SAN ANGELO, TX- Angelo State University recently appointed Herman Otis Howard, Ph.D, to the college of Arts and Humanities as both a professor of Communications, and the Chair of the Department of Mass Media. His new initiatives, on and off campus, are providing students at ASU an opportunity to grow in their choice of study.
Howard comes to ASU with 15 years of total experience as a professor in broadcasting. He spent the last five years as the Chair of Benedict College, in Columbia, South Carolina, supervising the Mass Communications and English and Foreign Language department. The other 10 years he spent as a professor at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina. His background is in Sports Broadcasting with specialization in Play-by-Play Coverage.
Since starting in this new position, Dr. Howard has introduced a new sports broadcasting program that allows students to gain first-hand experience in the broadcasting field. This includes teaching students how to work the cameras while covering sport events, and teaching them about various positions that make the broadcast run smoothly.
He has broadcasted games for the Charlotte Rush (hockey team), High School football and for the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
“I’ve been in broadcasting since I was in high school,” Howard said. “We had opportunities where students could broadcast games live and [report] on the news while I was studying at Indiana State.”
Having these opportunities while pursuing his undergraduate degree fueled his passion for broadcasting and is what inspired him to provide these same opportunities for students at ASU.
“Sports broadcasting has always been my passion, and I feel it’s important now to help younger scholars have these same opportunities at ASU,” Howard said.
Martha Trevino, ASU student in the broadcasting program, gave her perspective on what she’s learned so far.
She explained that going to the meetings every Thursday at 5 p.m. is how the students decide who will be assigned to what games, and the position they will have in the process.
Some examples of positions include play-by-play, color analysts and camera crew. She explained one additional position, called the Tricaster, communicates to the camera crew where the person needs to position to get the best angle. Students can only hold that position if they have previously worked with a camera.
Trevino has worked as camera crew, color analyst, and had a chance to be a Tricaster at the ASU volleyball last Friday evening.
Overall, the new program has received support across the administration at ASU due to the positive performance and feedback from students.
“Dr. May, the Provost, (Donald Topliff), and the Deans, are all excited to have live broadcasting on campus for the first time at ASU,” Howard said. He quoted Dr. May, who mentioned how excited he was to be able to go home, turn on his television and see the live broadcast of ASU athletics. It means even more to the university knowing it’s a student-led initiative.
The program will also begin broadcasting at the Lake View football games on Fridays, and the ASU football games throughout the season.
There are also upcoming opportunities for students to gain off-campus experience as well.
Howard has made arrangement to take 25 Communication/Mass Media students to visit AT&T Stadium in Dallas to meet with the Dallas Cowboys Public Relations team this November.
“It will be a great opportunity for the students to network and get an inside perspective on the industry,” he explained.
Trevino will be going on the trip, and mentioned how it will be a great opportunity to network with those who are already part of the broadcasting industry.
“It’s a great chance to hand out your business card, and have an opportunity to pursue an internships with the [Cowboys],” he said.
There will also be opportunities for student to visit NASCAR representatives later in the school year, and take trips to Houston and Austin.
“[The students] represent future leaders and innovators in the field of Mass Media,” Howard said. “They can do anything they put their minds to, and as their professors, it’s our job to help find that passion that will guide students to become the future of this industry.”
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Comments
A tricaster is a piece of equipment made by NewTek especially for mixing cameras at sports events. The person runing it is called a vision Mixer and he or she talks to the camera operators to tell them what he or she wants. To call a person a "Tricaster" is probably a miss understanding. Perhaps Tricaster operator, Vision Mixer, or director as the case may be. Sometimes the director vision mixes and directs camera operators. Sometime there is a director who tells the vision mixer and the camera operators wht he wants. It is down to economics.
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