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Summer 2009 |
Number 2 |
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Department NewsTake a tour of the Media LabBy Mary Elaine Ramsey '11 (Continued) - To the left of the entrance is the demo room. Prof. Stanwood jokes, "The demo room is, strangely enough, where we demonstrate things." Lessons are conducted in this room at audio and video workstations where students learn editing techniques using Apple's Pro Tools and Final Cut Pro software programs. When classes are not in session, the room serves as an audio control room and studio where bands can record music. Nine suites allow students to individually create their own work. The five video suites are all exactly the same. In these studios, students transfer the footage shot in the field onto computers where they use the software to edit it. The four audio suites, a few subtleties aside, are all fairly uniform. Prof. Stanwood boasts that students are given quite a lot of latitude with their assignments as to allow for maximum creativity. He says that students sometimes choose to give their assignments comedic twists and other times make them quite serious, both of which he embraces. Prof. Stanwood is happy with the success of the Media Lab. The facility serves its purpose. "It's small, but gets the job done," says Prof. Stanwood. Students are enriched by their time spent in the lab and many graduates have gone on to fulfill their aspirations of working in field of audio or TV production. Each year, Advanced Video Production students produce a video bulletin from their perspective for viewing by Communication alumni on the Web - by no means a small task. While the lab has been successful in achieving its goals, the technology that is its backbone, remarks Prof. Stanwood, "is a moving target." Although the latest technologies are constantly changing, he is happy to report that the lab does a good job of staying on top of them.
No debate about it: Another Successful Year for Fulton DebateBy Meghan Thomsen '09 The 117th Annual Fulton Prize Debate in mid April was the grand finale in a successful 2008-09 season for the Boston College Fulton Debating Society. This year's topic was whether the United States should repeal the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act. John Katsulas, director of the Fulton Debating Society, believes the issue is of extreme relevance. "There is a group of 135 college presidents who advocate that lowering the drinking age will promote more responsible drinking behavior." Katsulas explained, "The negative side will argue that lowering the drinking age will result in more traffic fatalities and...increased drinking by high school students." The judges unanimously awarded the debate to the negative side and named Gabriel Stacy '12 as top speaker. Stacy's name will be immortalized on the wall of Gasson Hall, where the list of champions dates back to 1890. This final event of the season also recognized the Fultonian of the Year. John Mahoney Jr., director of undergraduate admission, is this year's recipient. The BC Fulton Debating Society has achieved an impressive record for its 2009 season. Each debate within the season focuses on a single national topic announced the previous July. This year's debates dealt with "whether the federal government should reduce agricultural subsidies to cotton, rice, wheat, corn, soybeans, biofuels, and concentrated animal feeding operations," Katsulas explains. "Boston College teams advocated a plan to eliminate cotton subsidies." This strategy proved quite beneficial for the Fulton Debating Society in spring competition. In March, BC reached the quarterfinals at the American Debate Association's nationals. Although both teams lost to Liberty, Brendan Benedict '12 was named the fifth best novice speaker. Boston College earned first place in the junior varsity and rookie divisions at the Cornell Tournament, which took place in February. Benedict and Sean O'Hara '09 won the JV division by defeating Binghamton University in a unanimous decision. The freshman pair of Cal Greene and Jamie Zhang, debating in their first tournament, took home first place in the rookie division. Not only did they win unanimously, but Greene was honored as the top rookie speaker. From January 31 to February 1, Boston College teams argued with diligence to emerge victorious at the University of Massachusetts tournament. Two Fultonian Debate teams made it to the semi-finals and both defeated teams from the United States Military Academy. Since no final debate was needed, Ryan Folio '12, Ken Aruda '10, Daniel Berkowitz '11, and Sean O'Hara '09 were all integral members of the Boston College victory. Garnering these types of accolades does not come easy. "Students begin researching the topic as soon as they arrive on campus in September," Katsulas states. "The research compiled by the squad is distributed to everyone. Students have thousands of pages of evidence." It is quite clear after this last half of the Fulton Debating Society's season that their hard work and dedication pays off. Fulton Debating Society was ranked in the top 10 by both the Cross-Examination Debate Association (CEDA) and the National Debate Tournament Committee (NDT) for the 2008-09 season. BC was ranked sixth place by CEDA and ninth place by NDT, out of more than 130 schools. |
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