Sensory Garden In Winter closed circuit February 2015 Vol. 33, Issue 2 T h e m o n t hly newslet t er for Aud io-R ead er vo l u n teers CONTENTS 1: Studio Etiquette 2: News and Notes 3: Five Questions 4: Mid-Winter Update 5: New Faces 6: Frey’s Fun & Frolic 7: February Birthdays 8: Picture Perfect STUDIO ETIQUETTE By Jen Nigro Coordinator of Volunteers them to read their broadcast, their level of If you use an Audio-Reader recordexperience and the nature of their reading ing studio, I need your help. We have had several complaints of late from readers who assignment. However, there are times when my estimation is off or technical problems come at their appointed studio time to find delay a volunteer who is normally very the person scheduled before them is still in punctual. In these instances, I will continue there. In some cases it is because that volto do my best to keep the studio schedule on unteer is early, and they are happy to wait track by moving volunteers to different stu(though I will move them to another studio dios. That brings me to my next if possible so they don’t have to). Increasingly, how- If you arrive early point—everyone is subject to studio reassignment. I know ever, it is because the person or late for your several of you have favorite before them arrived late or scheduled time studios. I try my very hardest spent part of their recording time talking—to staff, to on a regular basis to keep you there, but there will be days when it is just not fellow volunteers, or even on possible. We may have had a their phones—thereby taking it may be time to technical glitch that threw the more than their allotted time. look at adjusting whole day off, or we may need I want to be clear that we your time on the to work a substitute reader into want Audio-Reader to be a the mix for an absent reader. schedule. social experience as much as The only way to ensure evyou do. But, we ask that if eryone scheduled gets a studio may be to you want to chat, you either arrive early for change your room number. your scheduled time or stay and chat after. This can make a world of difference when it comes to keeping our schedule on track. closed circuit Editor Susan Tabor, Assistant Coordinator of Volunteers Design/Layout Sally Snell If you arrive early or late for your scheduled time on a regular basis it may be time to look at adjusting your time on the schedule. Please check the schedule board in the volunteer area next time you come to read; if the time listed doesn’t match the time you generally arrive or the length of time you are generally in the studio, please let me know so I can change it. I try to give everyone plenty of time in the studio based on the average time it takes Finally, when you leave your studio, make sure it’s ready for the next person! Double-check to make sure you have properly ejected your file from the recording computer, leave the desk neat, take care of any trash, recycle or return your materials to the magazine rack and return pens to the volunteer area. If ever you have a complaint about your studio—the scheduling, its condition or a mechanical or technical problem that needs to be addressed—please let me know so I can take care of it. Thank you! NEWS AND NOTES By Susan Tabor, Assistant Coordinator of Volunteers, and Jen Nigro, Coordinator of Volunteers CONDOLENCES Audio-Reader extends its sincere condolences to volunteer Carol Beth Whalen, whose husband, Bill Crahan, died after we went to press in December. As a matter of fact, Telephone Reader coordinator George McCoy was one of Bill’s many guitar students. Bill performed by himself and with many other musicians in the community. To Carol Beth and the rest of Bill’s family and friends, we hope that your many memories of Bill will warm you during the cold of winter and that you will receive comfort and support from those memories and from all those people who are part of your circle of support. We also express our sympathies to Karen O’Keefe following the death of her aunt, Edie Shrimplin, on January 16 in Valley Falls, KS. THANK YOU Thank you to Michelle Wickersheim for responding to our query and donating a microwave to the Audio-Reader kitchen! If you smell burned popcorn wafting through the building, it’s because we’re getting used to our new gadget. Thanks Michelle! GRANDBABY UPDATE Some of you may know that our former longtime executive director, Janet Campbell, who retired in September, became a grandmother for the fifth time just before she retired. Well, here is a sweet picture of Annie Jones! She is Janet’s first granddaughter and she is having a great time with all of her grandchildren! Have you ever wondered? By Jen Nigro Coordinator of Volunteers Page 2 Have you ever wondered about the painting that hangs above the Dictionary upstairs in the recording area that features a man sitting in an armchair reading a newspaper? Well, I was digging through old issues of Closed Circuit and discovered it was painted in appreciation of a $10,000 donation given to Audio-Reader by Jan and Tom Dean in 1995 in memory of Jan’s father, Jake Irvine. Jake was never a volunteer, staff member or listener, but from 19901994 he regularly accompanied Jan when she came to read. He quickly became a favorite of everyone here, including Baehr Cat, who lived here during that time, and whose portrait hangs upstairs by Art’s office. Closed Circuit, the Audio-Reader Network volunteer newsletter Save the Date! Audio-Reader Golf Tournament coming soon! By Feloniz Lovato-Winston Development Director Audio-Reader’s 6th annual golf tournament will be held on May 18, 2015 at the Alvamar Country Club in Lawrence (members course). This year, we are thrilled to announce that KU Women’s Golf Coach Erin O’Neil is chairing the tournament. You can help support Audio-Reader by sponsoring the tournament or signing up to play. Hole sponsorships are $250, and cost to play is $125 per golfer. This is a great opportunity to support Audio-Reader and KU Women’s Golf. Call (785) 864-5336 or email [email protected] for more information. KU Women’s Golf Coach Erin O’Neil Five Questions: Name: Jane Blocher Current reading assignment: University Daily Kansan (Mondays for Telephone Reader) Years of service: 6 years, 6 months Q: Where did you grow up? A: Born in Salina but raised in Chanute, KS. Q: What is your favorite book? A: I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb. It was the best reading experience of my entire life. No book I’ve read since has topped it. Q: How or why did you get involved with Audio-Reader? A: Peg Sampson did a presentation at my Rotary club about Audio-Reader and I decided to take the plunge. I love to read and liked the flexibility of scheduling my volunteer time. Also, as director of a non-profit organization who relies heavily on volunteers, I knew I couldn’t expect volunteers to assist with our mission if I wasn’t willing to do the same for others. Q: What is your favorite or most unusual reading assignment? A: I enjoy reading the University Daily Kansan. It gives me an up-close perspective of student/ university life and how much it has changed since I was in college. Additionally, it provides a bird’s eye view into the issues and challenges facing that generation. Q: What is your favorite thing about volunteering for Audio-Reader? Visiting with George McCoy every Monday morning. Great way to start my week! Also, the service we provide as volunteers. I know that one day I may be visually-impaired so I’m paying it forward in advance! Closed Circuit, the Audio-Reader Network volunteer newsletter Page 3 RECIPE CORNER By Susan Tabor Assistant Coordinator of Volunteers If you are looking for a sweet little treat to make for your Valentine, this just may be the ticket!! Maraschino Cherry Plus Vanilla Cupcakes Makes 24 cupcakes Cupcake Ingredients: • 3 c. flour • 1 Tbsp. baking powder • 1 tsp. salt • 2 sticks of butter, softened • 1 ½ c. white sugar • 2 eggs • 1 cup milk (I used almond) • 1/3 c. maraschino cherry juice • Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean • 1 ½ c. chopped maraschino cherries Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your cupcake pan. Place cupcake liners in pan and lightly grease, if desired. In bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Use a whisk to stir. Set aside. Pour milk and cherry juice into a bowl and add seeds from vanilla beans. Mix well to incorporate vanilla bean. Set aside. In another bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Beat very well, until light and smooth. Add eggs and egg whites, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Next, add a little bit of the flour mixture, mix and then add a little bit of the milk mixture. I added ½ cup each at a time and mixed between each addition. Repeat until all ingredients are combined. Gently stir in chopped maraschino cherries. Scoop batter into muffin liners. Bake for 15-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Buttercream Icing Ingredients: • 2 sticks of butter, softened • 2 c. powdered sugar • 6 T. maraschino cherry juice • 2 T. milk Add butter and sugar to a bowl. Mix with a handheld or stand mixer until well combined, soft and light. Add cherry juice and milk, slowly until you reach a consistency and sweetness that you like. I used 6 Tbsp. cherry juice and 2 Tbsp. milk total, but adjust according to your taste. Mid-Winter Telephone Reader Update By George McCoy Telephone Reader Supervisor We have a few new content offerings on Telephone Reader, but before I get to those, I’d like to share a quick update on our new-ish Weekend Reading Coordinator, Emma McElhaney. We hired Emma in July and she’s worked hard to learn the ropes and bring some sanity to our weekend Telephone Reader processes. In addition to being a model trainee, Emma has worked on a listener contact initiative to find out why some of our subscribed listeners no longer call, and has volunteered to weed and re-organize the TR file cabinet, where one might find anything from ten-year old internship applications to Jim Boyd’s dry cleaning receipts from 2003. She’s what we call a go-getter, and we’re so glad to have her! Emma works from 7 to 12:30 Saturdays and Sundays, and if you wind up in the building, please stop by and say hello if you have a minute. Starting in mid-January, we will have a few new offerings on Telephone Reader: Rolling Stone magazine, the New Yorker, American History magazine, and Smithsonian magazine. We’ll be downloading these as pre-recorded, one-hour programs from the IAAIS Program Share, so we will not need readers for them and the readings will not necessarily include the complete contents of each issue. The New Yorker is a weekly; Rolling Stone is published bi-weekly; Smithsonian is monthly; and American History is bi-monthly. We will also be adding two additional features for listeners, including an irregular, informational feature called “Manager’s Special,” which will give listeners the lowdown on volunteer assignment changes, publication additions and deletions, system issues, and whatever else seems germane. Manager’s Special will be found in our Listener Resources folder. Also, each day of the week, Emma and I will be adding a single, skippable system message that “teases” a selected feature on Telephone Reader. So, if you are a home reader and you bump into the teaser message, never fear – you do not have to listen to the whole message. Just start entering your numbers, and you’ll go right past it and on to the normal set of prompts. As always, thanks for all you do bringing the printed word to those who cannot read it themselves, and stay warm out there. Once cupcakes are completely cool, top with buttercream and enjoy! . Page 4 Closed Circuit, the Audio-Reader Network volunteer newsletter Cans for the Community Donates $1,000 to Audio-Reader By Feloniz Lovato-Winston Development Director Representatives from local non-profit Cans for the Community stopped by Audio-Reader on Monday, December 29 with a $1,000 check for Audio-Reader. This recent gift brings Cans for the Community’s total community giving (they support a number of Lawrence non-profits) to $150,000! Cans for the Community collects aluminum cans and donates the proceeds to local charities. There are several Cans for the Community collection sites across Lawrence – including one at Audio-Reader. Cans for the Community has seen a large drop in the amount of aluminum cans taken to their collection sites in recent months. You can help them out by bringing your aluminum cans to Audio-Reader, or to any of their other collection sites (locations available at www.cansforthecommunity.org). Cans for the Community representatives Linda Lang, Will Lunn, Linda Klinker and Wendell McGaugh present Audio-Reader Development Director Feloniz LovatoWinston with a check to Audio-Reader for $1,000. NEW FACES By Jen Nigro Coordinator of Volunteers Please give a warm welcome to the following new volunteers! • Dan Karasek is an English/language arts teacher at West Middle School here in Lawrence. He enjoys playing golf, doing yard work and writing. Dan will begin as a substitute reader. • Kim Kubel is an operations manager in the Kansas City area. She heard about Audio-Reader from an article in 913 Magazine written by volunteer Lori Allen, and decided to get involved! Kim will begin by reading the Thriftway and Country Mart ads for Telephone Reader. • Clark LaFever is a graphic artist who likes to walk and meditate in his spare time. He is also a Meals on Wheels volunteer. Clark begins by reading the world, nation and local sections of the Kansas City Star for Telephone Reader on Tuesdays. • Melissa Warren is a retired firefighter who works as a piano technician. She enjoys music, woodworking, sculpture and home remodeling, and is a frequent volunteer for the KPR fund drive. Melissa begins by reading the National Enquirer. • Annette Tucker is semi-retired, working as director/ reporter for KLKC Radio in Parsons. Annette enjoys crafts, quilting, hiking, cooking and photography. She will read regional newspapers from our satellite operation at KRPS in Pittsburg. • Mark Zapien joins our Kansas City reading crew at Alphapointe! Mark, a purchasing agent, enjoys literature and writing in his spare time. We look forward to hearing him on the Kansas City newspaper broadcast! This Month in Audio-Reader History 2010: Feloniz Lovato-Winston joined our staff as Development Assistant. 2000: Audio-Reader expanded coverage to Concordia, KS, through the installation of a 12-foot satellite dish there. 1995: The Kansas Lions Sight Foundation awarded Audio-Reader a grant to purchase a backup power generator and backup transceiver for the satellite, as well as digital recording equipment. Pulitzer Prize winner and syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman served as a guest reader, reading her column during the Breakfast Table Times. Closed Circuit, the Audio-Reader Network volunteer newsletter Page 5 FREY’S fun AND frolic DON FREY By Don Frey A-R Volunteer 17 - Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy. 18 - Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now. 19 - I intend to live forever...So far, so good. 20 - If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends? If you’re not familiar with the work of Steven Wright, he’s the famous Erudite comic who once said: “I woke up one morning, and all of my stuff had been stolen and replaced by exact duplicates.” His mind sees things differently than most of us do. Here are some of his gems. 21 - Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines. 22 - What happens if you get scared half to death twice? 23 - My mechanic told me, “I couldn’t repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.” 1 - I’d kill for a Nobel Peace Prize. 24 - Why do psychics have to ask you for your name. 2 - Borrow money from pessimists -- they don’t expect it back. 25 - If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried. 3 - Half the people you know are below average. 26 - A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking. 4 - 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name. 5 - 82.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot. 6 - A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good. 7 - A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory. 8 - If you want the rainbow, you have got to put up with the rain. 9 - All those who believe in psycho kinesis, raise my hand. 10 - The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. 11 - I almost had a psychic girlfriend...But she left me before we met. 12 - OK, so what's the speed of dark? 27 - Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it. 28 - The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread. 29 - To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research. 30 - The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard. 31 - The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up. 32 - The colder the x-ray table, the more of your body is required to be on it. 33 - Everyone has a photographic memory; some just don't have film. 13 - How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink? 34 - If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you. 14 - If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something. And the all-time favorite: 15 - Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. 35 - If your car could travel at the speed of light, would your headlights work. 16 - When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane. Page 6 Closed Circuit, the Audio-Reader Network volunteer newsletter PICTURE PERFECT closed circuit The University of Kansas Audio-Reader Network 1120 West 11th Street Lawrence, KS 66044 (785) 864-4600 (800) 772-8898 READER.KU.EDU STAFF Steve Kincaid Interim Director/ Chief Engineer, ext. 4691 Nicci Banman Business Manager, ext. 2252 Eight Cub Scouts and nine parents from Pack 3064 in Eudora (Dens five and six) visited Audio-Reader on January 20 to learn about our services and vision loss. They got some hands-on experience with Braille, toured the building, saw simulations of different conditions that affect vision and even got to do some recording! Thanks, guys, for visiting Audio-Reader! (As a side note, one of the boys, Gabe Campbell, is the eldest grandson of Emeritus Director Janet Campbell! He’s pictured second from the right in the blue shirt.) Art Hadley Producer/Announcer, ext. 4624 Meredith Johanning Development Assistant, ext. 4634 Lori Kesinger Program Manager, ext. 4625 Feloniz Lovato-Winston Development Director, ext. 5336 George McCoy Telephone Reader Coordinator, ext. 4612 Emma McElhaney Weekend Telephone Reader Supervisor, ext. 4612 Bruce Mensie Engineer, ext. 4638 Jennifer Nigro Volunteer Coordinator, ext. 4604 Peg Sampson Outreach Coordinator/ Listener Liaison, ext. 2686 Susan Tabor Assistant Volunteer Coordinator, ext. 2685 Lisa Werner Administrative Associate, ext. 2201 The University of Kansas Audio-Reader Network 1120 West 11th Street Lawrence, KS 66044
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