Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 25, 2001 Page: 3 of 8
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Features
January 25, 2001 3
TV station broadcasting soon; seeks name
Tolly Moseley
News Editor
Ready for on-campus music and
sports coverage, news reports, and
student commercials?
The Southwestern University
student-run television station proj-
ect is nearing completion, and sta-
tion coordinators anticipate the first
broadcast in late February.
The station recently received
Southwestern publication status,
and was the first project to gain pub-
lication status since Southwestern’s
Editorial Board was created. Also,
station coordinators were awarded a
$5000 grant from the King Creativ-
ity Fund to finance the endeavor.
The station’s student coordi-
nators - Stephanie Arsenault, Joi
Lakes, Casey Douglas, and Meghan
Lyons - are eager to see the station
in action, and hope that it facilitates
creativity and encourages students’
involvement. “We want people to
utilize the station for all it will have
to offer, and bring us their ideas
and creations,” said Arsenault.
A large portion of the station’s
grant money was used to purchase
proper equipment.
“We had to buy a digital video
camera for easier and quicker video
editing, a VCR, and a modulator,
which turns the television signal
into a cable signal, and allows the
broadcast to be aired all over the
campus,” explained Lakes.
“Information Technology has
been especially helpful in helping
us figure out how to use the equip-
ment properly,” added Arsenault.
In the future, station coordi-
nators will host training sessions
for students wanting to utilize the
equipment and make broadcast con-
tributions to the station. The train-
ing sessions have two aims: to
familiarize the students with the
equipment and make them com-
fortable using it, and to prevent
misuse of and damage to the equip-
ment.
In addition, student coordina-
tors plan to hold a “Name the
Station” contest soon, similar to
the “Name the Snackbar” contest
held in spring 1999 (which yielded
“Ground Zero.”) They invite all
students, staff, and faculty to con-
tribute their ideas for a possible
reward.
“The station name doesn’t nec-
essarily have to be relevant to the
school, but should be fairly inclu-
sive. We don’t want to name the
station ‘Communication Depart-
ment TV,’ or something like that,”
noted Arsenault. “We definitely
welcome all ideas, however.”
According to station coordina-
tors, the station’s first broadcasts
will probably involve two hours of
programming a day, and run stu-
dent commercials or power-point
advertisements during idle time.
Regular programs will include
school news and sports coverage,
music and possible comedy per-
formances, advertising for student
organizations, and students’ unique
program creations.
“Since this is a university atmo-
sphere. our guideline are fairly lax
at this point about what we can and
can’t air. We’ll encourage people to
keep their ideas within reason, but
we can’t limit anyone’s freedom
of expression,” said Lakes. “Plus,
at this point, we’re only interested
in broadcasting at school, not to
Georgetown as well.” 4
“In the way, way off future,
we might try to connect with the
Austin Music Network, and air
live music performances from the
'arT1rr"ng Day 6
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Students eargerly await the first broadcast day of the new student-run SU TV channel The channel will feature news, sports, and
original programming by students
Austin area,” com-
mented Lakes.
Many members of
the Southwestern
community have
clearly indicated their
support of the stu-
dents’ efforts, and
have shown excite-
ment about the sta-
tion’s possibilities. ‘
“The station name
doesn’t necessarily
have to be relevant to
the school, but should
be fairly inclusive.”
‘At our first we’re going to
organizational
meeting, we got a
turnout of about
30 people who
were interested in
becoming
involved in the
station in some
way,” said Arse-
nault. “Soon,
hold ‘Task Force'
meetings, so that we can begin
assigning interested students to dif-
ferent areas of the station's future-
execution.”
The. student-run television sta-
tion, which began as an Indepen-
dent Study project for some of the
station’s coordinators, is designed
to provide a forum for student
expression, and seeks to enhance
Southwestern's community atmo-
sphere. “The si/e of Southwestern
is especially conducive to this proj-
ect," said Lakes. “We were able to
develop the station without a lot of
the hassle that a huge public school
would have to go through."
Look for the student-run televi-
sion station to light up your tele-
vision sets in late February. II
interested in contributing to the sta-
tion, contact Lakes or Arsenault
King Creativity Fund continues to help students grow
Sara Springfield
Megaphone Staff
About six months ago, 29-year
old SU alumnus Joey King donated
$500,(XX) to Southwestern! This'
new fund, titled the King Creativ-
ity Fund, was donated in the hopes
that ambitious Southwestern stu-
dents would now be able to use
the money for education-advanc-
ing projects. King has not been let
down. Twenty-three students were
chosen to receive a part of this fund
before Christmas break, receiving
up to $1500 to use for their proj-
ects. Karen Adamson, Stephanie
Arsenault, Mark Corbin, Elizabeth
Dinn, Deann Dixon, Casey Doug-
las, Aleta Estrada, Brent Furl,
Crystal Guillory, Karen Harton,
Javan Cayo Johnson, Christopher
Kersten, Jonathan Knipscher, Joi
Lakes, Charles Lindsey, Aaron
Lozier, Megan Lyons, Autumn
Petty, Ryan Smith, Steven Smith,
Ryatj Suarez, Alan Suderman, and
Allison Young all received this new
gran!
The grant recipients were
chosen by a selection committee of
five students (Rosie Baumberger,
Amy Coe, Robert Romig, Amy
Tims, and Allison Young), a faculty
advisor (Jacquline Muir-Broaddus),
and an administrative advisor (Julie
Cowley).
Southwestern students were
encouraged through e-mail to apply
to become a member of this board
and were then chosen based on
their applications. This being the
first round of KCF applicants, the
committee had to make up the first
set of rules. “We weren’t really
sure how to go about choosing
the recipients,” said Rosie Baum-
berger. “The adults tried to leave
most of the decision making up to
us.” The group ended up creating
three piles out of the project pro-
posals: yes, no, and maybe. .They
then held discussions about the
maybe pile, and decided which of
those should receive the grant.
Most students who were given
this award are using the money to
create a project that is an exten-
sion of their personality, or simply
to advance their education in a cer-
tain field of study. Ryan Smith,
a junior Computer Science major,
received $1320 to create a more
superior form of 3-D animation,
similar to the type of animation
used in Toy Story. His project will
include creating a short story about
an old, Japanese legend. When
asked why he chose this project,
Ryan responded, “I want to create
an artistic representation of what
art means to me.”
Some students decided to form
groups and apply for the grant as a
team, with a team project. Deann
Dixon, Aleta Estrada, and Ryan
Suarez were approved for $ 13(H).
These three students are currently
studying cuttlefish in a project run
by Dr Purdy Not much research
has been done on cuttlefish, anu
the group is studying their habit-
uation characteristics, their intelli-
gence, and the evolution of their
learning processes. After writing a
paper on their findings, the group
will attempt to have it published.
Four other students applied as
a team and received $5,000, the
highest amount given out during
this round of applicants. Stepha-
nie Arsenault, Casey Douglas, Joi
Lakes and Megan Lyons will be
starting Southwestern's tirst tele-
vision station. The group will
try to involve the campus com-
munity as much as possible, and
have programs such as news seg-
ments, concerts and student pro-
duced movies.
Karen Adamson, Mark Corbin,
and Javan Johnson each applied for
funds to assist Hamlet, which will
be performed during this year's
Brown Symposium. Karen will
be designing and building the cos
lurries, Mark will be designing liie
lighting for the show, and Javan is
designing and building the Hamlet
set. “This is an excellent chance
for students to do something out-
side of the normal boundaries of
school,” Karen commented
Aaron Lozier and Alan Sud-
erman both have traveling plans.
Aaron, who has already completed
his project, traveled to England to
research asylums. His research
entailed learning about madness
in Victorian England using Alice
in Wonderland to illustrate some
of these ideas. Alan, a senior his-
tory major, is currently researching
voodoo and its role in the Haitian
revolution. He hopes to go to Haiti
soon to complete his research, and
will make a presentation to the
school once the project is com-
plete.
The students who received this
award are not the only ones excited
about it Sherri Babcock Dean
ol Students, is moiled in Nine
donation. “T his is very exciting to
me because Joey King was a stu
dent here when I first came here
as Dean of Students, and he was
reallv very interesting and verv ere
ative in his own right t or him
to decide to give back to students
by providing and endowment tor
them to apply for and finally do the
things they might not have other
wise been able to do |is a wonder-
ful thing]. The sky's the limit in
terms of the ideas, and (they can
do] anything that might move a
student's creativity forward."
If you have questions about
applying for the King Creativity
Fund, or want to know yy hat some
of the other students are doing,
please call the provost s office at
extension 1567. Jim Hunt anti
Dianne Sprock will be able to help
you.
bM
Girls from Popstars take on boy band O-town
Katie Malmquist_
The Observer (U. Notre Dame)
In an age of pop super-stardom
and reality-based TV, network tele-
vision's recent attempts to cash
in on both phenomena should not
come as a surprise.
ABC's “Making the Band,”
whose first season kicked off last
spring, and the WB's “Popstars,"
which premiered Jan. 12, take full
advantage of these two pop-cul-
ture fascinations. Both shows com-
bine teeny bopper obsession with
a growing interest in reality tele-
vision shows to produce what has
thus far proved to be a marketing
paradise.
Picture Britney Spears goes to
“Survivor” Island - or better yet,
"Temptation Island” - complete
with brolceh nails, broken hearts,
and lots of inflict juicy enough
for prime tiipe television.
Of course, the American market
for this kind of synthesis is not as
young as many think.
Made-for-TV bands like the
Monkees have been around since
the t«to0's, and MTV’s “Real
World” series launched the reality
trend nearly ten years ago. f,;
With the recent success of
O-Town, the five man group cre-
ated for the series “Making the
Band,” the possibility of reaching
reality - a scary one for groups like chosen for the quintet of O-Town.
Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC who Of the many who auditioned, 25
spend a great deal of time contest- were flown to Orlando, FL(the city
ing accusations of this exact kind from which the group borrows its
of “boy-band” manufacturing. title) where eight were selected to
Luckily for the boys of O-Town, be trained in the art of super-star-
America’s teen pop audience dom.
doesn't seem to mind as much as The majority of the series
the critics. exploited the various sacrifices,
In fact, the boys’ pretty faces heartaches and joys they experi-
have landed them multiple appear- enced during the final selection
ances on MTV’s “Total Request process. Perhaps the most dramatic
Live,” not to mention copious air story line was the plight of the ever-
time for their latest single, “Liquid problematic neglected girlfriends
Dreams,” the title track off their (but teen heartthrobs aren’t sup-
debut album. posed to have girlfriends anyway,
But the road to stardom is a are they?). In the end, we have
bumpy one, and in this case, each O-Town: Jacob Underwood, Trevor
twist and turn was broadcast over Penick, Dan Miller, Erik-Michael
national television for an audience Estrada, and Ashley Angel - five
as hungry for the real experience guys who smile arguably better
of pop music (if only seen once a than they sing,
week through their TV screens) as They are not the first guinea
they are for the poster boys it pro- pigs of music industry mass pro-
duces. , duction, and in light of the WB’s
In fact, ABC saw high enough latest series, “Popstars,” it is quite
ratings for “Making the Band,” clear that they won’t be the last,
which aired for 22 episodes in its Besides crossing the gender line
first season, that the network has drawn by “Making the Band” and
already placed an order for 13 niore losing the creepy presence of Pearl-
to run next season, t .’ man, “Popstars” is excruciatingly
Headed by Trans Continental similar to the ABC series. Even
Record executive Lou Peartman,
the unctuous force responsible for
discovering.groups like *NSYNC,
Backstreet Boys and LFO, “Making
the Band” chronicled the grooming
of nearly a thousand Hopefuls from
Monkee-Mania heights could be a which five talents were ultimately
■ - ---• 3.it..:
their final product, an all-girl quin-
tet comparable to Destiny’s Child
or Dream, promises to be O-Town’s
female shadow. “ ' V
Basing the show on an Austra-
lian series by the same name, the
producers of “Popstars” are bank-
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ing that their female ensemble will
be as big in America as it was over-
seas, where the resulting group,
Bardot, scored a number one hit
single and album.
With the American premiere,
which aired during network prime
time Jan. 12 and drew some of
the WB’s highest ratings to date
for that time slot, the future of
“Popstars”’ 13 week run (currently
airing Fridays at 8:30 p.m.) cer-
tainly looks as bright as the stars it
promises to create.
Like “Making the Band,” “Pop-
stars” chronicles a nationwide talent
search with stops in Atlanta, Miami,
New York, Dallas, Chicago and Los
Angeles. Those auditioning must
be 18 years or older and must per-
form one of five selected songs a
cappella.
This straiegy makes it easier for
the judges (a record executive, a
group manager and a choreogra-
pher) but becomes slightly redun-
dant for the viewers, who may get
tired of hearing Whitney Houston-
esque renditions of “I Will Always
Love You” from six different girls
in strikingly similar halter tops
and glitter eye-shadow. In the end,
again in O-Tbwn fashion, five lucky
girls will get their break, moving
to a posh house in L.A. where they
will rehearse and record a debut
album before launching a national
tour, following all the rules of pop
along the way - abundant merchan-
■
Boy band
O-town
obtained
world wide
exposure on
the show
’Making the
Band where
viewers
watched the
selection
process,
rehearsals,
and first per-
formances
of the band
dising, lots of glitter and a visit
or two to MTV studios for appear-
ances on “TRL,” today’s ultimate
pop music meter. But will all this
careful marketing be enough to
launch the girls of “Popstars” and
O-Town into the realm of celebrity
musicians like Britney Spears and
*NSYNC, who have set standards
for record and touring sales over
the past year?
Most think (or hope) not -
mainly because of the inevitable
backlash qgainst this kind of fhass
production of pop groups and what
it means to those who genuinely
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struggle for authenticity and orig-
inality in the music business. The
continual growth of America 's pop
market and the recent overseas pop-
ularity of groups like Bardot give
O-Town and their female counter- ,
parts hope. After all, the likes of
Backstreet and *NSYNC hit it big1
overseas before even being intro-
duced in the US, a promising trend
for producers who aim to create that
kind of star power. Still the ques-
tion remains, are television pro-
ducers capable this type of magic
trick? Only time, record sales and
Billboard reports will tell. ;
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Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 25, 2001, newspaper, January 25, 2001; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth634399/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Southwestern University.