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CASEY CAMPBELL | Gazette-Times
Oregon State University student David Nicholas, 28, plays on a PlayStation 3 in the new gaming lab for the New Media Communication program. |
by mary ann albright
gazette-times reporter
Playing the latest video games isn’t just a hobby for new media students at Oregon State University. It’s research that will help shape their careers as the brains behind the next evolution of gaming technology.
Oh, and it’s fun, too.
Jay Bartholomew, David Nicholas, Scott Beachley and Hiram Cervantes recently set up the new media gaming lab headed by assistant professor Todd Kesterson and conducted their first experiments — comparing the graphics on Wii bowling and boxing interactive games to PlayStation 3 pastimes such as “Resistance: Fall of Man.”
PlayStation is more graphical, but Wii is better suited to social gaming, they concluded.
It helps to be able to compare gaming systems side by side, said Nicholas, 28, a junior majoring in new media and minoring in philosophy. He’s interested in a career in game design or marketing.
“If I’m thinking about developing a game, it helps if I can see what excites me and what entices me to play,” he said.
“If you’re not immersed, you’re lost,” added Bartholomew, a junior majoring in business marketing with a minor in new media.
After a tumultuous start to the academic year, and concern about the program’s future reverberating among students, faculty and advisers, new media communications at OSU continues to serve those interested in storytelling through journalism, animation, video gaming and other platforms.
“What will make OSU’s program unique are its connections to the sciences and the professional schools, where you use new media to communicate about research and scientific discoveries,” said Jeff Hale, assistant dean for external relations in the College of Liberal Arts and director of the college’s liberal studies program.
Hale has served as interim director of new media since Joel Thierstein, who came to OSU in 2001 to build the program from scratch, was deposed in September. Thierstein continued teaching last term, but left earlier this month for Rice University in Texas, where he accepted an associate provost position.
Hale has no background in new media; he’s a sociologist specializing in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector, and he’s applying his administrative skills to help new media operate within its budget and deal with a shortage of full-time faculty and support staff.
Some of the biggest changes he’s made thus far include shifting much of the program’s administrative duties to his staff in the College of Liberal Arts’ dean’s office and office of student services.
Also, new media cameras, lighting and other video production equipment have been moved from the program’s hub in the Oak Creek Building to the Valley Library.
The student multimedia services desk on the library main floor has taken responsibility for checking out the equipment. Previously, student workers with limited hours oversaw this process.
The Oak Creek Building is on the fringe of campus, at the intersection of Southwest Western Boulevard and 30th Street.
Hale is discussing with Facilities Services and the College of Engineering the possibility of relocating the program’s offices and labs to buildings in the heart of campus, such as Kelley Engineering Center or Dearborn Hall.
He’d like the move to happen this summer.
The change in location will make it more convenient for new media students and faculty to attend classes, and it also sends an important message about how the university regards the program, according to Hale.
“It’s symbolic of the importance the university places on the program. We want it to be more central,” he said.
With Thierstein gone, the program is down to two full-time faculty: Kesterson and Bill Loges, assistant professor of new media and sociology.
About six adjunct faculty round out the teaching roster.
Hale has hired another full-time faculty member with a background in print journalism to begin teaching in the fall. That position is funded for three years. OSU is still looking for a director to take over Thierstein’s administrative and teaching responsibilities.
The new media communications program started offering classes in 2002. New media is an option within the liberal studies major, and boasts about 65 majors and 80 minors. About 400 students take classes through the program each year.
The program stresses storytelling through various media, including video games, the Internet, television, newspapers and movies.
Students and faculty in the program would like to see new media become a full-fledged major. That would mean hiring one or two additional full-time faculty members, requiring an annual budget increase of $180,000 to $200,000, according to Hale.
For fiscal year 2006-07, new media has a budget of $347,264.
A small portion of that money went to purchasing Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation Three and Microsoft Xbox 360 consoles and games for the program’s new video gaming lab.
Kesterson and his students use the lab to study how different games tell stories, and how gaming platforms are designed and developed.
Studying what works and what doesn’t work with games currently on the market will help students imagine, create and market games of their own, Kesterson said.
Currently only four students have access to the lab. When the program has enough funding to hire someone to monitor the space, Kesterson would like to make it available to more new media students.
Also helping OSU students delve into the new media industry is the upcoming National Association of Broadcasters convention. Six new media students will head to Las Vegas in April for the event, accompanied by Hale and Louie Bottaro, College of Liberal Arts assistant head adviser.
There they’ll work behind the scenes helping run the conference, and will get valuable networking opportunities, Hale said. This will be OSU’s fifth year participating.
Thierstein’s replacement as director and subsequent departure from OSU hasn’t affected class schedules, and students’ progress toward graduation remains uninterrupted, Hale said.
The change in leadership has, however, created some internal conflict between the College of Liberal Arts administration and the new media faculty.
Kesterson and Loges expressed concerns about the future of the program, and the lack of communication between them and the dean’s office.
Adding to the air of uncertainty, Kay Schaffer, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, is retiring in June. The search for her successor is underway.
While there is still some friction between his office and Kesterson and Loges, Hale acknowledged, he said that things are improving.
“There’s still some level of tension and a certain lack of trust, and so many things are unresolved. I’ve been working hard to earn their trust, but that takes time,” he said.
Loges said he doesn’t perceive an atmosphere of tension, but rather an absence of communication between Hale’s office and the new media faculty. Loges and Kesterson work closely together, but he said the two of them haven’t been in the same room together with Hale since September.
For his part, Kesterson remains uncertain about the program’s future but excited about his current video and animation projects.
“It is this type of work — in the lab and in the classroom — that is the heart and soul of any academic program. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to continue this creative work in 2007,” he said.
Steve Bagwell, managing editor of the McMinnville News-Register, is one of new media’s adjunct instructors. He’s teaching storytelling this term and copyediting in the spring.
His class is full, and the students seem excited, Bagwell said.
“There’s a lot of interest in building the program. We’ve had a few fits and starts this year from the management or administrative side, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting students,” he said.
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