Tom Wheeler earns praise from students, faculty ■ JOURNALISM: The professor is known for his successful careers as both a musician and journalist By Amy Palanuk Higher Education Reporter While hanging out in the hallways of Allen Hall, journalism dean Duncan Mc Donald noticed a student approach jour nalism professor Tom Wheeler. So the dean of the School of Journalism stopped to eavesdrop on the conversation. “The student asked Wheeler to give him some more examples of writing for the me dia. so Tom started to go into this serious discussion,” McDonald said. “After a quick thank you, the student paused, then asked, ‘Did you ever meet anybody that was in The Who?’ And Tom says, ‘Well, of course... Questions from students like this are common for Wheeler. As a former writer and editor for Guitar Player and an avid guitar player himself, Wheeler has jammed with some of the greats. And his acquain tances with stars such as Eric Clapton and Chuck Berry make him popular with his students. But Wheeler’s skills as a musician and journalist are only part of what he does well. As a professor in the School of Jour nalism, Wheeler has recently earned tenure status with the University, making him a permanent fix on the faculty. The tenure was announced a week ago by University provost John Mosely and comes as no surprise to McDonald. “He takes such a deep interest in the success of students,” McDonald said. “He’s good in big classes, and he’s good in small classes. That’s a rare talent.” Many of Wheeler’s students find his ex periences with music stars fascinating. “Tom has a certain cult following,” Mc m COURTESY PHOTO Professor Tom Wheeler earned tenure sta tus at the School of Journalism and Com munication last week. Donald said. But Wheeler tends to deny any sort of cult following, claiming that working with famous people was what he was paid to do. “After spending 14 years with a maga zine whose main focus was guitar players, interviewing famous bands was just part of the job,” Wheeler said. Wheeler won’t deny that the job was fun, however. “When I was editor of Guitar Player, I had literally the best job I’d ever heard of,” Wheeler said. “Not because it was all fun and games, but specialty magazines allow one to pursue one’s passion while still do ing journalistic work.” Now, Wheeler’s passion for teaching al lows him to explore other interests. Wheeler is currently working on re search in digital photography, a topic he found interesting while watching televi sion with his son. “I was sitting on the couch watching TV when he asked, 'Hey dad, is this real?’” Wheeler said. Wheeler’s interest was immediately sparked. He wanted to study the effects on a generation of children who are growing up with digitally manipulated images everywhere in the mainstream media. “The ability to alter images raises impor tant issues,” Wheeler said. These issues are the focus of his re search, which has led him into ground breaking discussions with professionals in photography and law. Next month Wheel er will attend a conference in Washington, D.C. to discuss the ethics of digital photog raphy . “It means a lot when a faculty member gets picked to do those things,” McDonald said. “I like it.” Wheeler’s popularity in the classroom stems from the stories he tells students about working at Guitar Player. One story that Wheeler shares involves an interview he once had with legendary blues musician B.B. King. "He was telling me about when he was working in the late 40s, blacks were ashamed of playing the blues,” Wheeler said. “Then he went on to talk about some thing else.” Wheeler did not understand King’s com ment on being ashamed of playing, but proceeded with the interview, pretending to listen. “I kept thinking about, what was that about blacks being ashamed? They invent ed the blues, what do you mean they’re ashamed?” Wheeler said. So Wheeler went back to the question and asked King to explain what he meant. “King then went into a dissertation about how there was a lot of pressure on them to sound white,” Wheeler said. “That discussion led into one of the most fasci nating discussions I’ve ever had with an interviewee about race, culture and mu sic.” Wheeler tells his students there is a les son from this story. “If it’s not clear in the middle of the con versation, get it while you can, or you’ll never know what direction that inter view’s going to go. You’ll go home and kick yourself for not getting it,” Wheeler said. Wheeler’s ability to relate past experi ences with current techniques in journal istic writing has given him the popular edge with students. “He’s a hip teacher,” said Gary Thill, a graduate teaching fellow in Wheeler’s Writing for the Media class. “He can work with students on a real basis, and connects with them really well.” Being hip also includes playing the gui tar, something Wheeler taught himself how to do when he was 13 years-old. “He’s pretty bad [meaning good],” Mc Donald said. Wheeler is currently part of a band called the Emerald City Rockets. The band plays in Eugene venues such as Good Times and the Rainy Day Cafe. “We gig very occasionally,” Wheeler said, “but at this point it’s a hobby. We’re doing it for fun.” Wheeler has also written two books on guitars, one forwarded by B.B. King. He won the journalism school’s Marshall Award for Innovative Teaching in 1993, and also helped start the award-winning Flux magazine at the School of Journalism. “I don’t know if it’s a requirement, but when you can say that one of your faculty members knows Eric Clapton or Chuck Berry, that’s pretty cool,” McDonald said. Workshops Woodworking Ceramics Jewelry Photography Weaving Bike Repair and More CRAFT CENTER UO ♦ EMU lower level ♦ 316-1561 THIS WEEK AVAILABLE AT EMU TICKETS AND SERVICES http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/_emusched/tickets.html MARCH 3-9 The EMU Child Care and Development Centers (CCDC) announce: ADDITIONAL AN/AILA&ILITY Of OJlLD CARL A56I6TANCL pROM A5U0 CJ-JlLD CARL 5UE>A>IDY Depending on financial need, qualifying students may be eligible to receive up to 45% of their child care costs. For information contact the CCDC office at 1511 Moss or 346-4384. Volleyball-Men’? Tournament Ger B54 Fri 3^7 7-1 Opm Sat 345 Z^am-Bpm : Skydiving Meeting Sat • 7-830pm Walnut Room Cultural forum events 3/4 Merl Saunders...J12.00 UO, $14.00 gp 3/5 MOE w/special guest Sweet Vine_$5.00 UO. $4.00 gp J' Other upcoming events 3/4 Adrian Legg_... 3/5 The Hanson Brothers w/the Hex Pistols... 3/6 John McCutcheon__ 3/7 Cherry Poppin' Daddies.„ 3/8 Pete Riser & DJ Chill 3/9 Fishbone... .$7.00 ...$6.00 .$9.00 .$7.00 ..$6.00 .$15.00 3/15 Skye S Crabs in the Skillet.46.00 3/19 Sky Cries Mary___$8.00 3/23 The Brandeis-Bardin....$7.00 J'UNIVERSITY THEATRE TICKETS 3/6-8,14-15 Shadowlands.$4.50 1)0, $9.00 gp 4/9-12,17-19 Illuminati....$3.00 UO, $6.00 gp 5/9-10,15-17,23-24 Dragon Tales.$4.50 UO, $9.00 gp 5/28-31,6/5-7 Vinegar Tom.$3.00 UO, $6.00 gp Tickets subject to service charge OUTDOOR STORE GARAGE SALE Thursday, 7:30pm, March 6 EMU Ballroom Returns, discontinued items, excess inventory, used rental gear, and other deals will be flying at this unique gathenng of Eugene's outdoor gear stores! 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