Staying connected on campus

By Justin Davis
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Published: October 10, 2008

As freshmen enter college life, they have a variety of ways to network on their campuses. Student media are a great way to stay connected and know what’s going on.

Student-run newspapers and broadcasts allow students to create information and determine how they want to receive it. Virginia Commonwealth University for instance runs the VCU Insight project, which involves mass communications majors in a public broadcasting program that airs four times a month on Richmond’s PBS affiliate WCVE.

The show, which premiered in January 2003, features the latest news events from the VCU campuses as well as profiles of students and faculty.

“Without question, the opportunity to produce stories for a real audience raises the bar for everyone involved,” said Debora Wenger, an associate professor for media convergence and new media at VCU, who serves as the executive producer for Insight. Around 5,000 people see the Insight show on a good night, according to Wenger.

VCU and the University of Richmond also have their own student-run radio stations: WVCW and WDCE. VCU’s WVCW is broadcasted online, playing music from the College Music Journal catalog, as well as informational talk shows that cover sports and politics. The University of Richmond’s WDCE on the other hand is broadcasted with an FM signal.

Brice Maddox, a VCU broadcasting student, believes that student networking is a significant issue that many universities are catching on to. Maddox hosts a show on WVCW called the “Rhythematic Explosion,” which focuses on hip-hop music and news.

“Student-controlled media are a great thing,” said Maddox. “Unlike school or faculty-controlled media, they provide an aura of authenticity because they are run by students who are going through the same situations as their peers.”

VCU theatre major Adriel Hunter agrees.

“As a freshman, I can say that I was not very sure what to use to stay informed on my campus,” she said, adding that student media help reduce the heavy filtering of news that comes from regular media.

VCU and the University of Richmond also offer student-run newspapers, which focus on current news and events on campus.

The Collegiate at the University of Richmond is published once a week and the Commonwealth Times at VCU twice a week. Student staffs are responsible for the publication of these newspapers, but other students are also invited for article contributions.

“The future of student media lies in devices that allow the freedom of control. I-pods, computers, and podcasts are just the beginning of what is to come,” said Paul Porterfield, the director of the Media Resource Center at the University of Richmond.

The MRC provides a variety of media equipment for students and has an inventory of more than 10,000 videocassettes, laserdiscs, and DVDs, 1,500 audio books, and 500 audiocassettes and compact discs.

Corey Lewis, a business accounting major at the University of Richmond, feels that the student influence on media content is important to a college campus.

“It’s good to know what is going on on campus and to get the students’ take on student life,” said Lewis, who also feels that opinion articles in newspapers like the Collegiate increase the importance of the student voice.

Bertrand Morin, who also attends the University of Richmond, agrees.

“Newspapers keep me in the know with what is going on on campus, especially since the University of Richmond is like its own community,” he said.

Student-created media at colleges in Richmond are constantly striving to improve and to incorporate the latest technologies.

“I think students should be using their time in school to experiment,” said Wenger. “Every student should have his or her own blog and then play around with it—upload videos to YouTube, post pictures, add polls—try new things to be familiar with the tools of new media.

“That will bring these students one-step ahead of many in their classrooms and definitely ahead of many in newsrooms today. It’s a career enhancement,” she added.