Turn on the TV A&M students are on the air.
Amid the news broadcasts and documentaries on KAMUS public television programming is a 30-minute show created and produced by A&M students. Etcetera, or ETC, is a show entirely produced by the work of Texas A&M students, providing them with an experience most find only in a professional workplace.
Professor Rodney Zent, director of Educational Broadcast Services for KAMU, said ETC aims to teach students the aspects of TV programming in a short amount of time.
The program airs what students decide to cover, Zent said. They come up with topics, submit proposals, find guests and put on a show targeted at University-related activities.
ETC is the work of Zents agricultural journalism class. Fifteen students split up into teams of three that have two weeks to pick a topic, find guests and create the show. The shows name
arises from the wide variety of topics students choose to pursue.
Zent said even though only one student group is responsible for each shows content, the other students gain valuable experience performing many of the other jobs that make television possible.
Each week one group is responsible for producing [the shows] content, and the other students are responsible for other positions, Zent said. The audio, camera-work, video editing, floor director and everything else is filled by students.
Jon Cooley, senior agricultural communications and journalism major and contributor for The Battalion, produced a show centered on public service with his group early in the semester.
Its [just like] an internship, Cooley said. We are given a time slot on public TV and are responsible for coming up with a show. Its lot of fun, but a lot of hard work because we are expected to perform better and better every time.
Cooley said the show allows students to not only gain valuable job experience, but to express their creativity.
The only real guideline we have is that the show has to make sense and that we stick to the chosen topic, Cooley said. Besides that, its all open to student creativity.
Reflecting the students freedom in topic choice, ETC has showcased a variety of subjects in and around College Station. Past shows have featured the A&M rodeo team, businesses in and around the Bryan-College Station area.
Gaining experience that will contribute to a possible career in TV production is invaluable to Lynn Zela, senior agricultural communications and journalism major.
We get a good feel for the broadcast industry, Zela said. When youre not doing the show, you are the crew. We learn in the classroom about the equipment but then get thrown into working with it [all at once]. Its very exciting.
The class and its program are two ways students work toward preparing graduates for successful careers in the TV industry.
We treat these students as if they were professional employees, Zent said. By the end of class, they have portfolios filled with self-produced TV programs, as well as hands-on experience with high-end equipment. Its a unique program.