RE: College radio talent

[Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>]

I've refrained from commenting because you all know I teach at Emerson 
College.  While Emerson is far from perfect, I am another of those folks 
who got her career started thanks to college radio-- although in my case, I 
was setting a bit of a precendent when I became the first woman in the 
history of Northeastern University to ever be on the air.  But as for my 
consulting biz and my d.j. work, believe it or don't, what I learnt in 
college actually helped me.  I didn't take a degree in broadcasting, but 
rather, a degree in English (with quite a few writing courses) and a minor 
in counselling.  Both have been very useful!   As for my stint at Emerson, 
I am a big believer in the value of a college education-- while on the job 
training is great, there is sometimes a tendency to become too parochial if 
the only people you spend your time with are other people in your field of 
interest.  College forces you to take courses and learn things you might 
not otherwise study-- and later on, it's amazing how you WILL use some of 
that stuff which at the time seemed like such a waste.  Also, college makes 
you think in ways you might not have thought otherwise.  I give seminars in 
media criticism and media stereotypes, and I also do the introductory 
course for journalists. My students often tell me they now see the media in 
a whole new way.  Because I encourage debate, they are exposed to BOTH the 
right-wing and left-wing viewpoint-- I expect them to read the magazines 
and the columns from both sides of each issue, and I refuse to let them get 
off on a rant.  They have to defend their viewpoint, something many haven't 
done.  I also teach them to do reliable and accurate research.  Being at 
Emerson, they meet other students from all over the world, and work on 
projects in their chosen major while also having the opportunity to minor 
is some entirely different area of study. They also get to hear and meet 
guest speakers who are, like many of their instructors, working in 
media.  This gives the enterprising student a chance to do a little 
networking.  SO, while being in college is no magic answer and it doesn't 
guarantee a job, I do believe it can make a person better equipped to 
handle the stresses and the challenges of today's media environment, and it 
can also help a student acquire a much more well-informed perspective on 
things.  Years ago, you studied at a broadcasting school and became a jock 
and you jocked wherever you could find a gig.  Today, with consolidation, 
jocks are asked to do news, newspeople are asked to do sports, sportspeople 
are asked to do entertainment reporting, and everybody runs into a time 
when there is a need over on the TV side for somebody to write copy or 
report on a story or interview somebody.  You just never know where you'll 
end up, and the more varied your skills, the more likely you'll be to get 
hired.

Having been raised in a lower-middle class family in Dorchester (and then 
Roslindale), it was never an option for me to attend a school like 
Emerson.  So I made the best of what Northeastern had, and went from 
there.  But I don't regret for one minute the courses I took, and I still 
feel I derived great benefit from my education, as well as from working on 
the air and as a music director at the old WNEU (later 
WRBB).