WGRE News Department Blog

If February 11th’s episode of “The Bottom Line” (available for download at wgre.org) taught me anything it would undoubtedly be that Putnam County, in every facet of life and business, is one of the most Green-conscious, progressive counties in the state of Indiana. For the first 45 minutes of the show, Meredith McGrady and I broadcasted live from the Sustainability Expo for Focus the Nation at DePauw University’s Union Building. There, conducting live interviews with representatives of organizations as diverse as DePauw Environmental Club and the Putnamville Correctional Facility, we gained great insight into the little ways in which Putnam County strives to be as eco-friendly as humanly possible. For instance, did you know that the aforementioned Correctional Facility is one of the all-around Greenest institutions within Putnam County, and that you can pick up free bags of mulch farmed by inmates there for free by calling ahead? If you listened to this particular episode of “The Bottom Line,” you found out this interesting tidbit.
During the event, I was fairly certain why most of the organizations that set up booths were present. Walmart, for obvious reasons, plays a huge role in determining Greencastle’s carbon footprint, and with debates in full force as to whether or not DePauw should sell bottled water, it was clear that DePauw Dining Services Manager for Sodexo, Steve Santo, had a lot to say. Yet I could not for the life of me determine why one attendee in particular, DePauw’s Director of Career Services, Steve Langerud, had set up a booth at the event. It was not until I asked him why, at the tail end of our live coverage, that he was there that he informed me that one of his specialties as a Career Services Director was the Green Jobs market. Apparently, Green Jobs represent a rare growing sector of the American job market that is especially interested in hiring passionate eco-friendly advocate’s strait out of college.

“The Bottom Line” broadcasts live from the WGRE Studio every Thursday evening at 6. You can listen to it on 91.5 fm or stream it live from wgre.org.

Posted by: Kevin Hoesley, News Director

From my perspective, the best, most relevant (and most well attended) Ubben Lectures have always featured speakers whose opinions have relevance and important implications for the entire DePauw community. What I am implying here is that the best speakers to bring to DePauw’s campus are ones who will spark the interest of Faculty, Students, and Putnam County residents alike for a variety of reasons. It would appear that Executive Director of Media Relations at Depauw, Ken Owen, has found just such a speaker by booking the co-author of the New York Time’s best selling non-fiction book, Freakanomics, Steven Levitt as the next Ubben Lecture  http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=…).
Predating the current economic situation our country finds itself in, I can fondly recall freakanomics occupying the top spot of both my teachers’ and peers’ joy-reading lists in high school. Simply put, Freakanomics was the biggest literary phenomenon to hit my schoolmates since the Harry Potter series came on the scene. This is why I am personally interested to see how DePauw students, who were likewise more than likely to have been exposed to the concepts of Freakanomics during some point in their education, will receive and attend the Steven Levitt Ubben Lecture. While being a member of the media I will refrain from offering any predictions, my advice would be to get to the lecture early to secure a good vantage point.
Currently, the Levitt lecture is scheduled to take place on November 30th, at 7:30 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium of DePauw’s Green Center for the Performing Arts. As always, Timothy and Sharon Ubben Lectures are free and open to the public. Tune into WGRE News for coverage of the lecture as the date approaches, and be sure to listen for a post-lecture recap after the event.

(P.S. For those interested in how exactly Ken Owen goes about his one-man mission in choosing Ubben Lectures to bring to DePauw’s campus, be sure to listen to the September 17th edition of “The Bottom Line” for further information: http://www.depauw.edu/univ/wgre/news_pag…)

Posted By: Kevin Hoesley, WGRE News Director

As of yesterday, the past four episodes of “The Bottom Line” have been uploaded to the WGRE news page at http://www.depauw.edu/univ/wgre/news_pag…. Below you can find a description of the guests featured on each episode as well as the dates they were aired. While each episode so far has been nothing short of extremely informative and interesting, as WGRE’s News Director, I would personally recommend giving a listen to the September 17th edition with Ken Owen and Steve Langerud. Both guests made some very interesting comments about their respective roles at DePauw (particularly Langerud, a man with an almost comically diverse and accomplished background).

Also, as par an agreement with DePauw’s D3TV, every episode of “The Bottom Line” will be aired live, in studio, every Thursday evening at 6; so be sure to tune into channel 3 and see us hosting the show live on DePauw’s student-run T.V. station.

September 24th, 2009 – Vice President of Finance for DePauw’s Inter-Fraternity Council, David Spotts
September 17th, 2009 – Executive Director of Media Relations at DePauw, Ken Owen, and Director of Career Development at DePauw, Steve Langerud
September 10th, 2009 – Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students, Cindy Babington
August 27th, 2009 – General Manager for Food Services at DePauw for Sodexo, Steve Santo

Posted by: Kevin Hoesley

Come be a part of the News Team for the #4 college radio station in the country. Read news on air, write news stories and learn how to be a real reporter. If you are interested in being a part of the team, or are just looking for some group 6 credit, contact one of the news directors at:

 kevinhoesley_2011 at depauw.edu

-or-

 ashlynarcher_2012 at depauw.edu

– As of now there are a handful of open news reading spots left, please contact us quickly before they are gone.

While I will leave the daunting task of credentials listing to the writers of DePauw’s homepage (link: http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=…), simply stated this is one of the most important and relevant Ubben Lectures in recent memory. While I have been personally fortunate enough to cover, and in many cases individually interview, Ubben speakers such as Madeleine Albright, Jane Pauley, and Todd Rundgren; I can safely say that a lively debate between political heavyweights Karl Rove and Howard Dean tops them all. Of course I in no way wish to belittle the importance of our previous few lecturers, but considering the life-altering implications of legislation currently being debated in Washington at the moment, an Ubben Lecture of this sort could not come at a more crucial juncture in American history.

No matter where you fall in our country’s political spectrum, whether it be Rove’s interpretation of the Right or Dean’s vision for the Left, (or as is most likely the case, somewhere in between), I wholeheartedly encourage you to attend the September 11th lecture at the Kresge Auditorium of the Green Center for the Performing Arts. Guest speakers such as these should remind us all how truly lucky we are to be a part of the DePauw Community which seeks to open our minds to the most relevant issues of our time.

In the days leading up to and following the Lecture, you can count on WGRE News to bring you all the up-to-date information you want to hear or need to know. A full update of the Lecture will also be featured on the September 17th edition of “The Bottom Line.”

(A video that I’m posting, with the reminder that the WGRE News Blog does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of WGRE News or WGRE Broadcasting as a whole:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDwODbl3m…)

Long serving as the name of WGRE’s premier News-Talk radio show, the name “TigerFire,” will be retired for the upcoming broadcast year. The decision to rename the show, which serves both the DePauw and Greencastle community, came through multiple discussions between student directors and the faculty advisors. While many names were suggested and considered (including: “DePauw Current,” “DMZ,” and “To The Point”), the WGRE News Team ultimately acted upon the recommendation by Assistant News Director, Ashlyn Archer to rename the show “The Bottom Line”.

While notifications will be made about any possible format changes, the show will continue to air from six to seven on Thursday nights and feature both important guests and relevant commentary.

Questions on this posting, or any “Bottom Line” guest/topic recommendations can be made to WGRE’s Head News Director, Kevin Hoesley, at  kevinhoesley_2011 at depauw.edu.

(Interesting Fact: The TV series Crossfire ran from 1982 to 2005 on CNN. The last hosts of the show were Tucker Carlson and Robert Novak.)