Communication Currents

Smashing Stereotypes? Communicating Disability in Wheelchair Rugby

Two men in tank-like wheelchairs race toward each other on a basketball court. One cradles a volley ball with one of his tree trunk arms. The other, trying to prevent a score, adjusts the angle of his speeding chair and smashes into the side of the oncoming chair, sending the first man and the ball toppling to the floor. The crowd cheers. “Murderball,” as it is called in the Oscar-nominated documentary of the same name, is a fast-paced, rough-and-tumble sport played by quadriplegic men and women. The athletes involved in these sport interactions communicate something surprising about disability. The wheelchair is a symbol of frailty and weakness to our able-bodied society, and wheelchair rugby athletes smash that stereotype with their hard-hitting play. The rules and regulations of this ultra-competitive sport, however, may push players to use their bodies to communicate more disability to get a favorable classification from the physical therapists who classify them. These displays, called “sandbagging,” can be thought of as performances. The athletes employ specific verbal and nonverbal displays to communicate a particular identity to an audience. Sandbagging is not only common but often encouraged. And like the aggressive on-court displays, performances of sandbagging radically alter perceptions of what it means to be physically disabled. Read more >

Cross Current

Symbolism, Community,

and Recovery at Virginia Tech

Organizations invest significant time, energy, and financial resources in symbols to represent identity, culture, and values. The logos, colors, names, slogans, and other visual representations of an organization are designed to create a unique niche in the marketplace, to build customer and employee identification with the organization, and ultimately to enhance investor value. Rarely are those symbols intentionally designed to carry an organization through crisis, yet the organizational culture communicated through its symbols is central to crisis response and recovery. That's part of the Virginia Tech story.

Over the last five years, Virginia Tech endorsed the Principles of Community, a statement of values and principles to guide its activities. We completed a branding initiative to better define our identity, one that represented the values and traditions of the university and identifies our aspirations. Our new tag line, "Invent the Future," worked its way into our collective psyche as we adopted new versions of our trademarked symbols, adapted to new web designs, and focused our university's message around key themes all centered on the people who make Virginia Tech a special place.

Then, the university faced an unprecedented crisis. The individual and community responses to the worst mass shooting in U.S. history on April 16, 2007 at Virginia Tech embodied and deepened the meaning of the university's symbols. In our devastation, we turned to rituals and symbols to sustain the community and university. I remember vividly sitting in a basketball arena with 10,000 people in complete silence, listening to Nikki Giovanni summon our strength as we struggled to understand an unimaginable attack on our campus. We stood in a sea of candles around a spontaneous memorial on a warm spring evening, listening to Taps echo across the heart of campus. We watched as pictures from around the world showed people wearing maroon and orange. The visual and verbal symbols of those first days unified and sustained the community. They continue to aid our recovery, even as our experiences enrich and deepen their meaning. Read more>

Earth Day and Environmental Communication:

More Timely Now than Ever

Founded in 1970 at what some have called the birth of the contemporary environmental movement, Earth Day has become an enduring institution and a powerful global symbol. Earth Day is recognized across the globe, conveys a message of global connectedness, and reminds us of the need to think globally rather than myopically in addressing shared ecological challenges.

Ironically, controversy persists regarding who founded Earth Day and when to observe the occasion. An annual ceremony takes place at the United Nations headquarters in March, marking the northern hemisphere’s vernal equinox, while most U.S. celebrants favor April 22, the anniversary of a national environmental demonstration. As with global warming and other issues, the U.S. treads a path of its own across the environmental landscape.

In a now-classic example of the power of visual communication, an iconic image of the planet in blue, white and brown tones graces the unofficial flag of Earth Day—a symbol of a symbol. Taken during one of the early Apollo missions, the image resonated compellingly with Buckminster Fuller’s concept of spaceship Earth (borrowed from the economist Kenneth Boulding), a fragile and irreplaceable habitat carrying us through the hostile void of space. It was just a short leap from that metaphor to another one current at the time, media theorist Marshall McLuhan’s global village.

iPod Appeal:

Sexual Allure of a Gadget

Today it is difficult to ride on a train or bus, to shop in a store, or simply to sit in a park without being confronted by someone else's musical enjoyment--chances are, you'll see someone listening to or playing with an iPod. Personal music devices have been around since Sony introduced the Walkman in 1979; however, no single device has dominated the market or public space quite like the iPod. Why has listening to an iPod in public become so controversial? Or more to the point, how have these devices become so ubiquitous? The answer to both questions is that iPods have sex appeal. Read more>

The Role of E-mail in Parent-Teacher Communication

Communication between parents and teachers plays an important role in student success at the elementary and secondary levels. Traditionally,
parent-teacher communication has been infrequent, often occurring at designated times or when teachers contacted parents regarding student problems. However, e-mail has dramatically changed parent-teacher communication. While its advantage is that it is more timely, it also restricts vocal and nonverbal cues. When parents and teachers communicate about students by e-mail, how could they do so more effectively? Read more>

Ethics of Customer Service Work

Communicating care for a customer or communicating to control a customer? For many people, good customer service means being cared for, not controlled. Yet, employees who perform customer service through customer service call centers should both care for and control customers. Balancing care and control is difficult, and this combination of care and control makes interactive service work rather distasteful to employees not accustomed to this type of work.