The radio/TV/film faculty and staff of the communication arts department have severe problems operating its teaching equipment. There is no use in further ignoring it. It is no longer just a minor problem that holds up the occasional class for a few minutes. Whether it is the operator’s incompetence or the devices habitual malfunctions, lectures, discussions and screenings continue to be delayed or cancelled because of problems that could have been foreseen had the instructor conducted a brief pre-class test of his or her lesson plan.
Imagine being enrolled in a physics class and the professor frequently has problems accessing the table of elements. Or perhaps you’re a music major and your teacher has problems playing the instrument they are supposed to be teaching you how to perfect. For anyone else, this is left to the imagination. However, for a radio/TV/film major it’s an embarrassing reality. As someone who has been in six communication arts classes and will take five more before I graduate, I find for every lecture, screening or discussion, about a quarter of them are interrupted by an either minor or drastic technological problem. How is a student supposed to learn how to direct a film when the teaching assistant can’t even screen a film through a simple projector? How is a newly declared radio/TV/film major supposed to embrace the history of technological breakthroughs in CA 250 (Introduction to Mass Media) when the professor doesn’t even know how to switch smoothly between a PowerPoint presentation and video clips? This is simply unacceptable for an undergraduate program at one of the most prestigious public universities in the country.
One possible excuse for these technological mishaps is that the professors are experts in the field of broadcast media, not operating electronics. However, considering the majority of the equipment professors are responsible for utilizing in lesson plans dates back from the mid-80s to the early 90s, it is quite reasonable as a student to expect their professor or teaching assistant to be able to handle technology that is at least 15 years old.
When a lesson goes haywire, the faculty demands the help of the media staff, who are then expected to immediately fix the problem that could have been avoided had the teacher prepared themselves for any problems. Usually after five to 10 minutes of nervous scrambling, the media center worker and the instructor collectively agree to blame the machine at hand and move on with the class, some much more gracefully than others.
Situations like these are also the only time the media center staff gives substantial effort in helping the student, mainly because they are forced to do so by a professor. As anyone who has taken a production class will attest to, the media center staff is understaffed in terms of both quantity and quality of attitude. They usually act as if they are the busiest people on earth and insist that all perfectly logical questions and requests must be referred to after 20 minutes of waiting for no clear reason. I’m not saying the entire staff acts this way, just the ones that deal with students all day and are in charge of making organizational decisions. Its like David Cross’ stance on Republicans, “Listen, I’m not saying that all Republicans are racist homophobes, it’s just the ones that they choose to elect into office.”
I don’t question the radio/TV/film’s curriculum. The major offers academic insight and hands-on experience to all three fields. It also promotes extra-curricular involvement in public TV, student radio and invites film buffs to view extraordinary films with its unique cinematheque series. The professor’s professional connections are often impressive and the workshops that feature prominent alumni offer excellent opportunities to network with working professionals and plead for an internship.
What I do question is the department’s ability to actually present their curriculum in the classroom using technology. It is simply a matter of effort. Surely the faculty and staff are intelligent enough to operate the equipment but that does not mean they don’t have to prepare. A student’s grade would plummet if they presented a PowerPoint presentation and the audio/visual aides weren’t accessible. The student would be downgraded for not preparing adequately and in so many words, wasting theirs and everyone else’s time with their sub par presentation. Shouldn’t we hold our authority figures to the same standard?
Rick is a junior majoring in Radio/TV/Film and has helped many an instructor find the power button. He can be reached at [email protected]
