A Publication of theSpeech Communication Association

t Sciences • Public Address • Education •Communication • Theatre • Radio-TV-Fiim«Arts

Vol. XXII No. 2 February 1986

COMMUNICATIONEDUCATION

EDITOR NOMINATIONSSOUGHT

A major responsibility of the SCA Pub-lications Board is to nominate editors forthe Association's quarterly joumais. Whenthe Legislative Council meets in Chicagoin November, the Board will present anomination for editor of CommunicationEducation, 1988-90.

Members of the Association are invitedto submit nominations by June 15, 1986for this editorial post. Self-nominationsare welcome. Candidates are encouragedto submit their plans and projections forthe journal, if named editor. Letters andsupporting vitae may be channelled to thePublications Board through the ExecutiveSecretary: William Work, SCA, 5105Backlick Rd., Suite E, Annandale, VA22003. The willingness of nominees toserve will be assumed. Evidences of in-stitutional support for editorial work (e.g.,released time, secretarial assistance, postaland telephone subsidies) should be sup-plied.

The 1986 Chairperson of the Publica-tions Board is James Chesebro, Com-munication Arts Dept., Queens College,Flushing, NY 11367. Inquiries may bedirected to him or to William Work.

AMENDMENT PROPOSEDThe Amendment to the SCA Constitution

that appears below was adopted by the Leg-islative Council, meeting in Denver November9. 1985. Ratification will require a two-thirdsmajority vote in an all-member mail ballot.The ballot will be distributed in the spring.

* * * * *

In the Constitution, delete Article V, Section5. Substitute the following for Article VL Sec-tion 5: "In the event of the incapacity of anofficer, the Administrative Committee shall beauthorized to fill the vacancy or call for a mailballot of the Legislative Council or the generalmembership." Old Article VI, Section 5, nowbecomes Article VI, Section 6.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONSThe 1986 SCA Nominating Committee (listed

elsewhere in this issue) solicits from any mem-ber of the Association names of possible nom-inees for the positions of Second Vice Presidentand Member-at-Large of the Legislative Coun-cil.

The person elected SCA Second Vice pres-ident for 1988 will be in charge of memberrecruitment and will serve as liaison to Sec-tions, Divisions, and affiliate organizations.Upon succeeding to the office of First VicePresident in 1989, the person selected will bein charge of plans for the program at the annualSCA meeting. Upon succeeding to the SCApresidency in 1990, this person will presideover the Legislative Council and its Admin-istrative Committee for that year.

The at-large members of the LegislativeCouncil will serve on the principal policy-mak-ing body of the Association for three years,beginning in 1988. Three persons will be electedas members-at-large.

Any member of SCA may submit names forconsideration by the Nominating Committee.The deadline for submitting infonnation is April1. 1986. The committee will decide the rosterof nominees through a balloting process overthe course of the summer and early fall andcomplete its deliberations at the 1986 conven-tion in Chicago.

Suggestions should be submitted to the com-mittee in the following form;(name) is suggested for consideration as a pos-sible candidate for (position)and has agreed to serve if elected to this po-sition (name of member mak-ing suggestion) (date ofsubmission of name).

Attach to the above for any person beingrecommended for Second Vice President a one-page vita and a statement of goals for SCAand objectives for carrying out these goals. Forat-large members of the Legislative Councilalso include a one-page vita for the person(s)nominated.

Send all information to the CommitteeChairperson;

Professor Linda PutnamCommunication Dept.Purdue UniversityWest Lafayette, IN 47907

PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGEWayne Brockriede

Last September the man who was to becomePresident of the Speech Communication As-sociation passed away. We mourn the deathof Don Ecroyd. We also celebrate the life ofsomeone who made such important contribu-tions to the advancement of his profession, thegrowth of his students, the nurture of his col-leagues, the enlightenment of his readers, andthe joy of his friends. The SCA convention inDenver was a memorial to his insightful plan-ning.

The Administrative Committee nominatedme as President of SCA, and the LegislativeCouncil endorsed the nomination. I am proudof their confidence, encouraged by offers ofsupport from many, grateful to my departmentfor making possible my acceptance of the of-fice, and determined to do the best I can duringthe coming year.

Wayne Brockriede

From time to time I shall send you messagesin the pages of Spectra and elsewhere. Mygeneral theme for 1986 is pride. We should beproud of our discipline, our Association, ourwork as teachers and practitioners, and ourscholarly research. We can combine pride inwhat we do with the aspiration to exceed thoseaccomplishments.

What is our discipline? Twenty-five years

Spectra, February 1986

or more ago, when a new acquaintance askedyou what you did, you might have responded,"I teach speech," The reaction to that mightbe, "Oh." Or it might provoke a second ques-tion, "And what is that?" What then? Tryingto explain clearly what "speeeh" was led toa discussion of some of the studies of oralphenomena under that umbrella; rhetoricaltheory, public address, argumentation and de-bate, discussion, oral interpretation of litera-ture, theatre, broadcasting, speech pathology,audiology, voice and diction, speech science,and conversational speaking. As a teacher ata small college in 1952-1953 I taught most ofthose courses. A high school teacher taughtmost of those subjects, together with a fewsections of English composition.

The new term is "speech communication"and has been for over fifteen years. Last yearthe SCA membership voted to continue withthat title for the association. Although somedepartments in their title feature "speech" (of-ten with something else added) and others em-phasize "communication" (often followed by"arts and sciences" or ".studies"), a pluralityof departments put those two titles together;speech communication.

So how does one react today when asked,"And what is speech communication?" Amongourselves we may call it a discipline committedto the understanding of human communica-tion. We are "speech" to remind us of ourtradition and to reflect the special interest somepersons have in the oral mode. We are "com-munication" to recognize our focus on howpersons create and share symbolic actions withothers.

But how do we respond to acquaintancesand colleagues from other disciplines? One ap-proach is to enumerate the kinds of things ourdiscipline studies. Many of the items listedabove as falling under the umbrella of speechare still with us in speech communication,though at times with different titles, concepts,and methods of study. For example, rhetoricaltheory is now rhetorical and communicationtheoiy; public address is now sometimes publiccommunication; discussion is now small-groupcommunication; oral interpretation of literatureis now interpretation; speech science is nowspeech and language sciences; and conversa-tional speaking, the most changed of all, isnow interpersonal communication. Intercul-tural communication is new as a study and asa division of SCA. Speech pathology and au-diology, although still a part of some depart-ments of speech communication, no longerconstitute a division of SCA and have theirown organization. Theatre and mass commu-nication also have their own organizations, andoften their own departments, but those interestsstill are represented strongly in SCA.

Another change is that not all members ofSCA are teachers. In 1960 almost all membersof the Speech Association of America taughtspeech in one of its fonns. We now do manyother things. (Many persons in the section ofapplied communication in SCA, however, stillare fundamentally teachers, although they dotheir work in settings other than formal ele-mentary, secondary, and college classrooms,)

So when persons ask us what we do, we mightrespond as teachers, as practitioners, as man-agers, as directors of training and develop-ment, or as consultants. We still all share thediscipline of speech communication, however,and we belong to a professional associationthat promotes our shared discipline and diverseinterests.

When asked, "But what is speech com-munication," we ean provide our clearest, mostconcise, and most forceful statement of ourinterpretation of our discipline, we can enu-merate the phenomena we study, or we canput both parts of the definition together. I hopewe have our responses ready, unweakened byundue hesitation. I hope we articulate our po-sition with pride. The humanity and social sci-enee we have chosen to study deserves proudteachers, practitioners, and scholars.

COMMUNICATION ETHICS1986 CONVENTION PAPER

CALLThe Commission on Communication Ethics

invites submissions of competitive papers andprogram ideas regarding communication eth-ics. Papers should be full-length, double-spacedwith a separate 50-75 word abstract. The au-thor's name, affiliation, address, and tele-phone numbers should appear on a separatetitle page of the paper. Program proposals shouldinclude a title, statement of purpose, names ofparticipants with institutional addresses andtelephone numbers. Four copies of the papersor program proposals should be sent by Feb-ruary 15, 1986, to Ken Andersen; Departmentof Speech Communication; University of Il-linois at Urbana-Champaign; 702 S. WrightSt., #244; Urbana, IL 61801.

ETHICS COMMISSIONThe officers of the new SCA Communica-

tion Ethics Commission appear elsewhere inSpectra, as does a Commission eall for papersfor the 1986 convention.

A current list of members of the Commu-nication Ethics Commission may be requestedfrom; J. Vemon Jensen, Speech-Communi-cation Dept., University of Minnesota, Min-neapolis, MN 55455.

Items for the "New and Notes" column ofthe Communication Ethics Commission News-letter should be sent to Ron Arnett, Depart-ment of Interpersonal Communication,Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wl 53233.

INTRAPERSONALAt the recent SCA convention a number of

SCA members attended a seminar that focusedon Intrapersonal Communication Processes.Enough enthusiasm was generated to warrantfurther meetings of members interested in thisarea at future SCA conventions. If you areinterested in joining with us in this effort, pleasecontact Charles Roberts, Communication andTheatre Department, McNeese State Univer-sity, P.O. Box 1277, Lake Charles, Louisiana70609, 318-437-5039,

HEALTH COMMUNICATIONThe newly formed Commission on Health

Communication encourages submissions ofpapers and program proposals for the 1986SCA Convention. Research, theory, and prac-tice oriented papers concerning any aspect ofthe role of communication in health or healthcare are invited for submission. Papers shouldnot normally exceed 25 double-spaced type-written pages. The names of paper authorsshould appear only on a cover-page. Eour cop-ies of each paper submitted must be receivedby Eebruary 15, 1986. All papers will be sub-mitted for blind competitive review.

Proposals for health communication pro-grams are also weleome. Program proposalsshould include; 1) Title ofthe Program; 2) Nameand institutional affiliation of Program Chair/Moderator (the chairperson should not be apaper presenter or respondent on the program);4) names and institutional affiliations of eachof the program participants; 5) Titles and briefdescriptions of each participant's presentation.Program Proposals must also be received byEebruary 15, 1986.

Please send papers and program proposalsto;

Dr. Gary L. Kreps, CoordinatorSCA Commission on Health Com-

municationNational Cancer InstituteOperations Research Branch9000 Rockville Pike, Blair Building

501DBethesda, Maryland 20892-4200

CONVENTIONPAPER CALL

The Theatre Division is actively seekingprogram proposals for the 1986 SCA Conven-tion to be held in Chicago, November 13-16th. Of special interest are those proposalsthat are concerned with "free speech or cen-sorship," "acting techniques," "dialects,""non-verbal theatre," and "theatre adminis-tration." Debut and Contributed papers are alsosolicited in the areas of "modernism in thea-tre," including 8-10 page essays related to thedramaturgy of O'Neill, Williams, and Miller.Preliminary proposals should be forwarded tothe primary program planner no later than 15February. There are also opportunities to serveas Moderators or Respondents to the programsessions. For more information eontact; GeraldLee Ratliff, Speech/Theatre, Montclair StateCollege, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043.

CALL EOR NOMINATIONSNominations are solicited from SCA mem-

bers of distinguished teaehers to be interviewedabout philosophical and practical aspects oftheir work with students of speech communi-cations. These interviews will take place inpublic programs during the 1986 convention.Nominations, with detailed supporting infor-mation, must be received by February 15, 1986,in the office of Dr. Andrew D. Wolvin, 8705 .Streamview Road, Potomac, MD 20854. (301)'299-3195,