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Broadcast Education Association As the Broadcast Education Association embarks upon reaching its 50th year, we celebrate a major milestone in its history. The BEA has been responding to broadcast education from 1955 to today. As the professional association for professors, industry professionals and graduate students who are interested in teaching and research related to electronic media and multimedia enterprises, our more than 1,400 individual and institutional members continue to serve as the critical link between the college professors who teach tomorrow's radio and television employees and the professionals working in the broadcasting industry. The BEA continues to capitalize upon its recognition as the international academic organization that focuses on the electronic media, providing a forum for issues and topics of mutual concern to educators and practitioners, thus facilitating interaction between academicians and leaders in the industry. The BEA focuses on the most current thinking and developments in the electronic media arena with emphasis on interaction between the purposes, developments, and practices of the industry, thereby imparting this information to future professionals in ways to help students to develop as more thoughtful practitioners. Challenge: To celebrate our anniversary, each interest division is encouraged to seek panels and presentations that advance interaction in order to promote curriculums with that unique combination of a liberal arts education and the practical skills essential for employment in the radio, television and the electronic media industry. Interest divisions are further challenged to create new, shared approaches, seek out other interest divisions as partners on panels, and strive to increase the diversity of representation and perspective to provide a forum for current scholarly research and analysis in all aspects of the electronic media. These areas include regulation, economics, policy, management, news, student advising, aesthetics, social effects, writing, production and criticism, among possible others. Throughout our programs and panels, we should strive to provide a broad range of services and affiliations to our academic and professional members to help keep them abreast of the latest electronic media developments in new technologies, policies, and systems. Like my predecessors, I am also personally challenging the interest divisions to have one new BEA member on each invited panel/presentation. Further to this challenge is one of diversity by encouraging colleagues to join the BEA and contribute to our ongoing continued excellence for electronic media academics, industry and future professionals. Sam Sauls
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