Lifestyles

Photo from CSC College Relations

Chadron State College Digital Graphic Designer Daniel Binkard presents for the Graves Lecture series Oct. 18, 2022.

Binkard shares history of CSC Live

u From CSC College Relations

Chadron State College Digital Graphic Designer Daniel Binkard opened the 2022 Graves Lecture Series with 10 Years of CSC Live, a presentation detailing the origin, growth, technology, and continued presence of the college’s live event broadcasting team.

“CSC Live, as we see it today, started in 2012,” Binkard said. “Randy Rhine had started as the college president, and he wanted to expand what we were doing with live streaming coverage. So, Dewayne Gimeson (Publications Specialist) and I prepared a list of equipment to purchase and that would enable us to add multiple angles to athletic broadcasts and just generally improve the product.”

Binkard configured the equipment for the first home football game of the semester in September 2012. The opening broadcast featured three cameras, a fixed wide angle shot, a microphone for ambient audio, and a student commentator.

“The game was a little choppy here and there, but we got it out to the public successfully. Over the next few years, I spent time working out what our camera coverage options needed to be for a given game, and where could I make improvements, whether they’re in large or small ways,” Binkard said.

He described the different technologies involved in a broadcast, including audio sources like ambient sound and commentators, video from cameras, computer-generated graphics, and replay which are combined, encoded, and sent to the livestream.

“Running the full broadcast doesn’t happen with just me. My role as the overall director is to make sure each broadcast goes out in some way. That’s where the student workers come in. Without student workers, it’s down to just me running a single camera,” Binkard said.

Binkard explained how the number of student workers available for an event impacts the coverage and how the positions of cameras change based on the sport.

“The ideal crew is seven student workers,” Binkard said. “I get one person on commentary and, as more workers are available, fill in the camera, replay, and switching operations.”

He concluded his presentation by answering audience questions about how student workers learn, the technology used in the broadcasts, notable stories, and his greatest triumphs over the years.

“A general triumph is when I’ve got enough student workers and we’re covering a football game and firing on all cylinders. I really like seeing that action. You get the play live and then the replay. Boom, you’re showing that on closeup camera. The camera operators are following the action cleanly. It just looks good,” Binkard said.

SW 435 conference to focus on ‘The Truth in Trauma and Trauma Informed Practices’

u From CSC College Relations

The senior class in Social Work at Chadron State College will host nationally known author Barbara Rubel as the keynote speaker for The Truth in Trauma and Trauma Informed Practices, a free conference Nov. 2 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Student Center.

It will also be available via free live streaming. No registration is required. A free lunch will be provided for the first 150 attendees.

The seniors organizing the conference are Cooper McLaughlin of Wall, S.D., Abbygail Schaffer of Greeley, Colo., Mercedes Sloan of Tonopah, Ariz., and Serenity Sterkel of Alliance, Neb.

Sterkel said the group determined their topic based on limited information and resources available about dealing with trauma.

Rubel is a trainer and award-winning author on traumatic loss, burnout, secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma-informed care. She is the author of But I Didn’t Say Goodbye: Helping Families After a Suicide, continuing education courses for healthcare professionals, Loss, Grief, and Bereavement: Helping Individuals Cope, and COVID-19 Loss, Grief, and Bereavement.

Her story was featured in the Emmy award-winning documentary, Fatal Mistakes, Families Shattered by Suicide. Rubel is a Board-Certified Expert in Traumatic Stress and Diplomate with the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. She earned a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in community health, with a concentration in thanatology, both from Brooklyn College.

Other speakers include Chadron Volunteer Fire Department Chief Branden Martens and CSC faculty member Dr. Elizabeth Kraatz.

Martens is a native of Kansas, who played junior college football at Fort Scott, Kansas, then transferred to Chadron and graduated from CSC in 2011. He joined the Chadron Volunteer Fire Department in 2012, became an assistant chief in 2016, and chief in 2020. He is a licensed Emergency Medical Technician and has credentials in structure firefighting and as a wildland engine boss. He is married to Trish Martens and is the manager of Chadron Ace Annex and a small engine mechanic.

Kraatz is an assistant professor in Education, Counseling, Psychological Sciences, and Social Work. She will speak about sex education and trauma. She teaches courses in Psychology, Educational Psychology, and Developmental Psychology. After earning an undergraduate degree, she taught middle school science in rural Mississippi. There, she completed a master’s degree in early childhood education. Before joining the CSC faculty in Fall 2021, she taught adult education classes in Ohio for several years and earned a doctorate in Educational Psychology from Ohio State.

Panel members in the closing segment of the conference will include: Rubel, Kraatz, Martens, Dr. Grant Sasse, an associate professor and chair of the Counseling Psychology and Social Work, Department, and Gabe Walz, a Chadron Police Department lieutenant.