Seven AU graduate students saw their work pay off Wednesday night with the screening of their documentaries made in lieu of a thesis.
Thirteen students enrolled in School of Communication professor Rick Rockwell's summer class competed to make the best documentary about the Iraq war on the home front. The best were chosen to be part of a documentary airing on MHz network Saturday at 8 p.m.
Michael Wargo, Jennifer Tyre, Brittany Anne Keil, Cara Schayer, Elizabeth Mendes, Mariam Ahmadi Simpson and Glenn Luther were the seven producers chosen. Their subjects ranged from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to the United States' view of Al-Jazeera.
Wargo's documentary is about the war's impact on a small Pennsylvania coal town, Windber. This created a traveling nightmare for Wargo since he was interning in D.C. while trying to make the film.
"I was working five days a week, driving to Pennsylvania on weekends and editing on weeknights," he said. "Our topics were due at the end of May and the projects were due at the end of June, so it was a crazy month."
Rockwell, who worked in the news industry for 27 years, said he thought this project would help students achieve their goals. Some students used footage from their documentaries on their resume tapes, he said.
Ahmadi Simpson's documentary focused on the story of a returned paratrooper with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Originally, she was going to use Patrick Campbell, a veteran who has gone on to study law at Catholic University.
"Patrick was sort of the PTSD poster child," she said. "I didn't want to use him because he already had so much media coverage, and I also didn't think he was representative of the entire PTSD community."
Schayer's documentary focused on military chaplains, whom she called "completely selfless" because they do not go to fight but rather to help others.
"You don't really ever hear the spiritual aspect of war," she said.
Two wounded brothers are the subjects of Tyre's documentary on disabled veterans. Tyre's view of the class was different from her peers.
"I guess some people saw it as a competition," she said. "I was just trying to put something together that I was proud of in the end. It was a good thing to see everything come together. I definitely wasn't expecting mine to be chosen."
Mendes' documentary focused on the lives of several young Muslim Americans after Sept. 11.
"I was glad to show the Muslim-American culture for what it really is - a peaceful and loving community," she said.
This was the project's second year, which many participants said has improved since it started last year with "Flashpoint: Immigration." One of the major differences between this year's project and last year's was the interaction between SOC divisions, including public communication, film and media arts and journalism, to promote the project.
"I think the event went really well," said Paula Chrin, a senior in SOC and the School of Public Affairs. "We filled the theater, people were even standing. When they did this last spring, I think there were only about 15 people in the audience."
The film, which is hosted by Bob Edwards, a radio personality and AU alumnus, will be available to 20 million people in major cities across the country, according to journalism director Jill Olmsted.
Rockwell said the students' work would be good to great work anywhere.
"I wanted to teach them to make a difference, and they can," he said.
