November 21, 2013

Student-Produced Broadcast Airs on PBS Nov. 22, 24 and 25

Lafayette_Lens PBS39

The second edition of “Lafayette Lens,” a 30-minute program produced by Lafayette College students will air on WLVT Channel 39, the PBS affiliate in the Lehigh Valley, Nov. 22, 24, and 25.

The students are part of Professor Mark Crain’s political economy course. Crain, Simon Professor of Political Economy and chair of policy studies, is teaching the class in collaboration with staff at PBS39, who are helping to coach the students in the skills needed to produce a professional broadcast.

This semester’s edition will consist of two 15-minute segments titled “First Globals: What’s Different about the Millennial Generation” and “Additive Manufacturing: The Third Industrial Revolution.”

The first explores questions posed in famous pollster John Zogby’s recent book, First Globals: Understanding, Managing, & Unleashing the Potential of Our Millennial Generation. The book describes how Americans born between 1979 and 1994 are more globally aware and sensitive, how they want to make their workplace and planet better, and how to begin to understand them.

Almost every aspect of the show is student run, including directing, filming, writing, scheduling interviews with industry experts, promotions, and public relations. Two sections of students, around 50 altogether, are working on the project.

View images of Lafayette Lens in the making on Flickr.

Policy studies and economics double major Dan Valladares ’14 (Wyckoff, N.J.) is serving as co-host of the broadcast. He recently interviewed S. Kent Rockwell ’66 for the segment on additive manufacturing, otherwise known as 3-D printing. Rockwell is chairman and CEO of ExOne, one of the major producers of industrial 3-D printers.

3-D printing is a groundbreaking technology that allows objects to be made on the spot from digital designs. The segment plumbs the possibilities—and challenges—of this technology, such as its global implications for business and the legal requirements needed to govern it.