of candidate positions, disguising differences among
them and on horse race and campaign hoopla. The purpose of this study was to assess if and how the
media polarize news content concerning the candidates during the Presidential election campaign in
2012. Framing provided the theoretical framework for media analysis.
Content analysis from three media networks were utilized in order to (1) assess if there is a difference
in traits attributed to presidential candidates by media source and (2) assess if there is a difference in
tone attributed to presidential candidates by media source. The findings of content analysis showed a
significant difference in both trait depending on the media. There is a partial significance in tone
relating to Obama depending on the media source. Not surprisingly, Foxs media content was proRomney while CNNs media content was pro-Obama. .
Although the networks presented media coverage that favored the candidate that best represented their
political views, overall media coverage during the 2012 presidential election was very negative. This
constant presentation of negative aspects undermines the election process. Research is important to
monitor fairness and objectivity. We need to ask ourselves if the media content presented to us are a
true representation of presidential candidates. Consideration should be given to the intent of media
content as they have an effect on public opinion.

References
Entman, R.M. (1991). Framing U.S. coverage of international news: Contrasts in narratives of the KAL
and Iran Air incidents. Journal of Communciation, 41(4), 0021-9916. (PDF)
Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of
Communication, 43(4), 51.
Miller, M. M., Andsager, J. L., & Riechert, B. P. (1998). Framing the candidates in presidential
primaries: Issues and images in press releases and news coverage. Journalism & Mass
Communication Quarterly, 75(2), 312-324. (PDF)
Pan, Z., & Kosicki, G. M. (1993). Framing analysis: An approach to news discourse. Political
Communication, 10(1), 55. (PDF)
Saad, Lydia. TV is Americans' Main Source of News. 8 July 2013. Web. 4 January 2014.

Tables
Table 1. H1-1. Obama
Traits
Moral
Leadership
Caring
Knowledge
Intelligence
Honest
N

NBC ( %)
2 (1.4)
79 (55.6)
29 (20.4)
3 (2.1)
9 (6.3)
20 (2.1)
142

CNN ( %)
2 (.7)
125 (41.4)
20 (6.6)
18 (6.0)
73 (24.2)
64 (21.2)
302

FOX ( %)
2 (1.6)
260 (51.6)
24 (4.8)
25 (5.0)
49 (9.7)
138 (27.4)
504

CNN (%)
10 (2.6)
89 (23.4)
37 (9.7)
6 (1.6)
70 (18.4)
168 (44.2)
380

FOX (%)
8 (3.3)
73 (29.8)
25 (10.2)
10 (4.1)
60 (24.5)
69 (28.2)
245

90.37 ***
(d.f.=5)

*** p<.001

Table 2. H1-2. Romney

Traits
Moral
Leadership
Caring
Knowledge
Intelligence
Honest
N

NBC (%)
11 (6.6)
53 (31.7)
26 (15.6)
10 (6.0)
16 (9.6)
51 (30.5)
167

44.85***
(d.f.=5)

*** p<.001

Table 3. H2-1. Obama

Tone
Negative
Neutral
Positive
N

NBC
60 (42.3)
6 (4.2)
76 (53.5)
142

CNN
175 (57.9)
18 (6.0)
109 (36.1)
302

FOX
413 (81.9)
33 (6.5%)
58 (11.5)
504

CNN
229 (60.3)
22 (5.8)
129 (33.9)
380

FOX
123 (50.2)
19 (7.8)
103 (42.0)
245

128.76***
(d.f.=5)

***p<.001

Table 4. H2-2. Romney

Tone
Negative
Neutral
Positive
N
p<.1

NBC
84 (50.3)
16 (9.6)
67 (40.1)
167

8.98
(d.f.=4)

Weak Ontology and Critical Rhetoric: What Vattimo and

White Contribute to Rhetorical Theory
Nick J. Sciullo, Ph.D. Candidate, Georgia State University
There has been considerable interest in the influence of critical theory on rhetorical theory, producing
rhetorics move toward critical rhetoric. This work has been marked by the work of Raymie McKerrow
(2011, 1998, 1991, 1989) and Michael Calvin McGee (1975, 1980, 1990) among others. Critical rhetoric
helped to incorporate an interest in French theory, materiality, and social movements that was
occasionally present in the discipline, yet not central to rhetorical studies. What critical rhetoric did not
do, and what weak ontology does do is provide a reflexivity needed for rhetoric. Unfortunately
rhetoricians arent very reflexive (Aune 2011). This might seem strange, obsessed as we are with
language, persuasion, argument, influence, epistemology, and ontology.
Jim Aunes (2011) provocative article about the scholastic habitus made clear the lack of reflexivity in
rhetorical studies. In that article he put to use Pierre Bourdieus notion of the habitus, or the dispositions
and tastes of a group of people, to critique the ways the academy stultified innovation and activism. His
point was that rhetoricians had to think critically about their position in the university, and what that
meant for not simply the types of scholars they would be, but also the types of people they would be.
The university as habitus places tremendous constraints, through expectations and norms, on
rhetoricians ability to engage the world. In this tradition, Mark Lawrence McPhail (2003) has engaged
the ways in which scholars of color and scholars who write about race have been marginalized in
rhetorical studies. This sort of work should occupy a central role in the discipline, yet it does not. The
addition of weak ontology to rhetorical theory combines the strengths of classical skepticism, with the
contours of critical theory, with concern for identity construction. In this way, it may be helpful in
unpacking the ways in which strong ontologies structure rhetorical studies.
It need not matter whether we think rhetoric is about ontology, epistemology, or some combination of
the two. The debate about epistemology or ontology, of course, was prominent in rhetoric not too long
ago (Campbell, 1970; Chesebro, 1988) although that discussion seems to have been elided in favor of
rhetorical musings concerned with the effects of epistemology and ontological debates more so than
the debates themselves. I do not think we need to resolve the ontology-epistemology debate, but I do
think we have to continue the discussion. Rhetoric should be concerned with all permutations, and we
need not forsake one to embrace the other.
I intercede in this discussion about the role of the critic and the purpose of rhetoric by articulating the
potential contributions weak ontologists, like Gianni Vattimo and Stephen White, make to the ongoing
discussion of the relationship between critical theory and rhetoric. Rhetoricians have largely ignored
weak ontology while theologians, political scientists, and philosophers have steadily engaged weak
ontology as a way to embrace difference and finitude. By adding the strengths of weak ontology,
skepticism, questioning, and openness to their critical rhetorical engagement, rhetoricians can better
engage texts to unmask their ideological presuppositions. Weak ontology demands a skeptical
orientation toward metanarratives, subjectivity, and texts that encourages sustained rhetorical analysis.
By incorporating weak ontology into critical rhetoric, rhetoricians will be better able to understand the
value of skepticism, questioning, and openness.
At first blush there is almost something simple about weak ontology. One reading suggests that weak
ontology is just new skepticism. Perhaps, but the weak ontologists do not carry with them the relativism
that many classical skeptics do. Weak ontologists believe in making known their thoughts, in making
ethical choices, in doing things in the world. Indeed, one of the justifications for weak ontology is that it
is preferable on ethical grounds relative to strong ontology precisely because it allows for a multiplicity
of affirmations that may be in need of revision, whereas strong ontology demands an affirmation and
the refusal of debate.


Strong ontology is anti-rhetorical. It collapses into itself and refuses questioning. This is the danger of
the strong.
So what is weak ontology? Gianni Vattimo (1991, 1993, 1997, 2004), an Italian philosopher, former
Member of Parliament, and theologian, coined the term il pensiero debole, which translates into weak
thought. Vattimo traces the beginning of weak thought to two different thinkers, Friedrich Nietzsche
and Martin Heidegger. Vattimo is concerned with the weakening of being in the hermeneutical sense of
unpacking the complexities of fluid meanings. We might draw from this the strength of Paul Ricoeurs
(1970) hermeneutics of suspicion, a way to regard texts with suspicion and challenge their
canonization. Ricoeur was concerned with troubling singular interpretations of the text, and the
hermeneutical pursuit arose out of a desire to make sense of meaning in the Bible. So, one way to think
about weak ontology is that it troubles meaning making. It asks that rhetoricans embrace suspicion, that
they question stable identity in the ways that the Lacanians do, but without the baggage of
psychoanalysis (Leiter, 2006).
This is one strength of weak ontology. Rhetoricians can use it to complicate the stable subject without
the complications of psychoanalysis. And, I say this as a Lacanian. Jacques Lacan is tough going. But
troubling the subject, recognizing the split subject involves accepting the mirror stage, notions of the
phallocentric universe, Oedipal influences, and the like. That is a lot. This of course is complicated by
the Lanian triangle of the Real, Symbolic, and Imaginary. Lacan is on to something even if rhetoricans
do not endorse how he gets there. Weak ontology helps individuals recognize their own fallibility. Here
lies the traumatic kernel of Christian doctrine. In the face of being, our being is fallible. Forget being
toward death. Weak ontology gets at being toward being. This is b being toward B being. Not in the
sense of the Being, but in the sense of being in the face of being. When presented with our fallibility, we
can only make sense of it through its acceptance, however traumatic that acceptance is.
Another strength of weak ontology is that it draws on Nietzschian positive nihilism (Vattimo, 1993, 2002,
2008). Nietzsches nihilism is not this vulgar notion of nihilism where individuals believe in nothing or do
nothing or both. That is not the Nietzsche I know. That is not Vattimos Nietzsche. Seen as a positive
politics, nihilism is very intriguing, and decidedly political. It is a way to grapple with the infinite nature of
being. Weak ontology endorses what we might call weak or soft nihilism. It suggests that nothing
means something. Nothing is political. Doing nothing, endorsing nothing is a political act. Keep in mind
that the weak ontologists believe in ethics, in doing things, but they recognize that nothing is definite,
that ethics is actually a debate about competing conceptions of the good, and that debate is ongoing.
The precondition for debate is the weakening of the self. It is that interstitial moment where we
recognize our faults, again a very Christian thing to do. With this recognition we are able to debate
competing notions of ethics. Nihilism is a way forward, a positive political force.
What does this nihilism look like? That is a fair question. I am always interested in the ways we can
make these ideas politicalnihilism, pessimism, existentialism. The traumatic kernel of these ideas is
belief and action. The underside, the stank, the stink, the belly of the beast of pessimism is hope. If we
can stop caring, stop hoping, realize things are bleak, accept them, just stop, then there is a good
chance we can have the possibility for hope, love, and political engagement. Even in its worst light,
nihilism is a condition of possibility for politics.
Stephen White, the most prominent weak ontologist in the United States and a professor of political
philosophy at the University of Virginia, is positive about the role of weak ontology. He does not see the
need to save nihilism from itself. He (2000) writes:
Weak ontologies respond to two pressing concerns. First, there is the acceptance of the idea that
all fundamental conceptualizations of self, other, and world are contestable. Second, there is the
sense that such conceptualizations are nevertheless necessary or unavoidable for an adequately
reflective ethical and political life (8).


There is no world where we do not make those conceptualizations. For White, that discussion misses the point. It
is not that we give up choices and theories of the subject, it is that we accept them and question why we prefer A
over B, 1 and 2, but not 3. Contestation is necessary for ethical and political life. That is the chiasmic undergirding
of Whites thought. It is ethical and political to contest. Contest to be ethical and political. Weak ontologists are
able to engage this politics because they do not abhor ethics, they abhor the crusading of ethical imperialists.

Extremism and fanaticism seem to be the norm. Today, there has been a turn toward strong ontologies
with the lingering influence of September 11, the reactionary politics of the Tea Party, and the enviroradicalism of PETA, the Whale Wariors, and other similar groups. They occupy center stage. Of course,
it is not as if any group has a hold on extreme views. Extremism seems to be the norm with us all:
liberals, environmentalists, Republicans and Democrats, social justice advocates, and capitalist forces.
We do extremes in the United States. The fanatic is the norm. While it seems trite to think of extremism
as being worse now than it was 15, 20, or 30 years ago, the politics of extremism do seem, if nothing
else, different now than they were not that long ago. Perhaps that is because there is a materiality to
the post September 11 world because of its domestic character. The fear and threats are located
somehow here. And this is part of the neo Schmittian discoursewe have got enemies and we have
got to get them. This is the work of strong ontologists.
As we become increasingly invested in radical and reactionary politics, we must increasingly engage
strong ontologies with weak ontological frameworks in order to expose their fallibility, and replace them
with weak ontologies. We must open ourselves up as fallible. A strong ontological worldview makes
sense when we think it is our way or the highway. A strong ontological view makes sense when we
know we are right. A strong ontology makes sense when we know others are wrong. But, we can and
should do better as scholars and as people. This is what makes agapic love so appealing. It is the
sublime weakening of the self in the face of love.
The deleterious effects of strong ontologies are evident in our classrooms, faculty meetings, and in
talking with our colleagues. Those students who do not read for class yet express their arguments with
disregard for readings, instructors, and other students are engaged in strong ontologies. I have one
such student. She comes to class, usually late, disrupting class. She fails to read the days assigned
readings. I know this because other students talk to me and tell me how she brags of not reading, and
of contributing more than anyone to class discussion. She offers contributions to class that evince the
absence of reading, that demonstrate the passionate denial of the world around her as any good
ideologue should. And, then she scoffs at every argument with which she is confronted. Strong
ontology at work! Im right; youre wrong. I dont need to listen to you, and that you deny me only makes
me more convinced that Im smarter than you, that Ive access to secret knowledge.

Dilip Gaonkar and Keith Topper (2005) write:

In contrast to the strong ontological urge to purity, mastery, and self-certainty, weak
ontologists invoke figurations of finitude as a way of working on and thereby dampening
the tendency to think of ourselves as transcendent deities. Although the aspiration to a
form of godliness may appear irreproachable, weak ontologists worry that it all-too-often
rests upon and sustains a resentfulness toward loss, an intolerance of ambivalence, and
a rigid moralism that neatly divides humanity into the greater and the lesser breeds, the
civilized and the savage, the saved and the damned (100).
That is the danger. Strong ontologists talk a good game, but that talk is in furtherance of some
questionable objectives. The strong ontologists have lofty goals and dastardly means. Their ends often
fair no better.
Stephen White (1997) sums up the ability of weak ontologists to challenge the world:


This kind of impersonal, global attachment can face evil and injustice squarely, without
consolation. They are part of the awe-full spectacle of existence. Thus, one can
condemn specific wrongs without giving oneself over to the sort of rigorous moralism
Nietzsche loathed. Similarly, one can affirm the beauty of particulars in the world without
feeling the need to secure this receptivity in an overarching design in which everything is
reconciled (512).
We can make claims and take ethical stances without the crusading moralism of strong ontologists.
That is important to rhetoric because it allows rhetoricians to think about bad people making good
speeches. It allows us to listen to competing claims. It allows for engagement with the subject and to
affirm the subject, while also recognizing that those engagements and affirmations are complex and
fluid. Weak ontology opens up possibilities. Rhetoricians should be intimately concerned with the
productive potential of weak ontology for rhetorical studies.

References
Aune, J. A. (2011). The scholastic fallacy, habitus, and symbolic violence: Pierre Bourdieu and the
prospects of ideology criticism. Western Journal of Communication, 75, 429-433.
Campbell, K. K. (1970). The ontological foundations of rhetorical theory. Philosophy & Rhetoric, 3, 97108.
Chesebro, J. (1988). Epistemology and ontology as dialectical modes in the writings of Kenneth Burke.
Communication Quarterly, 36, 175-191.
Gaonkar, D., & Topper, K. (2005). Afterword: Notes on the Bearable Lightness of Being. The Hedgehog
Review, 7, 93-102.
Leiter, B. (2006). The hermeneutics of suspicion: Recovering Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud. In B. Leiter
(Ed.), The future of philosophy (pp. 74-105). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
McGee, M. C. (1990). Text, context, and the fragmentation of contemporary culture. Western Journal of
Speech Communication, 54, 274-289.
-----. (1980). The ideograph: A link between rhetoric and ideology. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 66, 117.
-----. (1975). In search of the people: A rhetorical alternative. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 61, 235249.
McKerrow, R. E. (2011). Foucaults relationship to rhetoric. The Review of Communication, 11, 253271. doi:10.1080/15358593.2011.602103
-----. (1998). Corporeality and cultural rhetoric: A site for rhetoric's future. Southern Communication
Journal, 63, 315-328. doi: 10.1080/10417949809373105
-----. (1991). Critical rhetoric in a postmodern world. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 77, 75-78.
-----. (1989). Critical rhetoric: Theory and praxis. Communication Monographs, 56, 91-111.
McPhail, M. L. (2003). The politics of (in)visibility in African American rhetorical scholarship: A (re)quest
for an African worldview. In R. L. Jackson, II & E. B. Richardson, Understanding African


American rhetoric: Classical origins to contemporary innovations (pp.85-97). Carbondale, IL:
Southern Illinois University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1970). Freud and philosophy. (D. Savage, Trans.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Vattimo, G. (2008). Dialogue with Nietzsche. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
-----. (2002). Nietzsche: Philosophy as cultural criticism. (N. Martin, Trans.). Stanford, CA: Stanford
University Press. (Original work published 1985)
-----. (1997). Beyond interpretation: The meaning of hermeneutics for philosophy. (D. Webb, Trans.).
Stanford University Press. (Original work published 1994)
-----. (1993). The adventure of difference: Philosophy after Nietzsche and Heidegger. (T. Harrison & C.
P. Blamires, Trans.). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. (Original work published
1980)
-----. (1991). The end of modernity: Nihilism and hermeneutics in post-modern culture. (J. R. Snyder,
Trans.). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. (Original work published 1985)
White, S. K. (2000). Sustaining affirmation: The strengths of weak ontology in political theory.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
-----. (1997). Weak ontology and liberal political reflection. Political Theory, 25, 502-523.

Public Speaking Assignment Make-Overs

Pamela Hayward, Georgia Regents University; Brian Kline, The University of North Georgia;
Ray-Lynn Snowden, The University of North Georgia; Penny Joyner Waddell, Gwinnett
Technical College; Susan Westfall, Georgia Perimeter College-Clarkston
Have you heard one too many demonstration speeches? Does the problem-solution format induce
yawning? Time for a fresh outlook on public speaking assignments! For those who teach public
speaking, it is easy to rely on the same assignments over and over again. This can lead to both
instructors and students falling into a rut. Our panel presentation provided six innovative public
speaking assignments that can be incorporated into introductory or advanced courses that focus on
developing public speaking skills. This paper will cover: The Pecha Kucha Assignment, The Visual Aid
Impromptu Switcheroo Assignment, Tell Me a Good Story-The Personal Narrative Speech Assignment,
The Interview Project, Special Occasion Speech- Roast and Toast, and Speaking About Careers.

Assignment #1: The Pecha Kucha Presentation Assignment (Pamela Hayward)

You will give a presentation in the Pecha Kucha format. The Pecha Kucha format is 20x20: 20
PowerPoint slides x 20 seconds per slide. You are not limited to using PowerPoint for your slides. You
may use Keynote or Prezi as long as each slide is up for 20 seconds.
Your topic may be informative, persuasive, or a blend of both. The key is to choose a topic that:
Is important to you
Is exciting to you
Is researchable
Lends itself well to the 20x20 format
Is engaging enough that you will be able to gain and hold the interest of the audience
Your presentation should include outside research. You must have a minimum of 3 outside sources that
are text-based (for example, books, newspapers, academic articles, and websites as long as they are
not .com sites). If you wish to include additional sources and/or interviews, that is fine, but you must still
have a minimum of 3 text-based sources. You must cite each source out loud in your presentation
noting the date of the publication and the name of the source/author. Even if you include the source on
a slide, it will not count if you do not cite the source out loud.
Even though we are using the Pecha Kucha format, your presentation still needs a beginning, middle,
and end. You will want to rely on the same structure we have been using for our assignments so far this
semester.
Your presentation will be evaluated on content/support, structure, delivery, visual aids, and ability to
work well within the Pecha Kucha format.
Note: We have reached the point of the semester where we are going podium free. That rule will hold
not only for this assignment, but all future speaking assignments.

Assignment #2: Visual Aid Impromptu Switcheroo Assignment (Brian Kline)

Rationale
Are you tired of your students not learning how to use the audio/visual equipment in the classroom
before their first major speech? I tried several ways to make sure students would be prepared to use
the equipment. First, I told students I would not answer any questions about using the equipment on the
day of their presentation. Students in the audience would try to give hints. Then, I tried deducting a few


points if students didnt know how to use the equipment. Finally, I decided to make sure everyone used
the equipment before the major speeches.

Procedure
I spend one class day covering visual aids. At the end of the class, I tell students that they are to
prepare a PowerPoint presentation on a common topic. The student must have 5-7 slides with one
being the title slide. I also tell the students that not all the slides may be photographs. Since it is an
Impromptu speech, students are not told the length of the speech before their Impromptu date.
This Impromptu usually takes 2 class periods. Students are assigned days randomly and I tell students
they can only be in class for their assigned day. At the beginning of class, I ask students if they have
their PowerPoint presentation. I recommend they have it on a flash drive and email it to their college
account, so they have 2 ways of retrieving the information. The first student loads their PowerPoint.
When the presentation is loaded, I ask the student to sit down and I call another name. That student
does the other students PowerPoint slides. I give the student two minutes to review the slides. I am
looking for a minute plus presentation. After the student is finished, they load their slides for the next
speaker.

Grading
Each student is graded as an Impromptu speaker and as a designer of a visual aid.

Results
Students know how to use the audio/visual equipment
Students practice Impromptu speaking
Some students practice an Extemporaneous speech
Students evaluate design of visuals
Students view it as a fun experience

Assignment #3: Tell Me a Good Story-The Personal Narrative Speech Assignment

(Ray-Lynn Snowden)
Rose Cherin said: Heirlooms we dont have in our family. But stories weve got. Most people love a
good story. Picture this: You have a class of twenty-five or more students who are anxious about their
first speech assignment. Most students can tell a good story. What if they hear twenty-five or more
good stories all from their peers?! What a creative and learning engaged class that would beand
could be if you consider using the Personal Narrative Speech assignment. I have used this assignment
for several semesters and will share it with you today. We will discuss 1) what the Personal Narrative
Speech is, 2) why I recommend the Personal Narrative Speech format for the classroom, and 3) I will
share some survey results with sample student comments about the Personal Narrative assignment
from my three Fall 2013 COMM-1100 Introduction to Human Communication classes.
So lets look at just what a Personal Narrative Speech is and how I use it as an assignment in my
Introduction To Human Communication classes and my Public Speaking classes.
The Personal Narrative Speech format I use is adapted from the Georgia Intercollegiate Forensic
Association (G.I.F.A. for short) Personal Narrative Event Rules which state: Students will articulate an
important personal value or belief and share a narrative that inspired this conviction. Notes are optional.
Maximum time limit: 5 minutes. This event is based on Edward R. Murrows radio series, This I


believe, and National Public Radios recent revival of the program in which individuals share their
personal statements of belief in essay form. A forensic approach to this event emphasized both the oral
nature of the experience and the centrality of narrative to the essay development. Because the nature
of the radio format translates so well to the forensic experience, little is needed by way of explanation.
The website, www.npr.org/thisibelieve, offers access to numerous examples as well as useful advice.
In other words, students share a speech narrativea significant story which they have personally
experienced. They reflect on their experience and then share important beliefs, values, and lessons
learned as a result of their experiences and I emphasize, with the goal of teaching, relating to, and
inspiring others in their class.
Many of you may already be aware of this Personal Narrative speech format. Have any of you ever
used this speech format in your classes? In fact, have any of you judged this event at tournaments?
It was at the Georgia Intercollegiate Forensic Association State Tournament several years ago that I
helped coach some students for this event and attended several rounds for the Personal Narrative
category. I was sold on this 5 minute speech through which students could made us laugh, or brought
us to tears, inspired us, and really made the audience sit up and pay attention as students invited us
into their lives through their stories.
Sean Stewart caught the essence of the GIFA competition Personal Narrative speeches when he said,
There are so many different ways lives work out, so many stories and every one of them is precious.
That leads me to my second point today. Why I recommend the Personal Narrative Speech as an
assignment for the college communication class which has a performance or public speaking
component. There are many reasons I like and use this assignment. Here are some to think about.
I have watched the Personal Narrative speeches help my students build a sense of community in their
classroom. Students who previously did not know each other and certainly did not know much about
the beliefs, values and experiences of their class peers get an insiders view through those twenty-five
or more good stories I mentioned in my introduction. Those individual Personal Narrative stories share
not only meaningful personalized values and lessons; they also share insight into the lives of each
student as a personalized storied introduction. The class coheses, cell phones are out of sight as
students tune in to focus and hear what other students will tell in their stories. In the brief student
feedback sessions we use after each speech but before a speaker can be seated, I ask the class,
Any questions, comments, observations? Overwhelmingly the voluntary comments made by the peer
audience (previously relatively unknown classmates) engage and verbally support each speaker, letting
them know their speech ideas were respected as the whole class engages in the debriefing. I highly
recommend this format as a first speech assignment because of the sense of community built through
the assignment.
A second compelling reason I use the Personal Narrative as the initial speech assignment is that telling
a personal story is a natural communication process for many students which can ease the stress of
choosing speech content; I believe that can help reduce student speech anxiety. Using a personal story
as a focal point of the speech can help reduce the psychological communication anxiety of, What am I
going to say in my speech? Understandably, speech anxiety is a normal occurrence with many causes
and manifestations which many students might experience about their first public speaking
performance in the college classroom. As professors, we help to prepare students for that first speech
experience by teaching positive visualization and deep breathing and early preparation and clear
organization and systematic desensitization and practice, practice, practice, along with a litany of other
techniques to reduce public speaking performance anxiety. I believe that most students can express
their ideas more comfortablyeven inspiringlyfrom a personal experience of their choice in their
retelling of their own story in speech form than in other formats for that first speech which may require
the bulk of content to reflect research focusing on the ideas of others. Simply put, I believe part of the
reduction of speech anxiety in the assignment for many of my students may come from the personal
narrative experience itself. The personal narrative focuses the students narrative contentcontent that


isnt required to be researched and most likely will not be forgotten since the story is of their singularly
personal experience. My student survey responds support this observation.
In addition to building community and helping to reduce some speech anxiety, this format can
showcase student creativity, build basic speech organization, and exercise that dreaded phrase,
critical thinking!
Students seem to enjoy and feel empowered expressing themselves as they recount their personal
stories in heightened conversation and tell their important lessons, beliefs, or values for the listening
class to take from them. That is a positive learning experience to build on. Critical thinking comes into
the process as students choose their stories, decide what important ideas or beliefs will be shared,
what lessons are learned, what to leave in and what to leave out? Building the speech into an
organization pattern beyond the main ideas in the speech body requires analytical bringing together of
components and ideas expressly personalized by the student. And so once students know their topic
stories and have developed that significant lesson learned in their own words, we take those ideas and
words and I ask the students to frame them as if framing a picture. That is where more critical thinking
comes in.
I use Personal Narrative format to introduce simple basic speech structure, the Introduction, the Body
or Discussion, and the Conclusion. Part One is an Intro with a kicking attention getter and direct
involvement or relating to the listeners, plus the all-important thesis preview statement. Part Two is
where the student develops a body or discussion section with two main ideas. One of the main ideas is
telling their personal story, and the other idea is telling the belief, value, idea, or lesson learned . How
simple is that? Part Three is to wrap things up and put a cherry on top with a cued conclusion that
summarizes and reinforces those two sweet main ideas from the speech. Add whipped cream by
making it memorable. Using the Introduction and the Conclusion as the frame that surrounds and sets
off and emphasizes the students story, this simple organization pattern works to showcase a students
ideas and is easily learned. They get it! Students often start with their narrative and main idea derived
therefrom, and then build the Intro and Conclusion to complete their verbal portrait.
The next to last reason why I recommend the Personal Narrative platform is that it can serve as
advance preparation for students to compete in intramural or intercollegiate competitions (which many
never dreamed they would or could before doing a personal narrative speech!) Let me share a factual
example from my own personal experience. Six students from my Fall 2013 classes voluntarily
competed in our University of North Georgia Intramural Speech Contest last fall winning First through
Fourth places in the Personal Narrative Category. Each student used the speech she or he had
prepared and delivered for a grade in my COMM-1100 class. The fact that they competed in this
campus wide event earned them 10 extra credit points for class. And winning a placement piled on up
to 8 more extra points in recognition of their public speaking COMM skills inside and outside of the
classroom. And their classmates continued to support these speakers in this endeavor. That sense of
class community definitely contributed to the competitors sense of confidence throughout each of the
rounds in the tournament.
So the Personal Narrative Assignment in the classroom can lead to student competitive experience,
confidence, and potential success outside the classroom environment with skills learned in the
classroom. And other benefits include co-curricular recognition for students performing in a campus
wide tournament and can result in strengthening community within each class.
This brings me to my third and last main idea which is also one of the most important reasons I
recommend this Personal Narrative assignment. Most students in my classes like it and respond to it
well.
Let me briefly address my third main point which shares actual survey responses about the Personal
Narrative assignment from my Fall 2013 students. In late Fall 2013, I gave my three COMM-1100
Introduction to Human Communication classes an informal voluntary anonymous feedback survey to


get student response on how their class speech assignments had been perceived during the semester.
I used a PowerPoint slide and titled the survey, You Be The Judge. The first question was What was
your favorite speech and why? a) Personal Narrative, b Informative Speech, c.) Intercultural Interview
Presentation. This was chronological order of these class speech assignments, all of which had been
graded with grades returned and completed. By early December when the survey was given to my
three classes (32 students per class cap), there were eighty-nine students on roll though some had
officially withdrawn, so the total number of students actually attending class was less than 89. I
received a total of 60 survey responses. Of those 60 responses, 28 of the 60 listed the Personal
Narrative as their favorite Speech. That total is almost half of the survey student respondents.
Here is a sampling of student survey responses from those students who listed the Personal Narrative
as their favorite speech:
Personal narrative b/c it gave me the opportunity to not only learn about others, but also how I
could make my own life lessons valuable to others.
Personal Narrative I enjoyed learning about my peers and hearing their stories.
A) because it is easy to talk about something I am passionate about.
A. Most interesting because it was all from my brain. No sources needed.
Personal narrative because I like sharing my life experiences with other people.
A I had more information about it. I knew the information was credible because I lived it.
Personal narrative Easier to come up with a topic
1st speech b/c we got to share OUR stories -- a personal narrative
Personal narrative it was easy to speak about an event I went through and what I learned
from it.
Personal narrative. Easier to come up with a topic
Personal NarrativeI was able to get to know everyone a little bit more
A. Personal narrative because I enjoy telling stories
To sum up my presentation today, the Personal Narrative speech format has so much to offer your
students! It is a competitively recognized genre used by G.I.F.A. It can build a sense of community
within a class. It may help ease speech anxiety because nobody knows a story better than the person
who experienced that event. It can help encourage creativity, teach basic speech organization, and
teach critical thinking. It can lead to student participation in speech tournaments. And my students have
demonstrated that they like it!
Let me leave you with one last quote by Ursula K. Le Guin: The storyfrom Rumplestiltskin to War &
Peaceis one of the basic tools invented by the human mind for the purpose of gaining understanding.
There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did
not tell stories. I urge you to consider letting the power of student stories inspire your classes. Thank
you.

Assignment #4: Interview Project (Penny Joyner Waddell)

The Interview Project is a required part of the Persuasion Speech and is used as a source of research
to support the speech.

Guidelines

Students must conduct a face-to-face interview with a person who has experience with their
topic.
The Interviewee may not be a family member or personal friend.
Students must contact the person to request an interview and set up an appointment.
Students must dress (business casual) for the interview, arrive five to ten minutes prior to the


appointment time, shake hands during the greeting, and will ask to audio record the interview.
Students will ask three to five questions that have been prepared to support main points.
Students are asked to shake hands as they thank the interviewee and leave.
Following the interview, students are asked to send a thank you note to the interviewee which
includes an invitation to attend their speech.
Students submit a transcript of the interview and a copy of the Thank You note to the instructor
for grading.
During their Persuasion Speech, students are asked to verbally cite the interview as they use
the interview as a source of research to support main points.
Instructors personally call the interviewees and thank them for allowing our student to interview
them. Instructors also personally invite the interviewee to attend the students speech and
supplies the day/time/location of the speech.
A template of the interview transcript follows.

Interview Transcript Template

Interviewees Credentials: (Explain why you chose to interview this person in support of your
Persuasion Speech Topic)
Question #1:
Interviewees Response:
Question #2:
Interviewees Response:
Question #3:
Interviewees Response:
Question #4:
Interviewees Response:
Question #5:
Interviewees Response:

Assignment #5: Special Occasion Speech- Roast and Toast (Penny Joyner Waddell)
The Special Occasion Speech is a required speech for the semester. We choose to present this speech
as a Roast and Toast on the last day of the semester.

Overall Guidelines

Prior to the event, instructors show videos of Roasts and Toasts so that students
understand the assignment. Guidelines are discussed and students understand that this is a
fun way to end the semester together with their classmates. Often food is involved as
students and instructors bring snack items to share to make the event more festive.
The Roast and Toast should last between 3 and 5 minutes. All students will present on the
same day. Visual Aids and Research are not required for this speech.
Students are asked to Roast and Toast members of their class. They may choose anyone in
the classroom (teachers, current classmates, students who dropped) who were part of the
class.
Students may Roast one person (three points about the one person) or three people (one
point for each person) .
Students may Toast the people they Roast, or they may choose to Toast to the entire class,
or their speech groups. They can use a well-known Toast or make one up.
Students are asked to keep the Roasts light-hearted and funny and are discouraged from
presenting Roasts that are mean spirited.
Students must submit a typed outline of the speech on the day of their presentation.


An example of a Roast and Toast Outline follows later.

Instructions for Hybrid and Face-to-Face Students

The Special Occasion Speech for this semester will be a ROAST and a TOAST. Throughout the
semester, you are asked to "jot down" ideas as they emerge. You might use the impromptu (ZAPs) and
extemporaneous speeches as Roast material! Just keep your ears open and ask yourself, "How can I
use that for the Roast at the end of the semester?"

Requirements
1. The ROAST will be presented during the last class of the semester.
2. It should be kept light and fun! This is not intended to be a mean or make-fun-of-somebody
ROAST.
3. The ROAST does not require research, a PowerPoint, or a handout.
4. The ROAST does require an outline that follows the same outline format as all other speeches this
semester. Please bring a travel drive in an envelope that is labeled with your name and class day/time.
5. Each ROAST should be less than two minutes long. Be sure to make the ROAST a celebration of the
semester together.
6. Complete each ROAST by offering a TOAST as your final appeal. You can offer a TOAST to the
class, your speech group members, or one particular person.
Have fun with this!

Instructions for Online Students

The Special Occasion Speech will be presented as a FAREWELL Speech and a TOAST.

Requirements
1. The FAREWELL and TOAST will be presented during the last class date of the semester.
2. It should be kept light and fun!
3. This does not require research, a PowerPoint, or a handout.
4. It does require an outline that follows the same outline format as all other speeches this semester.
Please place your outline in MediaShare through MyCommunicationLab along with the video of your
speech.
5. The FAREWELL and TOAST should be less than two minutes long.
6. Complete each FAREWELL by offering a TOAST as your final appeal. You can offer a TOAST to the
class, your speech group members, or one particular person.
NOTE: This assignment can be adapted, if you have any reservations about roasting or toasting.
Please see your instructor, if there is a problem! Thanks!
Have fun with this!

Example of Roast and Toast Speech

Specific Purpose: The purpose of this speech is to roast my classmates and offer a toast to them during
our last day of class!
Introduction
Attention-Step: Have you ever thought of suing your brain for non-support? I have many times,
especially when I have to give speeches in the Public speaking course. To be quite honest, registering


for this class TERRIFIED me! I have never enjoyed speaking in front of groups and to realize that I
would be presenting several speeches this semester was enough to send me over the edge!
Establish Need/Relevance: Today is our last day of class and we all need to laugh as we remember the
past weeks of speech class. So, I will try to share with you some of the fond memories and some notso-fond memories to help you remember.
Establish Credibility: As a member of this class for the past 16 weeks, I feel qualified to roast certain
classmates!
Thesis: Today, I will be roasting my Speech Group and sharing some of my favorite and not-so-favorite
moments with Sharon, Michael, and Christine.
Body:
I. Sharon
A. References to my age (No, I am not old enough to be your mother!).
B. Helped me decide which suit to wear for speech day and helped with a hem malfunction.
C. Comments about my shoes (Yes, they do call them sensible shoes for a reason)
Transition: Now, that you have laughed with me and Sharon about my age and my old lady shoes. I
would like to share a few memories that I have made with Michael.
II. Michael
A. Tech Team assistance for speech presentations should include rehearsals.
B. Dress-up Blue Jeans are still blue jeans and should not be work for a speech!
Transition: Truthfully, I could not have made it through any of my speeches that required visual aids,
had it not been for Michael. By the way, do any of you remember Christine? You know, she was the
blonde who sat in the back row and was a member of our class and my speech group for about on,
maybe 45 minutes!
III. Christine
A She dropped this class after the first week.
B. What was her last name, anyway?

Assignment #6: Speaking About Careers (Susan Westfall)

Project Idea

Thoughts about retention and graduation

Active learning/Problem Based Learning
What can I do?
Speech assignment
Trial run/test project (Fall 2013, Spring 2014)

Project Execution

Informative speech concept: careers

Opportunity to explore major and/or career interests
Opportunity to network with professional contacts
Requirements: directed research, interview & use of interview material
Pre/post questionnaire: reflection

Project Future

Project refinement for future use

Student evaluations/benefits
Pros/cons
Work in progress

Considerations

Project assessment
Data collection & use
Office of Assessment & Reporting
IRB & Consent

Preparing Communication Students for the

Mediated Workplace
Allison Joy Bailey, University of North Georgia

Abstract
This session will address methods and ideas for the inclusion of mediated communication exercises in
all courses but will specifically report the use of mediated style employment interviews.
Three of the main purposes for interviewing are to gain information (OHair & Weimann, A Speakers
Guidebook), to either seek employment or for search processes, or for conducting qualitative research.
There are many reasons why an instructor or student will participate in an interview. Via Skype or other
technology platforms, students may conduct interviews to gain information about an event. Instructors
may even have students perform speeches for class grading over Skype. Researchers conduct
interviews as a method for conducting qualitative research to learn participants perception, opinions, or
feelings about what is happening at their place of employment or in their personal life.
Here is the standard format for conducting an interview (in person or virtually):
Opening
Task: nature of interview and procedures
Relationship: like and trust
Motivation: what to gain
Q & A
Conclusion
Signal the end
Review summative conclusions produced
Express satisfaction with interaction
Project future
Nearly everyone will at least participate in the interviewing process either to gain employment or to
interview a prospective employee. In the digital age, people need to be prepared to interview in person
or virtually. It is becoming common practice for colleges to complete the first round of interviews in the
search process to conduct interviews using Skype and then just bring the top candidate to campus in
order to save travel expenses. Whether interviewee or interviewer, you must be prepared to Skype.
Webinars have also grown in popularity. Training is often conducted by the University System of
Georgia in this manner. As an instructor you can create webinars as lectures for online classes or for
when you need to miss a class due to weather or to attend a conference. When you add your voice to
your Power Point, the audience could watch your presentation without watching you. You would not
video record yourself speaking. One time, I had a student who was so apprehensive about speaking in
public that he tried this method for his classroom speech so that he wouldnt have to talk in front of the
audience. This does not work for a live audience; you should only attempt an audio recording of your
Power Point when you will be emailing it or uploading it to a web site for later viewing. You must create
your audio and save to a file before you can add it to your Power Point slide.
Videoconferencing is another way to delivering your speech or lecture from your laptop or desktop
computer. There are many popular programs available for free. Students have begun using Skype for
study group sessions. I have used Skype to bring someone to a meeting who could not be there in
person; everyone else was sitting around the table and my guest attending virtually through a Skype
phone call. One time, my Skype guest gave a speech presentation to the meeting attendees. Webex by
Cisco is another popular web conferencing tool that is free. While it is similar to Skype in that the user
needs to create an account and invite others to join into the virtual conversation, Webex has additional


features. With Webex, the speaker can upload a Power Point slide show and advance slides while
speaking. When the audience is viewing the Power Point, the speaker is not visible. But this is still an
interactive way to use technology to present your information to a virtual audience. Some textbook
publishers are creating webinars or videoconferencing tools for instructor use.
Technology has changed the need for all presentations to be given in person; now it is quite common
for people to give presentations online. As a student, you may be asked to record your speech and
upload the video file into a course management system, YouTube, or publisher provided web site for
your classmates or instructor to view virtually through a Skype call. Most smart phones have
audio/video recording capabilities which can easily record your speech to be emailed to someone or
uploaded to a web platform. Delivery tips regarding body movement, eye contact, and facial
expressions are even more important as the speaker may need to connect with a virtual audience.

Tips for Engaging a Virtual Audience

1. Minimize background distractions turn the ringer off on your phone, close the door to reduce
hallway noises, and remember that any items you touch have an accompanying sound which
can be amplified by the microphone (i.e. paper rustling, pencil scratching on paper, leg shaking,
keyboard tapping).
2. If you have an accompanying Power Point or Prezi, begin your virtual presentation with an
introduction by yourself before sharing the presentation and then conclude the presentation with
yourself again. This will take some practice learning how to switch from person view to
presentation view, so you may want to practice with some friends before the official virtual
presentation.
3. When you are making eye contact with the camera pretend you are looking at a friend. This will
help you avoid the blank stare into the camera. Monitor your facial expressions to maintain a
friendly look, and smile when you are waiting to speak. If you need to read from your notes, tape
them to the computer monitor next to the camera, so that when you are referencing your notes,
you dont look away from the camera.
4. Speak at a slightly slower rate than when speaking live. Be extra careful with your diction and
enunciation; slurry speech sounds even worse when going through a microphone.
5. Take more time to listen. Ask clarifying questions that the person has finished their thought
before you proceed.

83rd Annual Convention

Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA
February 21-22, 2014

Friday, February 21, 2014

8:00-4:00 p.m.
GCA Conference Registration:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Student Film Festival: Screening Room, Address

Film Room: Viewing of Top Three Student Films
Coordinator: Paul Gaustad, Georgia Perimeter College
Films will be in rotation through the duration of the conference
Session I - 9:00-9:45 a.m.
Room 1
Framing the Candidates in 2012 Presidential Election by polarized Media
The purpose of this study is to see if and how the media polarizes news content concerning the
presidential candidates during the Presidential election campaign in 2012.
Presenter: Raychelle Couey, Student, University of West Georgia
Room 2
Weak Ontology and Critical Rhetoric: What Vattimo and White Contribute to Rhetorical
Theory
There has been considerable interest in the influence of critical theory on rhetorical theory, producing rhetorics move toward critical rhetoric. I intercede in this discussion by articulating the
potential contributions weak ontologists, like Gianni Vattimo and Stephen White, make to the
ongoing discussion of the relationship between critical theory and rhetoric.
Presenter: Nick Sciullo, Doctoral student, Georgia State University
Room 3
Preparing Communication Students for the Mediated Workplace
This session will address methods and ideas for the inclusion of mediated communication exercises in all courses but will specifically report the use of mediated style employment interviews.
Presenter: Carl Cates, Professor and Associate Dean, Valdosta State University

Room 4
WTH: How can I say that? Understanding How Code-Switching Affects The Classroom
Do your students seem to not understand the importance of appropriate language in the classroom or use text language in formal emails? Perhaps they have frequent outburst or inappropriate comments during class discussion or lecture? Does this lack of appropriateness affect how
you respond or interact with your students? The panelists will explore the affects of codeswitching in the classroom, as well as, computer mediated communication. Finally, the panel
will provide strategies to encourage appropriate code-switching on behalf of the student and
faculty in class discussions and computer-mediated channels.
Presenters: Panel chair, Ms. LaVette M. Burnette, Associate Professor, Middle Georgia State
College, Cochran Campus; Sheree Keith, Associate Professor, Middle Georgia State College,
Macon Campus; Dr. Patricia Linder, Assistant Professor, Middle Georgia State College, Dublin
Campus; Dr. Andre Nicholson, Assistant Professor, Middle Georgia State College, Cochran
Campus; Ms. Marla Thompson, Assistant Professor, Middle Georgia State College, Cochran
Campus
Session II - 10:00-10:45 a.m.
Room 1
An Experiment Evaluating Race Dissonance of African American Pre-Kindergartens
Propensity to Select White Dolls
Evidence suggests African American pre-kindergartners located in an African American Presbyterian church may suffer racial conflict. This study examine the choices about dolls of 29
pre-kindergarten, African-American children in an African American church school.
Presenter: Stephen Earl White, Columbus Technical College
Room 2
Rhetorical Strategies of the Tea Party in the Affordable Care Act Debate
Tea Party rhetoric is grounded in a series of ideological assumptions which impact rhetorical
choices. The battle over the ACA and the shutdown of the government are exemplars of the
relationship between ideology and rhetorical strategies used by the Tea Party.
Presenter: Patricia Linder
Room 3
Jimmy Carters Solar Panels: Presidential Libraries and Partisan Policies
This paper argues that failed policies can be preserved for partisan predecessors in presidential
libraries.
Presenter: Evan Johnson, Doctoral Candidate, Georgia State University
Room 4
Meeting of the Board of Regents Communication Discipline Advisory Council, 10:0012:00; Meeting resumes after luncheon.

Session III - 11:00-11:45 a.m.

Room 1
Does race matter in your class? Exploring White and Black students apathetic behavior.
Research on the apathetic student is an area that has not gone unexplored. The current study
aims to contribute to this body of research by exploring and possibly answering a question that
researchers believe to be unanswered. Is there a difference in student apathy between races?
To be more specific, the researchers will examine the differences and similarities of apathy between White and Black students. Researchers will explore this question by drawing from their
own experiences, as well as those of other faculty and most importantly, students themselves.
This presentation is a research in progress and researchers are looking to gain feedback and insight from conference attendees.
Presenter: Andre Nicholson, Assistant Professor, Middle Georgia College
Room 2
Panel Presentation: Developing an Electronic Textbook for Public Speaking
A Georgia Perimeter College faculty panel will share what they have learned in the process of
developing from open sources a free-to-students electronic textbook for college Public Speaking courses.
Presenters: Chris Moser, Instructor, Georgia Perimeter College, Newton Campus; Linda
McLean Harned, Assistant Professor, Georgia Perimeter College, Dunwoody Campus; Jane M
Hercules, Instructor, Georgia Perimeter College, Newton Campus; Laurie O'Connor, Instructor,
Georgia Perimeter College, Newton Campus; Bill Price, Associate Professor, Georgia Perimeter
College, Dunwoody Campus; Kim Sisson, Professor, Georgia Perimeter College, Clarkston
Campus
Room 3
You Nasty Nazi: Hollywoods Love/Hate Relationship with Adolph Hitler from 1933-1945
During the 1930s, and even into the early 40s, Hollywood found it difficult to make films criticizing Adolph Hitler ( or even Nazism, for that matter), because the industry itself said it was
Verboten to do so, and, yet, it should be said, not everyone was listening.
Presenter: Kevin Mace, Brenau University
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12:00 2:00
Luncheon and Keynote Address
Agenda: Welcome by David Cheshier, Site Host
Welcome by
Remarks by Travice Baldwin Obas, President, Georgia Communication Association
Meal
Keynote Address: Hank Klibanoff
Former Managing Editor, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pulitzer Prize Winner for
The Race Beat: The Press, The Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation
Formerly Emory Universitys James M. Cox Jr. Professor of Journalism
Immediately Following
Annual Business Meeting for GCA
Meeting is open to all conference attendees
Presentation of Service Awards to GCA
Presentation of Film Festival Awards
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Session IV - 2:30-3:15 p.m.
Room 1
Student Panel on Music as Communication and Tool of Therapy
While in the past music was used to communicate escape plans of slaves, today it is being used
to treat the physical and psychological ailments of patients. These papers will examine music
in the treatment of dementia and premature infants and how the work of Louis Armstrong inspired music therapy.
Presenters: Michael Decuir (panel chair) Albany State University; Kimberly Smith, Albany
State University; Khadija Graham, Albany State University
Room 2
Product Presentation by McGraw-Hill
Room 3
Panel: Public Speaking Assignment Make-Overs
Have you heard one too many demonstration speeches? Does the problem-solution format
induce yawning? Time for a fresh outlook on public speaking assignments! This panel
presentation will provide audience members with a variety of innovative ideas for teaching
public speaking: Pecha Kucha, Culture Speech, Visual Aid Impromptu Switcheroo, Personal
Narrative, Upgrading the Interview, Lets Celebrate the Occasion, and Speaking about Careers.
Presenters: Panel Chair, Pam Hayward, Professor, Georgia Regents University; Brian Kline,
Assistant Professor, The University of North Georgia; Ray-Lynn Snowden, Associate
Professor, University of North Georgia; Penny Joyner Waddell, Speech Program Director and
Instructor, Gwinnett Technical College; Susan Westfall, Assistant Professor, Georgia Perimeter

College
Room 4
Regents Advisory Council Meeting Resumes
Student Film Room
Venus and Mars at the Movies
Is your favorite film of all time The Notebook? If so, you are probably from Venus! If you dont
like musicals, does that mean youre from Mars? This presentation will examine each genders
responses to chick-flicks and rom-coms, action-adventure and superhero films, musicals and
melodramas to see how or if women and men differ in their perceptions of how a movie
communicates to them.
Presenter: Linda Bowen, Assistant Professor, Georgia Perimeter College, Newton Campus
Session V - 3:30-4:15 p.m.
Room 1
Student Panel: Quality First and Foremost: Students First Qualitative Research Projects
This panel is intended to shed light on some future scholars' first foray into qualitative methods
research papers. Each one of the participants conducted studies on topics ranging from communication apprehension to sports video game identity to bullying identity and even social media
marketing. Several different methods were utilized and several theoretical perspectives are being developed like interpretive, critical, and even some post-positivistic.
Presenters: Kevin Bryant, Panel Chair, Masters Student, Valdosta State University; Jason
Richardson, Masters Student, Valdosta State University; Chad Whittle, Masters Student, Valdosta State University; Juhaina Soares, Masters Student, Valdosta State University; Thaddeus
Nifong, Masters Student, Valdosta State University
Room 2
Panel: Music and Torture
Guantanamo Bay Detainees as well as Jewish prisoners in German concentration camps were
subjected to music torture. These three student presentations will examine the use of music as a
torture device in concentration camps and Guantanamo detention camps and the debate over the
use of music as torture.
Presenters: Panel Chair, Florence Lyons, Faculty, Albany State University; Jayla Leggett, student, Albany State University; Alan Kendrick, Albany State University
Room 3
They Dont Know I Drank or Partied in College: Bending the Truth in Wedsite Relationship
Narratives
This research will demonstrate how wedsites are digital spaces that accommodate the performance of an identity consistent with what families and important others expect is true about the
couple, rather than a completely honest account of the couples relationship history and current
relationship situation. The data in this study are analyzed under the basic assumptions that communication processes co-create social reality and identities specifically gendered identities -

are expressed through performance.

Presenter: Laura Beth Daws, Assistant Professor, Southern Polytechnic State University
Session VI 4:30-5:15
Room 1
A Leap into Service Learning: A Public Speaking Class Decides to Learn by Doing
This presentation will outline my start-to-finish journey with a service learning project for a
Public Speaking class.
Presenter: Laurie OConnor, Instructor, Georgia Perimeter College, Dunwoody Campus
Room 2
Panel Presentation: The Role of Media in African American Studies
This panel examines different media forms in African American Studies: Music, Journalism and
Reality Television. Topics covered include Christian rap music with young African Americans;
Reality television demonstrating stereotypical portrayals of African American women; and
Journalism with respect to media coverage of the Civil Rights movement in the United States
and the Apartheid in South Africa.
Presenters: Laurence Etling, Panel Chair, Professor, Valdosta State University; Juhaina Soares,
Graduate Student, Valdosta State University; Benjamin (Chad) Whittle, Graduate Student,
Valdosta State University; Rafiah Jenkins, Graduate Student, Valdosta State University
Room 3
Digital Textbooks: Fact or Fiction?
Digital Textbooks. Is the time right to switch to digital?
Presenters: Rick Pukis, Associate Professor of Communications, Georgia Regents University;
Gail Parker, District Manager, Cengage Learning, Atlanta, GA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Evening Dinner at Local Restaurant of Choice
Conference attendees are encouraged to make their own reservations and try out some of
the exciting restaurants near the Georgia State University Campus.
A list is provided in the conference packet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday, February 23, 2013

8:00 11:00 a.m.
GCA Conference Registration: Lobby of Brown Center
Student Film Festival:
Film Room: Viewing of Top Three Student Films
Moderator: Paul Gaustad, Georgia Perimeter College
Session VII - 9:00 9:45 a.m.
Room 1
The Basic Communication Course is not Basic
Two professors of communication will present on how can communication instructors are able
to generate a better understanding of communication instruction in secondary classes, to better
understand curriculum design and can better. By doing so, we may be able to move beyond the
basics and instead delve into the richness of communication theory and application. Students,
educators, and the society at large will benefit from a better understanding of trends in the secondary basic communication course.
Presenters: Sarah J. Min, Lecturer, Dalton State College; Cheryl Larsen, Assistant Professor,
Dalton State College
Room 2
Panel on Cross-cultural Communication
The Bond that We Share (El Vnculo que Compartimos): A One-Act Play
This senior thesis is a one-act play that addresses US-Mexico relations after the passing of the
Secure Fence Act and how 1.5 generation immigrants adjust to American culture.
Presenter: Maria Cain, Student, Georgia Regents University
Im not cheating, Im collaborating! The Hazy Area of Intercultural Academic Ethics
Cheating can have very different definitions among international students. This session
explores their potential confusion, and discusses instructor tools for diffusing difficult situations.
Presenter: Shari Szalwinski, Instructor, Chattahoochee Technical College
Room 3
Enhancing instructor communication and immediacy during the online course; for more effective teaching and interaction with students
The panelists will provide practical techniques instructors can implement to increase their communication skills and enhance their student interactions in the unique and at times challenging
online environment. During the presentation, panelists will showcase videotaped interviews

with students discussing issues with online teacher interaction and then give solutions on how
to overcome the problems highlighted.
Presenters: Shani Clark, Faculty, Darton College; Victoria Smith-Butler, Faculty, Darton
College
Room 4
A Rhetorical Perspective on the USGs eCore
According to the 2012 fact sheet prepared by eCore, between summer 2011 and spring 2012,
eCore enrollment rose from 1272 to 2128. That is a 67% increase. Further, students on average
rated their satisfaction with their courses as 4.36 on a 5-point Likert-style scale. However,
some still do not see on-line classes as equal to their traditional counterparts. This is paper will
offer some evidence as to the value of on-line courses as well to describe from a rhetorical perspective on how and why these courses work for students.
Presenter: Molly Stoltz, Assistant Professor, Valdosta State University
Session VIII - 10:00 10:45 a.m.
Room 1
Room 2
A Survey of Requirements for Bachelors Degree Programs in the Communication Disciplines
in the University System of Georgia and Beyond
This paper surveys a number of bachelors programs in communication at four-year, comprehensive universities. While the focus is on the schools of the University System of Georgia,
several programs in other university systems are surveyed as well. The author considers similarities and differences in the requirements for such programs, including coursework, the total
number of credit hours for completion, undergraduate core and senior-level terminal/capstone
courses, and a range of other features of these programs.
Presenter: Edgar Johnson, Georgia Regents University
Room 3
Engaging Students by Integrating Action Research into the Communication Classroom
Action research is a collaborative method of inquiry that actively involves researchers and
organizational stakeholders in creating conditions for meaningful change efforts in their
organizations. Because action research focuses on inquiry with rather than on participants
and involves the iterative cycles of planning, taking action, and reflection, the methodology is
useful in engaging students and expanding their knowledge, understanding, and skills in the
application of and appreciation for communication research.
Presenters: Paul Raptis, Assistant Professor, University of North Georgia-Gainesville Campus; Jerry Drye, Assistant Professor, Dalton State College; Barbara G. Tucker, Associate Professor, Dalton State College
Room 4
Panel Presentation: Critical Thinking in Communication Classrooms
The presenters on this panel will demonstrate how to help students develop critical thinking
skills. This presentation is especially useful for those studying persuasive rhetoric. Students in

introductory communication classes often have a difficult time developing and evaluating arguments. Exercises aimed at helping students understand deductive and inductive reasoning, recognize fallacies, and evaluate arguments will be presented, and materials instructors can use in
their classroom will be provided. Instructors will be invited to use their critical thinking skills
(as students would) during this interactive session.
Presenters: Mark May, Associate Professor, Clayton State University; Mark Hovind, Faculty,
East Georgia College
11:00 a.m. 11:45 p.m.
Room 1
Welcome to AtlantaWhere Reality Television Thrives
The presentation introduces a part of a more extensive analysis that examines the
various presentations of Atlanta, and its residents, presented through different genres of reality
television.
Presenters: Adria Goldman, Assistant Professor, Gordon State College; Andre Nicholson, Assistant Professor, Middle Georgia College, Cochran Campus
Room 2
When You Can't Find a Friend, You've Still Got the Radio: What the Lyrics of a Thousand
(Plus) Songs Reveal about Radios Role in Our Lives.
This analysis finds radio often depicted in five ways: as a companion; the radio DJ as a friend;
requests for a DJ to play a song (often for romantic purposes); bragging about the recording artists success in getting a song played on the radio; about DJs (or from the DJs perspective); and
the state of radio.
Presenter: Laurence Etling, Professor, Valdosta State University
Room 3
Every Picture Tells a Story, Dont It?
They say that a picture says a thousand words, and that goes for moving pictures, too. This
presentation will look at the power of non-verbal communication in selected scenes from films
such as Witness and The Godfather.
Presenters: Linda Bowen, Assistant Professor of Film/Communication, Georgia Perimeter
College, Newton Campus; Jane Hercules, Instructor of Communication, Georgia Perimeter College, Newton Campus
Room 4
Student Panel on Popular Culture
Baby-faced Heels: How the WWE uses heroes and villains to take over Pop Culture and Media
This study looks at how World Wrestling Entertainment uses technology and social media to
build a fan base and then used that fan base to expand into various media outlets, through use of
a predisposed expectation to see good triumph over evil.
Presenter: Joshua Beard, Student, Dalton State College

Beautiful Sublime Failure: An Examination of The Venture Bros. as a Portrayal of Contemporary American Culture
This study examines the television show The Venture Bros. as one of the more ironically realistic and accurate portrayals of Contemporary America on television today.
Presenter: Casey Crook, Student, Dalton State College
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12:00 Noon: Conference Adjourns