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ALUMNI PROFILE
Di Palma Forum Reaches Out
By Lisa Mitsuko Kitayama
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Joseph Di Palma '52
with actress Shirley Jones on the set of The Di Palma
Forum.
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While many television
viewers prefer to just sit back and complain about the lack of good
programming, the College graduated at least one viewer who is doing
something about it. In addition to a successful career in tax
litigation and managing his family's investment portfolio,
Joseph Di Palma '52 founded The Di Palma Forum at the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a television program that features
celebrity panels discussing issues of social concern. Di Palma felt
that serious discussion panel shows on timely issues were not
widely available on television. Though celebrity chat shows, like
ABC's Politically Incorrect, air nationwide, the debate
typically skews towards comedy, a venue that Di Palma feels limits
serious debate on key topics.
The
Di Palma Forum combines focused debate with the celebrity element,
targeting viewers who might not necessarily tune in to Sunday
morning public affairs broadcasts but who would be attracted by
celebrities. The first segment aired in November 1997 on Las
Vegas's KLVX-TV Channel 10. Moderated by Dr. Claudia Collins, a
former Las Vegas public affairs reporter, The Di Palma Forum
has featured actors Elliot Gould, John Dye, Shirley Jones, Marty
Ingels and Audrey Landers, among others. Di Palma is directly
involved in production, researching the issues discussed and
writing the questions, while his wife, Joycelyn Engle, is the
program's executive producer and recruits panelists. Both volunteer
their time and energies for the Forum, but Di Palma stresses that
the rewards far exceed the costs. "If I'm going to devote five or
six hours a day to tax litigation, why not two or three hours to
something that gives me enormous satisfaction?" Working in
conjunctions with UNLV and Channel 10, Di Palma hopes eventually to
air the Forum nationwide.
The Di Palma Forum
is the most public of Di Palma's philanthropic endeavors. He is
executive director of The Di Palma Position Papers, a non-profit
think tank that examines economic and social issues; it also
underwrites the Nightly Business Report on PBS in New York
and Las Vegas. In addition, he established The Di Palma Center for
the Study of Jewelry and Precious Metals at the Cooper-Hewitt
National Design Museum in New York.
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