Gov. Pat McCrory's office has sent the following letter to newspapers across the state in response to the controversy over the comments he made questioning the value of certain liberal arts degrees in today's economy.
Gov. Pat McCrory's official response to the debate over his higher education comments
Submitted by bwheeler on 02/01/2013 - 17:33
The memorial that wasn't
Submitted by tleonard on 01/09/2013 - 14:38Reginald A. Fessenden, the radio pioneer known as the "father of voice radio," conducted some of his experiments on North Carolina's outer banks, earning a place along side the Wright Brothers as inventors claimed by the state.
Professor Fessenden is credited with the perfection of continuous wave telegraph. His messages in 1902 between Roanoke Island and Hatteras represented the longest two-way wireless telephone communication up to that time. Later, he successfully bridged the Atlantic with two-way radio communication, and made the first broadcast in radio history.
He is credited with over 500 patents, and these include many pioneer inventions. His successes were dimmed by litigations. For nearly 30 years his achievements were ignored, and not until 1928, until court after court had upheld his claim, did he reap some financial reward for his inventions.
In 1926, citizens of Dare county, seeking to further recognize their history, started a program to create a monument to the Wrights at Kill Devil Hills, and one to Fessenden on Roanoke Island. For lack of sufficient data on Fessenden, plans for his memorial was postponed.
... Fessenden moved to Bermuda and died in 1932. Mrs. Helen M. Fessenden published his biography in 1940. Once again the citizens of Dare County got in touch with the Fessenden family ... and asked the approval of the family that a national memorial to the inventor be in North Carolina.
Hardly had Mrs. Fessenden given her approval ... than she was stricken with a heart attack and died in April of this year. -- The News & Observer 8/16/1941
In 1941, the Fessenden National Memorial Association was organized, and that summer, a ceremony was held on Roanoke Island to dedicate its efforts. Writer Ben Dixon MacNeill captured the scene:
This island which has had a ringside seat at three and a half centuries of history-making moved a mighty epoch out from under the shadow of more noted epochs this afternoon, and so was begun the rendering of due honor to Reginald A. Fessenden who four decades ago sent from this island the first transmission of the human voice by wireless telephone.
George Gordon Battle, come home from New York back to the scenes where his childhood Summers were passed, described the epoch as "the last mighty link in the cycle of human communication that began when man first rode an animal or floated on a log." In eloquent peroration he challenged Americans to preserve and rededicate the ideals of the pioneer that brought these implements of civilization into being.
Very nearly forgotten by the world in the glamorous shadow of Kill Devil Hill, where men found wings, and within the shadow of the Lost Colony, where English civilization found rebirth, were worked out the first experiments that flowered into the miracle of radio. And to the island this afternoon came a goodly company of those who remembered to do honor at last to the man who began the miracle.
Those attending the program were Governor Broughton, who was making his first trip to the Outer Banks, the widow of Thomas Edison's son, "who happened to pass by the island on a vacation cruise while the Fessenden experiments were underway and remained here two years with her late husband," and others who helped with the experiments.
Beside these there were many old timers on the island, or they rate as old timers now. They knew the Fessendens and the Edisons and Marconi when they were all here. ...
It was the sheriff's idea that came into flower this afternoon with the celebration and dedication. It has been tugging away at him for years and years ever since the Wright Memorial reared its glorious head above the crest of Kill Devil. -- The News & Observer 8/25/1941
But the enthusiasm for the proposed memorial was not shared throughout the state. The News & Observer's Under the Dome column raised some questions about the plan:
While private contributors are being asked to sink $100,000 into a memorial to the late Reginald A. Fessenden on Roanoke Island, where officials yesterday whooped it up for the famous inventor, there are a lot of questions arising in the minds of persons farther from the scene.
In the first place, some are asking why Roanoke Island, where the inventor brushed up a system he already had devised elsewhere, should be the spot for a high-priced memorial to a Canadian whose activities took him all over the country. Some would like to know who now owns the equipment which was sold at auction after Fessenden left Roanoke in a huff following a quarrel with the U. S. Weather Bureau. They also would like to know how much of that $100,000 those owners would ask for that equipment to be placed on display in a memorial. -- The News & Observer 8/25/1941
As it turned out, the Fessenden memorial never quite got off the ground. According to the Outer Banks History Center, maintained by the State Archives of North Carolina, the Association, led by the Dare County sheriff Victor Meekins, had plans well underway by 1963, but when Meekins died in 1964, the group became inactive. Despite an attempt by Meekin's son to resurrect the group, the land set aside for the memorial was transferred to the Roanoke Island Historical Association in 1980.
Above, Reginald Fessenden, seated, and his staff (inlcuding Mike "The Wireless Cat") at Brant Rock, MA station. Top, Fessenden's wireless station on Cape Hatteras. Photos courtesy of the NC State Archives.
How pranks in the digital age turn tragic
Submitted by bwheeler on 12/12/2012 - 15:39From the family of quintessential pranksters comes an opinion piece about the royal prank heard round the word. Peter Funt, the son of Candid Camera's Allen Funt, says the difference today is that everything is magnified and made permanent in the digital environment.
Love in (and on) the air
Submitted by tleonard on 10/08/2012 - 15:56
For the nearly 50 years of their marriage, one Raleigh couple had quite a story to tell about their wedding day. Writer Betsy W. Forrest told about the wedding all of Raleigh was invited to.
A strictly private wedding ceremony open to the public!
That's just what will take place next Saturday evening at Station WPTF in Studio No. 1 when Miss Margaret Fussell, staff pianist, and H. Felton Williams, radio engineer, speak their marriage vows before the microphone. Rev. E. Gibson Davis pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church, will officiate.
The studio ceremony comes as the culmination of a real radio romance which began about a month ago.
It will be the first wedding to be broadcast over radio in Raleigh, and so far as H. K. Carpenter, head-man at the Station, is able to determine, it will be the first time it has been done in the South.
The first marriage ceremony to go on the air was that of Wendell Hall, the "red-headed music-maker" of Station WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio, which took place in 1924. His bride was a member of the staff of that station.
[...]
The program of the wedding will consume 30 minutes of the day's broadcast, being on the air from 6:15 o'clock until 6:45 o'clock. After the ceremony, regular programs scheduled for the evening will continue from the studios.
The staff orchestra, The Blue Birds, will play the wedding music, Claiborn Mangum singing the nuptial numbers, Kingham Scott will preside at the organ, playing the wedding march.
Since the ceremony will be witnessed only by staff members and the families of the contracting parties, the studios will be closed to the public from 5 o'clock until 10 o'clock Saturday evening. The studio with its decoration, altar, and wedding setting will be open for inspection from Saturday at noon until 5 o'clock and all day Sunday so that those who would like to view the scene of the event may do so.
Following the ceremony, the bridal couple will be feted at a studio reception tendered them by their co-workers. During the ceremony there will be no one in the studio except those who have, of necessity, to be there. Staff members will view the scene from the reception hall.
Miss Fussell and Mr. Williams are not the ones who conceived the idea of having their wedding broadcast. It was Mr. Carpenter who had the happy thought. And if it hadn't been for Mr. Carpenter's detective ability, or his insight into the hearts, so to speak, of those with whom he comes into daily contact, there would be no studio ceremony.
"You know," said Mr. Carpenter, "I had a notion that something was up between those two, and it was just a few days ago that I got it out of Williams. He was back at the controls and I had him where he had to stay put, and so I gave him the third degree -- put him on the spot. I even accused him of being married already and told him I was going to announce that fact when I went on the air.... Well, he came across all right, not right at that moment, but he made me promise that I would not say anything that night and he'd tell me the truth of the whole situation. So, here you are, or rather, here they are."
Miss Fussell and Mr. Williams were rather non-committal concerning the affair. It seems that the announcement has had a devastating effect upon the morale of the staff. "We've hardly been able to get anything done," said Miss Fussell, "and our plans are by no means complete."
"We don't in the least mind having the ceremony go on the air," said Miss Fussell. "We're both so much at home here that it seems the natural thing to do. Of course, the folks here have kidded us a good deal and all of us are pretty much excited about it."
Mr. Williams, when told by Mr. Carpenter that the newspaper wanted a story on the affair ... said, "I'd better look out or I'll have to go around this town wearing black glasses and a mustache."
Kingham Scott, staff organist and funny-bone tickler, has written a clever parody on the broadcast of the ceremony. This, of course, is entirely aside from the actual ceremony and will probably be used in the Wupetyfuf Revue this week. ...
The bride-to-be is popularly known as "Peggy" Fussell. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. C. Fussell, of Goldsboro. She lived in Raleigh for several years before becoming associated with the radio station. She studied music under Mrs. W. J. Ferrell of this city and from the Southern Conservatory of Music in Durham. She made her radio debut in the fall of 1928, appearing from time to time on special programs. For about a year she has been a staff pianist and is well known to radio fans, and some time she has been singing before the microphone, playing her own accompaniment. The radio audience has been frequently entertained by Miss Fussell's own compositions which are of the popular type.
Mr. Williams is the son of Mr. and Mrs. H. E. Williams of this city and has between 8 and 9 years' experience in radio work. He is audio engineer at WPTF and has been with the local station about a year and a half.... His duties at the station consist of working at the control board, switching studios, checking remote control broadcasts and keeping the sound output at a constant level.
Controlling the volume of the tone of various speakers before the microphone, Mr. Williams has to increase and decrease the power according to the voice of the person broadcasting. "I told them," he said, "to be sure to get Peggy up close to the mike during the ceremony because her volume is low."
The engineer who will be at the controls when the wedding takes place jokingly said "When Felton says 'I do" I'm going to turn the volume up as low as possible, and when Peggy says it, I'm going to make it very low."
"We think it's going to be pretty nice having the wedding broadcast," said Miss Fussell, "especially since Mother and Dad may not be able to get there, then they can hear it all, even if they can't see us."
Mr. Carpenter is very enthusiastic about the whole plan and thinks it should prove a big success. "I hope," he said , "that the audience will get the spirit of this thing as we mean for them to get it and not look upon it as some publicity stunt, because it isn't"
And it isn't. To these two young people so perfectly at home among the staff of the station consider it the perfectly natural thing to have their wedding attended by their friends and heard by those to whose moods they cater each day. -- The News and Observer 2/22/1931
WRAL recruits WUNC's Leslie to expand political coverage
Submitted by AlanMWolf on 01/13/2011 - 07:16The voice of public radio's political coverage in North Carolina is going commercial.
Laura Leslie, who has covered state politics and government at WUNC for more than six years, is joining WRAL as a multimedia reporter. Her last day at WUNC is today, and she'll start at WRAL on Friday.
In her new role, Leslie will continue coverage of the legislature and state politics. Leslie said she'll focus mostly on expanding WRAL's online coverage, including webcasts and podcasts, as the General Assembly prepares to return to Raleigh.
"I'll be telling the same stories, but I'll have new ways to tell them," she said. "The news business is changing and legislative coverage needs to change with it. I see it as an immense opportunity."
Recruiting Leslie signals that WRAL, owned by Raleigh-based Capitol Broadcasting, is seeking to beef up its legislative coverage as Republicans control the General Assembly for the first time since 1898.
Reminder: Greg Cox on WPTF
Submitted by gregcox on 01/07/2011 - 10:39Reminder: "Dining Out with Greg Cox" resumes tomorrow on NewsRadio WPTF after a two-week hiatus for the holidays.
Tune in to 680AM at 11 a.m., and join me for an hour of the latest dish on the local dining scene. It's a call-in show, so here's your chance to quiz me or share a tip of your own.
You can also catch the show online at wptf.com.
REMINDER: "Dining Out with Greg Cox" radio show debuts today
Submitted by gregcox on 12/04/2010 - 08:00REMINDER: Tune in to WPTF radio (that’s 680 on the AM dial) this morning at 11 a.m. for the debut of my weekly call-in talk show, “Dining Out with Greg Cox.” I'll dish up the latest on the local restaurant scene, and I’ll field questions from listeners. You can also catch the show online at www.wptf.com.
"Dining Out with Greg Cox" debuts on WPTF radio
Submitted by gregcox on 11/29/2010 - 16:54Got a question or tip about a restaurant? A bone to pick with me about my latest review?
Tune in to WPTF radio (that’s 680 on the AM dial) this Saturday, December 4 at 11 a.m. for the debut of my weekly call-in talk show, “Dining Out with Greg Cox.” I'll dish up the latest on the local restaurant scene, and I’ll field questions from listeners. You can also catch the show online at www.wptf.com.
I look forward to chewing the fat with you.
WRAL-FM switches to nonstop holiday music
Submitted by AlanMWolf on 11/22/2010 - 11:40Christmas has arrived for Triangle radio listeners.
Officials with WRAL-FM (Mix 101.5) this morning converted the station's broadcast to all-holiday music. They had planned to wait until Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, for the annual switch but decided to do it a few days early.
The station has been streaming holiday music at its website and on its HD sister channel for several weeks. The volume of listeners on those outlets and an "enormous number of emails and calls from listeners asking that we start sooner" prompted the earlier switch, program director Barry Fox wrote in an e-mail.
Holiday music arriving soon on local radio
Submitted by AlanMWolf on 11/05/2010 - 05:00
The Christmas carols are coming.
Every year, at least one radio station in the Triangle converts to playing all holiday tunes -- 24/7 of Rudolph, Feliz Navidad and White Christmas.
This year, WRAL-FM plans to make the switch on Nov. 26. That's the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday and treasured by eager retailers as the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season.
That's later than last year, and WRAL (101.5) might do it sooner if a rival radio station jumps in, said program director Barry Fox. In the meantime, WRAL started streaming Christmas music from its website this week.
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