Wake-up Calls Research Articles

Digital Radio Production

Digital audio technology, though only a decade old in broadcasting, is being so comprehensively integrated into control rooms and studios that the time for wake-up calls to critics and theorists is past. Based on eight years' observation at BBC Radio and Danmarks Radio studios, this article speculates on how the new technology of radio is shaped by the old: how the process and texture of digital radio production influences the aesthetic decisions, and political economy, of radio producers.

Generation X goes to college: an eye-opening account of teaching in postmodern America

This is an incredible, amusing, horrifying, yet true story, in which all names have been changed to protect the guilty.It tells how the author, a journalist turned college professor, came face to face with Generation X: jaded, unachieving, highly demanding yet lacking any respect for standards or intelligence.To survive, the author had to give up old-fashioned educational goals in exchange for mindless titillation and coming across as a cool and unassuming guy. Partly as a wry experiment, Sacks decided to pursue this approach remorselessly, treating his twenty-something students like a kindergarten playgroup, and by so doing he became a spectacular 'success' as a 'teacher'.Peter Sacks's from-the-trenches account of contemporary college teachings makes for a disturbing read. But wake-up calls always are, and this one means to take no prisoners where the dumbing down of higher education is concerned. It will certainly shock and probably offend, but anyone who ignores its assessments does so at our collective peril. -- Sanford Pinsker Editor, Academic QuestionsSo far the best depiction of these attitudes is in the new book, Generation X Goes to College .... the book goes well beyond conventional arguments about slackers, entitlement and dumbing down. -- John Leo U.S. News & World Report

Train, Delegate, Guide, Then Stand Aside

Sheya outlines the pitfalls and rewards of yearbook advising. t delivers indifferent compensation, conflicts, potentially libelous situations, long and unpredictable hours, and 3:00 a.m. wake-up calls from a supposedly sleeping subconscious. It demands high-level diplomacy, effective problem solving, and wit. It interrupts weekends, weeknights, and summer vacations. It's what everyone on the faculty wants to have available, but very few want to be involved in creating. It's also the rare opportunity for a teacher to be instrumental in helping students conceive, plan, and create a written product that will be read widely by almost the entire school. And not only is it read, but it is kept years and years after graduation. It is history, it is memory, it's the yearbook. This published collection of planned and candid photos, captions and text, purchased by students sight unseen in the fall, and eagerly awaited almost a year for delivery, is one of the most rewarding and unrewarding extracurricular activities a teacher may end up sponsoring on a high school level. The pitfalls of yearbook advising are many If a photo or caption is libelous, the teacher may be held accountable for damages. If there aren't enough copies on distribution day, the instructor must offer explanations to angry seniors who don't get a book. If a club or organization isn't covered to its faculty sponsor's liking, the yearbook advisor will probably hear of it-and not necessarily in kind terms. Parents call if unsatisfied with coverage or if a name is misspelled. There are deadlines and deadlines and deadlines, accompanied by unpredictable events seemingly designed specifically to stop a yearbook staff from meeting those deadlines.