The Department of Mass Communication needs to upgrade its television equipment to avoid mixed formats. Currently students in the television news class shoot video using four SVHS (1/2") camcorders, however, they must edit most of their material in the u-matic format (3/4") using two edit bays that are 14 years old and in need of maintenance (cleaning and synchronization). This requires a substantial time delay to make dubs from one format to the other. Also, the quality of the video suffers because dubbing the tape adds another generation. In television news we teach the importance of quality and meeting deadlines, but having incompatible formats defeats the purpose. In short, the equipment needs in Mass Communication leave much to be desired to meet our teaching obligations.

      In addition, few television stations use the u-matic format anymore, and except for Studio B at Alkek Library (which Mass Communication uses), the txstate Division of Media Services has phased out the format as well. Minimally, we need to two SVHS editing bays with A-B roll capability. And we also need at least two playback units and one recording unit for Studio B at Alkek Library where the TV newscast originates.

      The Mass Communication Department desperately needs to have at least one fully-equipped, state-of-the-art multi-media laboratory. The computers needed would be multi-media in the sense that they each have the capability of storing, retrieving, editing and disseminating messages in multiple forms (the printed word, audio and video) These labs would go far beyond serving the students' basic word-processing needs; they would also provide the tools necessary for using media of all kinds: newspapers, magazines, newsletters, brochures, radio, television and the Internet. The Mass Communication Department is severely limited by the lack of facilities; an additional lab is essential.

     Eight of the department's courses have lab requirements, and several of these courses have multiple sections. For example, Writing for the Mass Media (1313), the department's introductory writing course, often has as many as six sections with 16-17 students in each. Television News (3312), a senior-level production and writing course, has two sections with 10-12 students in each. Other courses that require laboratory access are Broadcasting News Writing (3308), Radio News (3310), Advanced Media Reporting and Writing (3320), Magazine Article Writing (3323), Advertising Copy for Print (3368), Broadcast Commercial and Promotion Writing (3373), Editing for Clear Communication (3383), Advertising Campaigns (4307) and Writing for Public Relations (4313). And if the department had high-end computers available to teach the latest production methods using digital technologies, at least two other courses in the curriculum would require time in the labs as well -- Broadcast Production (3309) and Publication Design and Production (3390). Considering the volume of courses that the department has in its curriculum that require computer knowledge and skills and considering the fact that the department's enrollment surpasses 700 students, it is painfully evident that our facilities fail to meets the needs, particularly in an environment that DEMANDS computer knowledge and skills from the students who earn degrees in mass communication.

      We need a multi-media lab consisting of at least 22 computers -- each containing at least 128 megabytes of RAM and 4 gigabytes of storage memory. Each work station would have the hardware and software necessary for desktop publishing, audio editing and video editing. The lab would also have a server equipped with audio/video input and output capabilities, including videotape players and monitors. In addition, the lab should be equipped with two printers (one color, the other black-and-white) and a scanner. 

    Broadcasting technology is changing dramatically. The broadcasting industry is moving from an analog delivery system to a digital-based system. In other words, computers will in the near future be used to record, process and deliver video to homes across America. The Federal Communication Commission and broadcasters have agreed that the current analog, or tape-based, systems in use today will be abandoned in favor of digital broadcasting within eight years, and much sooner (as early as this year) in the larger markets. Television stations throughout the nation are making plans to convert, and the txstate Department of Mass Communication must look ahead as well.

      For students to enter the marketplace competitively, they must be trained on technologies the industry uses. In the near future, those technologies will be digital. The cameras, edit bays, switchers, mixers -- the entire TV operation -- will have to be converted soon for the department to continue to offer meaningful instruction. The point is: THE MASS MEDIA DEPEND ON DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES. And we who have accepted the challenge of preparing college students for jobs in these industries fully realize the necessity of upgrading our facilities to more adequately meet the needs of these students who, after all, do pay laboratory fees for instruction. To upgrade, though, requires significant funding, so we request $500,000- $600,000 for the department, in conjunction with the Division of Media Services to convert to digital.