University of South Carolina—Journalism and Mass Communications
At the University of South Carolina, the College of Journalism and Mass Communications is keeping up with technology through the use of existing Macintosh software, including PressLink, PageMaker, WriteNow, Statview, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Photoshop. Of the four labs in the college, two are for generic uses like word processing and statistics, while the others are used for imaging tasks such as creating informational graphics, magazine and newspaper layouts, and for digital photography projects. Each student has access to one of 16 Macintosh computers in each generic lab. There are a total of 20 machines in the imaging labs.
In Professor Van Kornegay’s class in the senior semester, students produce The Carolina Reporter, a weekly newspaper, for which they write and edit copy, create informational graphics, and do page layout on a computer system designed to mimic a real-life newsroom. Students cover city stories and use the Associated Press wire service and Knight-Ridder Tribune News national graphics service carried over PressLink. They have access to these services through an AppleTalk network and an AppleShare file server in the newsroom.
During lectures, Kornegay uses an electronic note program that hegives out to student terminals on the network. Students can follow at their own pace while Kornegay illustrates his lectures by projecting a Macintosh screen running HyperCard in front of the class. Most of the time, graphics are used in demonstrations so Kornegay can illustrate things like typography, rather than just displaying notes.
After working with Macintosh computers at the university since 1987, Kornegay would like to begin introducing multimedia applications into the classroom. He’s interested in using computers to experiment with animation, live video, digital sound, and photography.
“This is not a trade school. We don’t teach animation. We just want to show how, for instance, animation is useful for advertising students when they’re doing storyboards. We want to give students a feel for the range of things a computer can do so they can communicate more easily with production people and their clients,” says Kornegay.
“We want to teach students how to be multipurpose communicators beyond the point of just editing copy. Now students must know about graphics and layout. Computers are breaking the traditional barriers between jobs because one person can do a lot more,” says Kornegay. “The integration of job roles is possible with computers.”
For more information, contact Van Kornegay, College of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29209; (803) 777-4102; Internet: N370017@univscvm.
