Loyola Greyhound

Issue date: 9/30/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Jesse DeFlorio Although hidden away in a corner of Dorothy Day Hall, WLOY-TV is a valuable entity on campus.

Tucked away in Dorothy Day Hall, diagonal from the well-worn sand volleyball pit, is a state-of-the-art TV station, brimming with new technology and program ideas. WLOY-TV (a separate entity from the radio station) has a studio, control room and Mac technology as well as a surplus of studio equipment, such as HD cameras, green screens and tripods. The best part of it all is that students run the station.

This Wednesday, WLOY-TV will launch its programs, both old and new, to the Loyola College population. After Fr. Braden, the last faculty advisor for the station, left Loyola a few years ago, the station went through a period of inactivity. Last year, though, Jay Dunmore, the new advisor, recruited the help of Eric Strand, Station Manager, and Stephen Gallagher, General Manager. This year, the station has lost its "dead zone" and has revamped itself with new programs and ideas.

"The three of us really worked hard together and we hired a board. And we really got everything started from the ground up," says Gallagher. "We're getting really busy. So naturally, we want some programs to put on. I'm [having season two of] Between The Scenes, which is a Campus Ministry program, and it kind of talks about the Christian symbolism. And we've broadened it to morality and basic connections between campus life and spiritual life. But the thing is, it deals with symbolism behind popular movies. So for example, we did Lion King, Star Wars, Chronicles of Narnia, Matrix, The Da Vinci Code."

In addition to putting on programs and having weekly board meetings, the station acts as a resource for the Department of Communications. Most digital film and radio classes require projects outside the classroom for credit. WLOY-TV steps in at this point to graciously rent their equipment for these projects.

"There are so many communication classes, and everyone has projects to do, so we check [the equipment] out on a weekly basis for those people who need them," says Gallagher. "We help the students the best that we can."

The studio takes that help a step further by offering an internship program, implemented last year. As 30 percent of their grade, students in Digital Video I and Introduction to Video Production have to commit time to the studio. Fortunately for the students, it is not grunt work or fetching coffee.

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