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ChargerCast set for comeback
By SARAH PERRIN
Issue date: 7/18/07 Section: News
After a nearly year-long hiatus ChargerCast, the official podcast of UAH, will be back in production beginning the first week of the fall semester.
Ryan Tonini joined the SGA executive board as podcast director after receiving unanimous approval by the senators of the SGA during their June 11 meeting. Although not previously involved with ChargerCast, the senior majoring in computer engineering has worked as a disc jockey for several years and is no stranger to the entertainment business.
Tonini received his nomination from the tribunal after expressing his interest to SGA president Sam Parks. The tribunal, composed of the SGA president, vice president and consul, serves to nominate persons for open positions within the organization. "Interest and passion are just as important as experience and knowledge in a position such as this," said Parks. "Mr. Tonini though, possesses both..."
ChargerCast entered production in spring 2006 utilizing a portion of the funds previously appropriated by the university for the failed Charger Radio project, as well as money from the SGA. They produced a total of 17 episodes before floundering in fall 2007.
The problem? "Momentum," summed up Parks. "I have noticed that momentum is often the key factor in any student organization's success. The trick, though, is in maintaining that momentum for an extended period of time. The previous director of ChargerCast was Timothy McDaniel. Initially [he] received virtually limitless support, both from his fellow students and the administration. This created an incredible amount of momentum for a fledgling program. However, with the onset of summer vacation and graduation [he] lost much of his original support, leaving him with a skeleton crew and a dwindling listener base. Eventually the program was dropped altogether. One person is simply not capable of sustaining such a monumental undertaking."
While Tonini plans to maintain the organization's name, logo and website, little else will remain the same. "ChargerCast will be a much larger production than ever before. It will be a live broadcast," he said.
Previously ChargerCast episodes were available for download through a variety of sources-- most notably iTunes. Tonini plans to expand programming by adding a channel on iTunes Radio thereby constantly streaming content. "Our 30 minute episode will play at the top of every other hour. Each two hour set will feature a different genre of music after the ChargerCast episode plays," he said.
The new ChargerCast will feature expanded 30 minute episodes packed with news, sports and entertainment. New features will include Greek life, student opinion polls, weird news of the day, trivia, restaurant reviews, night life, dating advice, debates, guest musicians, and special interviews. "ChargerCast will be...incredibly entertaining...an interactive, comedic way of getting news." said Tonini.
Joining Tonini as hosts are Derek Thacker, Eric Moore and Amber Rauschkolb. Other contributors include "Fifi," Brad Townson, Robert Salinas, Anthony Davila and Sarah Perrin. Positions still open include Greek correspondent and someone to act as the Charger mascot.
Future expansions could include the addition of downloadable lectures as offered at universities such as Stanford and UC Berkeley. According to Parks this is an issue that has been pursued to some extent by the current SGA with limited positive feedback from the administration. "Because UAH is a research/doctoral university, many of our faculty members are responsible for contributing to the collective sum of knowledge through their research activities, the result of which is that their lectures and similar course materials are often their own intellectual property."
Parks continued, "Eventually I would like to see some portion of classes offered at UAH available for download; however the ChargerCast platform simply does not have the infrastructure available to ensure the safety and security of these items of intellectual property."
Said infrastructure requires much more than steady student involvement, it costs money. The SGA allots $2500 to the production of ChargerCast and according to Parks is, "...exploring options for increased or expanded funding." Such funding could also provide increased bandwidth and the equipment needed to add other desirable features such as video."
Tonini credits the founders of ChargerCast for a job well done in laying the groundwork. "I feel privileged to be taking part in such an endeavor. My ultimate goal is for ChargerCast to become a linchpin of UAH student life," he said.
"Mr. Tonini has a challenging road ahead of him, but I am more than confident in his abilities and those of the other members of the ChargerCast crew. If [he] can produce a consistent product that the students of this university actively participate in and enjoy, then I will consider it to have been a success!" said Parks.
ChargerCast is produced in Frank Franz Hall, room 102. If you are interested in getting involved contact Ryan Tonini at toninir@email.uah.edu. ChargerCast will be back online this fall at www.chargercast.com.<--now at uah.edu/chargercast
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