Diversity SIG E-Newsletter August 2006
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Contents |
Diversity SIG E-Newsletter – August 2006
Contents
1. Hall Elected Diversity SIG Vice Chair-elect
2. Revised C&A Proposal
3. Need Suggestions for C&A Judges
4. Meet a Member: Marusela Anders
5. Latino Briefs Digest
6. Interesting Links
1. Hall Elected Diversity SIG Vice Chair-Elect
Myriam Grajales-Hall from the University of California was unanimously selected as the Vice Chair-elect of the Diversity SIG. She joins me – LaRae Donnellan (chair) – and Rebecca McGovney (vice chair) as the SIG leaders. But we can’t make it without you, the SIG members. So please let us know what you think of this newsletter and how ACE might best address the issues of diversity.
2. Revised C&A Proposal
In the July E-Newsletter, we presented the idea of adding diversity classes into three existing categories in the C&A competition. However, after further discussion – both within our SIG and with other SIG leaders – we have decided to present a different proposal in September to the ACE Board: a new Diversity Category.
The classes within this new category would address projects and activities addressed in the other C&A categories. However, the focus of the evaluation would be different.
During the Aug. 15 SIG leaders’ teleconference, we discussed the apparent controversy between creating a category that celebrates creative efforts to focus on "special" publics at the same time that we work hard to be "inclusive." But we agreed that both approaches have their place in our bag of strategies, and both deserve our recognition.
The Diversity Category would start out with the following new classes:
Class 41: Electronic Media – Audio
Class 42: Electronic Media – Video
Class 43: Integrated Communication Program
Class 44: Publications (all types)
Class 45: Writing (print media)
One major difference between this category and existing categories is that we will seek judges who specialize in whichever targeted public is addressed. This will require us to have a group of potential judges on hand should we need them. We understand the problems inherent in assuming that majority-culture judges (i.e., white non-Hispanics) automatically could effectively evaluate work outside their cultural experience. Similarly, it will be challenging to find qualified judges to evaluate the potential variety of entries we might receive.
Another difference is the focus on planning and evaluation. Entrants will be expected to show that they understand the demographics and psychographics of their targeted publics and that they have been successful in reaching – and informing or influencing – those publics.
Entrants should submit work that is created for a targeted, special public. For example, you might choose to submit a series of PSAs on hurricane preparedness that you created for Spanish-language radio. You might choose to submit an integrated communication project for members of the Navajo Nation. You might choose to submit a publication targeted at African Americans who have diabetes. In other words, your projects may not be "inclusive" to the extent that they attempt to reach "everyone." Rather, your message would be targeted toward a distinct subset of the population.
This will be an experiment. We hope the ACE Board will agree to let us test this new category and that ACE members will choose to submit their targeted work for evaluation.
3. Need Suggestions for C&A Judges
To make the new C&A Diversity category a reality, we will need a list of potential judges. To do this, WE NEED YOUR HELP.
Please send us a list of non-ACE members who you think would do an excellent job of evaluating communication projects for targeted publics. We would anticipate receiving entries created in other languages, for various ethnic or cultural groups, or for groups with specific health or life skills issues.
C&A judges receive $10 for each entry they evaluate.
Please send your suggestions to LaRae Donnellan at Larae9411@hotmail.com by Sept. 15. THANK YOU!
4. Meet a Member: Marusela Anders
One of the newest ACE members has chosen to join the Diversity SIG. Marusela Anders is a program assistant for the Section of Communications and Technology at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University. Bilingual, Marusela primarily assists the director and department management team on projects that require translation and Spanish proofing, including a series of agricultural safety training articles for employees. Marusela is a member of the Ohio Latino Workforce, a group recently formed by OSU Extension educators, administrators, and staff to study and address issues in the Latino population in Ohio.
Marusela says she has often found herself as a minority in cultures dominated by other ethnic or racial groups. "My husband was in the U.S. Navy for 20 years, and we lived in Japan and Italy, experiences that have given me the opportunity to appreciate diversity," she says. "I have made friendships with people from different countries, learned their culture, and experienced some of it. These experiences have given me an open mind and great interest in diversity. Also, being bilingual and working for Extension in the communications field offers me the opportunity to take advantage of my skills to help my department and community."
Marusela recommends that ACE members be open-minded, humble, respectful, and eager to learn about cultures and current events different from those they are most familiar with. She suggests that rather than discriminate against or judge someone whose approach to the world is different from yours, you should be open to new ideas and possibly support some of those new ideas.
Marusela can be reached at manders@ag.ohio-state.edu.
5. Latino Briefs Digest
The August issue of the Latino Briefs Digest, compiled by the University of California, is available at http://news.ucanr.org/latinobriefs/latinobriefs.cfm?issues=yes and includes the following research topics:
- Voters and non-voters perceive the impact of illegal immigration differently
- 2006 National Survey of Latinos
- English-Spanish Glossary of Terms for Higher Education
- Billboard launches Latin music-intensive Web site
- Type of child care typically used differs depending on ethnicity
- African-Americans and Hispanics dominate cellphone use
6. Interesting Links
Georgetown University National Center for Cultural Competence http://www11.georgetown.edu/research/gucchd/nccc/
Working with Linguistically Diverse Populations http://www11.georgetown.edu/research/gucchd/nccc/features/language.html#9
To find demographic information about language needs in your state:
Several Web sites offer state and national information about languages spoken in the United States. The Modern Language Association (MLA) offers a Language Map Data Center with a searchable database that provides language data for the entire U.S., and by state, county, and zip code. Information can be obtained by language or by most spoken languages in a state. Visit the MLA Web site at http://www.mla.org/census_data
Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) provides a map of information on each state including general information on how many foreign-born persons live in that state and what is the language spoken at home. See http://www.gcir.org/about_immigration/usmap.htm. This is a good place to start to find information about your state.
LaRae M. Donnellan, Ph.D., APR, CPRC, Professor & PR Sequence Coordinator School of Journalism and Graphic Communication, 3022 SJGC Building, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL 32307; Phone: (850) 561-2765; Fax: (850) 599-3086; e-mail: larae9411@hotmail.com
