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INN15 IIIIIIIIIIII NNNN NN NNNN NN 11 555555 II NN NN NN NN NN NN 111 55 II NN NN NN NN NN NN 11 55 II NN NN NN NN NN NN = 11 55555 II NN NN NN NN NN NN = 11 55 II NN NN NN NN NN NN 11 55 55 IIIIIIIIIII NN NNNN NN NNNN 111111 555555 INTERNATIONAL NETWORK NEWSLETTER NUMBER 15 JUNE 1991 ============================================================ ABSTRACT Thanks are expressed to the Gang of Three who so successfully organized the Network's conference in Normal in May....announcement is made of the next Network Graduate Workshop and the next Network International Conference in Milwaukee in 1993 the recipients of the Network's initiative to support graduate student travel are recognized....the procedures for the next Network Dissertation Award are announced....The Committee on the Future of the Network reports on its proposals, along with progress report on the talks on the proposed merger with ISSPR .. a new feature of the Newsletters is announced .... a copy of the program for the Normal conference is included in case those who missed the conference would like to benefit by contacting authors of papers MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: IT IS TIME TO RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP. NOTE THAT YOU CAN GET A DISCOUNT BY RENEWING BEFORE SEPTEMBER 30TH THE "NORMAL" CONFERENCE The Normal conference was, from start to finish, a thoroughly well-organized, thoroughly stimulating and thoroughly enjoyable affair with a wonderful atmosphere free from all rancor and strife! Sound too good to be true? Well, if you were not there then ask someone who was and if you were, you probably have already told others. As was put at the very end of the conference, to acclamation by the audience, this "was the best such conference there has ever been". The Network is very grateful to the conference organizers, Bill Cupach, Sandra Metts, and Sue Sprecher, and to their institution, Illinois State University, for its supportiveness. Those of you who missed the conference but want to know about the papers there can turn to the end of this INN for a draft of the program. Another Network innovation! GRADUATE TRAVEL AWARDS Although the Network's innovations and initiatives are almost as innumerable as the sands of the Nile, one of the most important was the initiation of travel awards to support graduate students' participation in conferences. At the conference in Normal the following graduate student members of the Network were rewarded "for simultaneous excellence and poverty" with a Network Travel Award: Rosalie Croghan (UK), Diane Holmberg (Canada) and Pam Yankeelov (USA). Congratulations! NEXT NETWORK GRADUATE WORKSHOP As usual in the "off" (conference) years, the Network is holding a graduate workshop in May of 1992. The theme is "Studying Romantic Relationships" and the Distinguished Speakers are Dan Canary, Rod Cate, Susan Hendrick, and Sandra Metts. The Workshop will take place in Iowa City May 15-17. Usually some 50 graduates from around the world attend these workshops and you are encouraged to bring it to the attention of students. Those wishing further details should contact Melanie Barnes, Chair, International Network's Graduate Workshop, Communication Studies, Univ of Iowa, Iowa City. IA 52242, USA. As you will know, these workshops are a unique Network initiative in the field and provide a great opportunity for students to get to know not only one another, but also famous speakers and others in the field, in the traditionally enjoyable atmosphere of all Network events. Fees are geared not to graduate IQ, but to graduate income and will be less than $100 for the full weekend including accommodation and meals. DISSERTATION AWARD The Network has created an Annual Dissertation Award, as you will know, dating back to 1987. On the recommendation of the past committee on the Dissertation Award, there will be a change to procedure this time around. No award will be made at this time for the current year. Instead the award for dissertations completed in 1991 will be made in mid-1992, and judgements will be made on the basis of a paper derived from the dissertation. The reasons for this are pragmatic. If we judge dissertations then they have to be ready and they have to be read. This means that those people who complete dissertations towards the end of a year are rushed to get the dissertation into the judgement and it also means that the committee has to read huge amounts of material. In the past we have solved this by asking for abstracts only, which solves the second problem but not the first; yet some people write good complex theses with abstracts that do not reflect that so well. If we ask for journal-paper length submissions drawn from the dissertation then it make the task easier for the committee and more comparable for the candidates, as well as, incidentally, encouraging the candidates to develop skills of conciseness in reporting. This procedure also makes it more likely that non-USA dissertators can be considered since the style of European dissertations, for example, renders them unsuitable for submission under the previous arrangements. If we interpose a lag time after the end of the relevant Dissertation Year then every candidate should have a good chance to do the necessary paper as carefully as he or she would like. COMMITTEE ON THE FUTURE Feedback from members The committee sought and received feedback form members on a number of issues, ranging from problems on non- USA people paying their dues in US dollars, to the form of the Dissertation awards, to the prospects of a merger with ISSPR. Issues of organization of mini-conferences and workshops were considered. A list of resulting actions taking to improve things follows. Resulting actions of Committee's discussions Changes to dissertation awards structure to permit consideration of European style theses. See announcement on new procedures Cosponsoring events with other groups The Network's Committee on the Future wisely suggests that the Network support mini-conferences and workshops that are organized locally (especially in countries other than the USA) to bring together workers from different disciplines. If you have plans for such events please say so and the Network can talk to you about them. Also the Network is interested in setting up links with other groups so that we can co-sponsor sessions at other conferences. If you have ideas on this then please get in touch. The Network co-sponsored a "Rising Stars" panel at the International Communication Association Conference in Chicago in May. Papers were presented by 4 graduate students: Kathy Werking (on cross-sex non-romantic friendships); Laurie Haag (on the functions and effects of the first statement of "I love you" on heterosexual and lesbian relationships); Susan Harriman McDaniel (on the nature and functions of family celebration rituals); and Kris Pond (on discursive remembering). This joint sponsorship was the second such arrangement with ICA (the first was in Dublin in 1990). If members would like to set up such co-sponsorships with other professional groups please let me know and we will see what can be done. Fee payment for non US Members The feedback from non-US members indicated that the Network could be doing more for non-US members, one element of which concerns the inconvenience of paying in dollars for the membership package, given the high costs of banking arrangements to transfer funds. Non-US members may continue to pay in dollars if they wish, but may also pay in local currency using the method described on the back of the new membership form. We hope this helps. Proposal from ISSPR to merge with Network The six person Committee reviewed the extra materials produced by their second procedure to elicit members' views and the feedback received by committee members direct from their personal contacts with individual members, in addition to the questionnaire that the Network has previously used to assess general trends of member opinion on the matter of the merger proposed by ISSPR. The committee noted that ISSPR has not yet polled its members at all, and this was a cause for concern in view of the importance of the matter and the "message" that it sends the Network about likely process if a merger were to occur. The Network's second polling yielded results similar to those previously, in terms of specifics, but also evidenced a slight shift away from the desire to merge -- or rather a reaction to the fear of being taken over by a smaller group that happens to have a constitution. The committee reviewed the feedback from members and also looked at some comparative researched information that members may like to consider. In some people's minds the error persists that one group is "international" and the other is "local". In fact both are international and the International Network has members from 21 countries. The committee also considered the claim that the merger would strengthen the field by producing a much bigger and stronger body to represent it. This would be true if the two groups were not already a large degree of overlap composed of some of essentially the same people. The Network has over 600 recently paid up members (members are dropped if they do not renew for two years, so the Directory enclosed with this INN has dropped people who did not renew after paying for 1988-9) while ISSPR claimed around 300 in the 1990 Directory. However, membership in ISSPR lapses only after failure to renew for two payment periods of two years. The 1990 ISSPR Directory thus legitimately contains the names of people who have not paid since 1984-6.

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