New initiative will broadcast deliberations
It may not be Capitol Hill, but USC-SPAN is coming to campus.
The new initiative of Student Government aims to stream live the Student Senate proceedings online and over SGTV, said USC Student Body Vice President Chase Mizzell.
This isn't the first time the Senate will be recorded, Mizzell said, but past broadcasts were inconsistent and fell to the wayside. Now pairing with Paul Critzman III, SGTV's technology coordinator and the Senate's future sergeant-at-arms, that service is back with a few added bonuses.
Before each session, SG has begun recording short "preview" videos discussing what the senate will work on; following them, Critzman is also producing "highlight" compilations of the week's high points.
As the program develops, he added, proponents for different initiatives will make videos of their own to give students a sense for the ideas and intents of their projects.
"(We're hoping to have) more videos making things that seem boring maybe just on paper interesting to students, so they'll actually want to get involved," Critzman said.
Accordingly, Mizzell spoke to his intentions with the new initiative.
"It's about engagement," he said. "It's about transparency. It's about accountability."
But like the Washington cable network it derives its name from, USC-SPAN doesn't necessarily anticipate a large viewing audience.
"I know 30,000 students aren't going to watch Senate every week," Critzman said. "But the fact that it is there (is important), so if a student comes to us and says, 'We didn't know about this. We didn't know this could happen,' we can point to this and say, 'No, every session is recorded.'"
The program is still in its infancy and only streams video on Ustream, though Critzman said he is currently working out glitches — from camera angles to audio recording — as USC-SPAN plans to grace the small screen on SGTV next semester. But as he and Mizzell continue to roll out the program, the stream has already generated a modicum of student engagement.
"The idea for the name was almost a joke," Critzman said. "Literally four or five people who have no connection to each other ... messaged me on Facebook, texted me or just made a comment like 'Oh, USC-SPAN,' so I was like ... 'Everyone's picking it up without being prompted.'"