SPORTS AS NEWS:
Mike Reis
Mike Reis is a sports broadcasting legend in Southern Illinois. He is in his 36th season of doing radio play-by-play for Southern Illinois University football, basketball and baseball. Reis has been broadcasting Saluki sports since he was a student at SIU. Mike was inducted into the SIU Athletics Hall of Fame, and in 2006 he was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In 2011, Mikes was named the Illinois Sportscaster of the Year, as voted on by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. When SIU's new baseball stadium opened this year, Mike was afforded a special honor when the broadcast facilities were named "The Mike Reis Press Box."
Mike Snuffer
Mike Snuffer has managed local TV newsrooms in Texas and Illinois since 1994. He's been the news director of the ABC affiliate in Southern Illinois, WSIL for the past eleven years where he leads a team of 45 employees. Mike and WSIL are no strangers to the Illinois News Broadcasters Association where his newscast has won numerous awards. This year WSIL news was honored by the Illinois Broadcasters Association as the Best Newscast. As news director he has lead an award winning sports team that has found success connecting with local viewers.
Andy Waterman
Andy Waterman is a sportscaster and sports reporter for WPSD Channel 6 in Paducah, Kentucky. He anchors the weekend sportscasts and reports on local sports during the week in Western Kentucky and Southern Illinois.His sports reporting goes beyond scores and highlights, focusing on the stories behind the games and the people who make sports exciting. His approach to sports journalism is rooted in his early days as a news reporter where he covered stories ranging from presidential visits to the devastating floods of Spring 2011. Some of his favorite moments include covering Murray State's historic 2011-2012 season and the Quaker State 400. His down time includes rooting for the Cubs, Blackhawks, Bulls, and SIU every chance he gets.
CHASING THE STORM:
Tony Laubach, Meteorologist, Storm Chaser
Tony Laubach is always in severe weather mode, traveling all over the country to track and document killer storms. Laubach is featured in a recent National Geographic cover story, The Monster Storm, about a tornado chase that killed several of his colleagues. He was also one of the featured Meteorologists in Discovery Channel's hit TV series, "Storm Chasers". He will share how he works with TV networks and local stations to upload his video to help protect the public and increase our understanding about these severe storms.
Jim Rasor, WSIL TV Meteorologist
Jim Rasor is the “go to guy” for severe weather predictions and coverage in Southern Illinois and the surrounding region spanning 4 other states. His station often wins Best Station of The Year and he is a big part of that recognition. Tireless in his coverage and his twitter updates, Rasor will share how he works with the producers and the news desk to alert the public for what might be coming their way, hopefully to keep them safe.
Justin Schoof PhD, SIU Climate Scientist
Justin Schoof can help all of us get out feet on the ground when it comes to severe weather and climate issues. Schoof will discuss how weather and climate forecasts differ. How do limits on weather predictability differ from limits on climate predictability? What should media be telling the public about climate change? How is climate change likely to affect severe weather?
ELECTION 2014 – WHAT COMES NEXT?
John Jackson
John Jackson came to SIU Carbondale in 1969, and has been teaching Political Science there ever since. Jackson has served in numerous capacities at SIUC, including Dean, Vice Chancellor, and even a short stint as Chancellor. His expertise in Illinois State Government has made him a regular source for journalists and many others. He joined the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute in 2002, and directs the Institute's internship program.
Charles Leonard
Charles Leonard teaches American Government and Public Policy at SIU Carbondale, and is Director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute's statewide Simon Poll and Southern Illinois poll. Leonard's expertise is in polling, and he has served as Director of Research at Attitude Research in St. Louis, Missouri. He is also a former journalist – serving as a magazine and newspaper editor in St. Louis.
FINDING FERGUSON
Jim Suhr, AP
Jim Suhr, a Wisconsin native, joined The Associated Press 17 years ago, first serving as a Detroit-based business and eventually the AP’s lead auto writer before transferring to the St. Louis bureau in 2001. Suhr has been the AP’s southern Illinois correspondent since 2005, covering everything from state and federal courts to the region’s coal mining, agricultural topics and general assignment stories . He also has been enlisted to assist with coverage of significant news events elsewhere, from devastating flooding in North Dakota’s Fargo and Iowa’s Cedar Rapids to deadly tornadoes in Joplin and Indiana. Suhr is a University of Kansas graduate who worked for the Leavenworth (Kan.) Times and the Joplin (Mo.) Globe before joining the AP.
Emanuele Berry, St. Louis Public Radio
Emanuele Berry is currently the Culture and Diversity Fellow at St. Louis Public Radio. Prior to working in St. Louis, she was a host and producer at WKAR Public Radio in East Lansing. Emanuele interned at National Public Radio, where she worked at the Arts and Information Desk. Her work has been recognized by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Radio Television Digital News Association and the Hearst Journalism Awards Program. Emanuele Berry is a 2012 graduate of Michigan State University.
Emanuele's Links:
http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/after-weekend-violence-community-begins-repair-itself
http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/ferguson-residents-and-business-owners-tell-us-about-their-city
http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/events-ferguson-spur-political-action-search-new-voters
Durrie Bouscaren, St. Louis Public Radio
Durrie Bouscaren joined St. Louis Public Radio as a health and science reporter one week before the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Over the past months she has covered protests, policing practices and the trauma of living in Ferguson during civil unrest. Bouscaren previously reported for NPR member stations including Iowa Public Radio, WRVO and WAER. She graduated from Syracuse University in 2012.
Durrie's Links:
http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/locked-one-familys-story-behind-front-lines
http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/what-s-helpful-know-about-trauma-after-upheaval-ferguson
KEYNOTE SPEAKER/ILLINOISAN OF THE YEAR:
Kent Redfield is a professor emeritus of Political Studies at the University of Illinois – Springfield (UIS). He has research appointments with the Center for State Policy and Leadership at UIS and the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs.
Dr. Redfield has a BA in political science from the University of Utah and an MA and PhD in political science from the University of Washington (Seattle). Prior to joining UIS in 1979 Dr. Redfield worked for four years as a member of the research/appropriations staff for the Speaker of the Illinois General Assembly. His primary assignment with the legislature was staffing the House’s local government committees.
Dr. Redfield’s research and teaching interests are primarily in the areas of money and politics, Illinois politics and local government politics and administration. Between 1979 and 1999 he served as the program coordinator for the Illinois General Assembly’s Legislative Staff Intern Program.
Dr. Redfield has been engaged in research on the financing of political campaigns in Illinois and political ethics since 1991. During most of that time he has worked closely with the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform with support from the Joyce Foundation. As an advocate, he has been involved with most of the efforts to change Illinois campaign finance and ethics laws over the past twenty years.
In addition to his local government background in the legislature, Dr. Redfield has conducted research and published reports for the Taxpayer’s Federation of Illinois on tax increment financing and conducted research and published reports on the Illinois enterprise zone program for the Institute for Public Affairs (now the Center for State Policy and Leadership) at the University of Illinois Springfield.
He has authored a number of books, chapters in books, and articles. Most recently he wrote a chapter on Illinois elections in Illinois Politics: A citizen’s guide, which was published in the summer of 2010 by the University of Illinois Press and a chapter on congressional redistricting in Illinois in The Political Battle over Congressional Redistricting, which was publish in the summer of 2013 by Lexington Books
Contact Information
PAC 484, UIS, One University Plaza, Springfield, IL 62703
217-206-6572 (office)
217-971-8691 (cell) (recommended contact)
kredf1@uis.edu
PERSPECTIVES ON ILLINOIS MEDICAL MARIJUANA
John Chaney
John Chaney has worked across southern Illinois as a pharmacist and consultant. After earning his degree from St. Louis College of Pharmacy, he owned or staffed pharmacies in West Frankfort, Marion, Carbondale and Herrin. After retiring in 2013, he began his practice as a Consultant Pharmacist, and currently is working with Southern Illinois Healthcare based in Carbondale.
Bradley Vallerius
Bradley Vallerius is an attorney and writer focused on helping people understand evolving cannabis laws and social norms. Bradley has broad general knowledge about cannabis, the varieties of cannabis medicines, laws and regulations of several states, and inherent public perception problems. During the recently ended license application process for cultivation centers and dispensaries, Bradley assisted applicants with local government relations, business planning, writing of employment policies, and general strategic advice. Now Bradley is preparing to provide services to employers, health care professionals, and other parties who must adjust their internal policies to fit the new law. A former journalist himself, Bradley always tries to be helpful with information and connections. He regularly writes about Illinois' medical marijuana law at his website: www.medcannabislaw.com.