The MyDemocracy awards ceremony for this semester was canceled.
This is what Kate McLaughlin, journalism professor, learned just a few days before students were supposed to turn in their entries.
“My students have been working hard on the MyDemocracy contest all semester,” McLaughlin said. “To call the contest off at the 11th hour, after students have been holding up their end of the bargain, is irresponsible and unfair. It’s a disgrace.”
Jean Rodriguez, journalism major, said, “I’m doing my project on students that undocumented and get through college with out papers. It’s disappointing, I don’t mind doing the work but I was hoping to do the contest to help spread the word.”
The awards ceremony was going to be held on May 12.
This was going to be the fourth semester that the contest was going to be hosted by the Political Science Department and Journalism Department.
The reasons that the awards ceremony was cancelled were the quality of the entries and the lack of enthusiasm from students and faculty.
“The quality of the videos was just not there, we would get 10 good videos of 1500 students in the program,” Bryan Reece, faculty senate president and political science professor, said.
Victor Obasohan, political sicence professor, said, “The quality of work (isn’t there because) students are duplicating the same topic. How many times can you do (it on) abortion?”
Terrace Mullins explained on in e-mail sent to faculty, “I know your students put a lot of effort and time into their Spring 2009 video projects but this cancellation is another casualty of the current economic crisis.”
Obasohan said that the funds for the awards ceremony came out directly of the Faculty pockets.
Students will still get academic credit for their entries; just no awards or ceremony.
The Journalism Department will judge them and we will give awards at the Media Awards Night on May 13 for journalism students only, said Rich Cameron, chair of journalism department.
The MyDemocracy contest was an idea of Dr. Bryan Reece, Faculty Senate president and political science professor.
The two departments were in a partnership to give political science students an opportunity to be creative and have an alternative to writing assignments, and journalism students to learn multimedia reporting.
Political science faculty would give the choice to students.
Obasohan, said, “I would give students 75 points, an exam’s worth, if they would enroll on Journalism 106 to do their MyDemocracy project.”
Students had to choose a political science issue in the community and make a video to report on that issue.
Political science students did not respond to the possibility of producing a video.
Obasohan said, “I teach six classes and not one student enrolled on Journalism 106. They would ask if they can just do it on their own but that would beat the whole purpose, we wanted to encourage the students, we believe students can do better.”
