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Once a week, a first-floor room in the Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology is transformed into a TV newsroom bristling with students working with the latest video technology.

The seven students are writing, taping, and editing Gate Update, a show highlighting campus events. The group’s first show was posted on www.colgate.edu this week.

The Case-Geyer video studio, overseen by Ray Nardelli, manager of digital media, and Rich Grant, associate director of technology planning, has two high-definition cameras, a teleprompter, and an array of studio lights and microphones.

The studio also has a “green” screen, which allows for a variety of backgrounds to be digitally inserted, and a software package that allows for the capturing of video directly to a computer, eliminating tapes and slashing editing time.

Students and staff working on the Gate Update show use some of the new equipment found in the video studio in Case-Geyer. (Photo by Rich Grant)

Becky Hillman ’10, a self-described news junkie who is considering a career in broadcast journalism, is working on Gate Update.

“I was excited to see all the new equipment,” she said. “It has provided us with top-notch professional tools to create the show, and has given us the opportunity to take Gate Update in new directions.”

The other students involved in the show are Mila Adamova ’08, Abby Schneider ’08, Jeremy Bennett ’09, Jen Leen ’08, Julie Gibbons ’10, and Mike McMaster ’11.

All the students are members of CUTV, the student-run  television station that helped launch the Gate Update project.

The students have been getting help from the university’s manager of media communications, Anthony Adornato, who recently joined ������Ƶ after working as a news anchor for the NBC-TV affiliate in Syracuse.

“I’m learning tons of tips about TV journalism,” said Bennett, who is interested in the field.

Schneider, who has been active in CUTV for four years, said working on Gate Update feeds into her goals of working in advertising, film, or television after graduation.

“Gate Update has introduced me to the various aspects of production — writing, filming, editing, producing — so it has been working on that show that has really helped me to develop my technical skills,” she said.

Adamova, an economics and Spanish double major, has different reasons for taking part.

“I am not going to pursue a career in TV or media. But producing shows like Gate Update teaches you skills that you can use in any work situation: teamwork, leadership, and most importantly — organization.”

(Note: Please look for more Gate Update episodes on the homepage in the “What is happening on the Hill” section, and on )