Camera theft upsets JCOM department
Two video cameras used for broadcasting classes in the journalism and communication department were stolen from the Animal Science Building sometime during the week of March 4.
Dean Byrne, broadcast professional in residence, noticed they were missing from the equipment room when he tried to move one of the cameras’ cases and discovered it was empty.
JCOM department head Ted Pease said, “This is a real blow to our program and to the students who work in the electronic media classes.”
The department owns eight cameras and there are approximately 45 students who use them. Now with two cameras missing and one camera currently in need of repairs there are only five cameras available to the students, he said.
“About four or five years ago, the JCOM program didn’t have much of anything in terms of video equipment for students to learn on,” Pease said. “We have worked really hard to raise money to buy cameras and editing decks and the other stuff that JCOM broadcasters need to produce the Aggie TV News and to gain the skills they need to get jobs and internships.”
Byrne said students are constantly walking in and out of the building with cameras in hand which would explain why no one would have thought twice at seeing someone leaving with the cameras.
“Everyone is a suspect,” he said.
Byrne said the stolen cameras are valued collectively at approximately $2,500. One was the department’s sports camera, a semi-professional Panasonic AG-DVC-10 digital camera, and the other was a smaller Canon ZR-20 digital consumer camera. Both were taken without cases or their respective batteries.
Byrne said the department has no money to buy new cameras. “The cameras won’t be replaced unless someone parachutes in with a donation,” he said.
Up until recently, the process by which the department lends its cameras to its students has been relatively uncomplicated.
Pease said, “The JCOM department in the seven years I’ve been here has been a trusting and open place where students are considered colleagues and partners in the learning experience. When we get ripped off, that kind of environment changes.”
Penny Byrne, professor in broadcast, said one solution will be to tighten up the checkout process for student access to the equipment.
“This will be an obvious hardship on our students,” she said. “They will have to put in odd hours and even more time so the equipment will be available to all those who need to use it.”
Heather Christiansen, a junior in broadcast journalism, said, “It’s kind of a hassle now. There really aren’t enough cameras for us to use.”
Pease said, “The loss of these cameras and equipment really sets us back as we head into the end of the academic year and as our students are trying to put their portfolios together for jobs and internships.”
Pease is encouraging anyone who knows anything about the stolen cameras to call the JCOM office at 797-3292 with any information. He said students can be assured no questions will be asked of those calling to volunteer information.