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KENT — Delano Williams and Nino Hernandez spend their summers researching media, film and broadcasting programs at high schools throughout the country. It’s not because they’re looking to transfer — the two high school juniors just want to make sure that their program at South Kent School is still the only one of its kind.
Williams and Hernandez are the president and vice president, respectively, of the Advanced Media Group at South Kent. The program, which has thrived under the guidance of director Gonzalo “Gonzo†Garcia-Pedroso (who is also the school’s dean of student affairs and director of technology), began as more of a film appreciation class. It has morphed over the years into an innovative media collective focusing on live broadcasting, digital editing and software development.
The program got its start when the media class started taping school sporting events. They would tape the games and matches, edit the footage, and distribute DVDs to students, parents and college recruiters.
The group, which has a home in the former boiler room in a campus building known as the Old Building, then found a way to broadcast the games live through the Internet.
Garcia-Pedroso is quick to name the date of the first broadcast, which he has memorized: Sept. 13, 2007.
The broadcasts allow anyone who can’t make it to the games in person to watch them as they are happening. South Kent’s director of communications, Mark Berghold, recalled one especially thankful parent who was overjoyed that her 97-year-old father was able to watch his grandson play in a football game.
It used to be that games could only be transmitted if they were played at a site with easy access to a cable hook-up. Thanks to new wireless technology, the students can now transmit the games from any stadium, rink or field.
Another obstacle that has recently been overcome is the Advanced Media Group’s mode of transportation.
The group used to broadcast out of an old school bus that they would park outside the events. The bus was deemed unfit for road travel and was required to stay on the South Kent campus. A large donation in the summer of 2010 allowed the group to buy a large van that will not only house the broadcasting equipment, but will also allow the group to travel to away games.
Last summer’s donation also allowed for the purchase of a scissor lift, which can raise a cameraman high above the action, and two new professional-grade cameras, tripods, a generator and digital editing software.
“Getting this donation felt like winning the lottery,†Garcia-Pedroso said.
Students are responsible for all aspects of production, from camerawork, live commentary, broadcasting, editing and producing.
Older students also get to take on a teaching role, helping new additions to the group learn the craft.
“We’ve learned a lot of leadership and responsibility. Some students may not be able to grasp the material, so there’s a lot of helping other students,†Williams said.
Some of the members of the group say they have always had an interest in media and technology, while others are looking for an opportunity to experience something they’ve never tried before.
“The Advanced Media Group was something new to the school. I joined because I found it interesting. It’s something different, and I took a liking to it,†Hernandez said.
While similar programs have begun to sprout up across the country, there are none quite like the one at South Kent. The group has even been approached by other schools for help in setting up media programs of their own.
“No one has topped us yet,†Hernandez said.
Broadcasts can be watched on the school’s website, southkentschool.org.
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Telecom Reg’s Best Kept On the Books
When Connecticut land-use commissions update their regulations, it seems like a no-brainer to jettison old telecommunications regulations adopted decades ago during a short-lived period when municipalities had authority to regulate second generation (2G) transmissions prior to the Connecticut Siting Council (CSC) being ordered by a state court in 2000 to regulate all cell tower infrastructure as “functionally equivalent” services.
It is far better to update those regs instead, especially for macro-towers given new technologies like small cells. Even though only ‘advisory’ to the CSC, the preferences of towns by law must be taken into consideration in CSC decision making. Detailed telecom regs – not just a general wish list -- are evidence that a town has put considerable thought into where they prefer such infrastructure be sited without prohibiting service that many – though not all – citizens want and that first responders rely on for public safety.
Such regs come in handy when egregious tower sites are proposed in sensitive areas, typically on private land. The regs are a town’s first line of defense, especially when cross referenced to plans of conservation and development, P&Z regulations, and wetlands setbacks. They identify how/where the town plans to intersect with the CSC process. They are also a roadmap for service providers regarding preferred sites and sometimes less neighborhood contention. In fact, to have no telecom regs can weaken a town’s rights to protect environmental, scenic, and historic assets, and serve up whole neighborhoods to unnecessary overlapping coverage and corporate overreach. Such regs are unique to every town and should not follow anyone else’s boiler plate, especially industry’s.
Connecticut is the only state that has a centralized siting entity for cell towers. The good news is that applicants must prove need for new tower sites in an evidentiary proceeding and any decisions have the weight of the state behind them. The bad news is that the CSC used to be far less industry-friendly and rote in their reviews, which now resemble a check list. There is an operative assumption at CSC that if an applicant wants a tower, they must need it, otherwise why spend significant money to run the approval gauntlet? This reflects a subtle shift over the years at CSC from sincere willingness to protect the environment toward minimal tweaking of bad applications with minor changes. The bottom line is that towns really cannot rely on the CSC to do all the work for them.
What CSC issues telecom providers is a “certificate of environmental compatibility” after an evidentiary proceeding (not unlike a court case) with intervenors, parties, expert witnesses, and the service provider’s technical pro’s sworn in and subject to cross examination. Service providers get to do the same with any opposition from intervenor/party participants – like towns and citizens -- and their experts. It’s an impressive process whose ultimate goal is the fine balancing between allowing adequate/reliable public services and protecting state ecology with minimal damage to scenic, historic, and recreational values. They unfortunately often fall short of their mandate – like approving cell towers with diesel generators over town aquifers -- evidenced by CSC only rejecting about five cell towers in the past 15-20 years.
The CSC was founded in 1972 and clarified its mission in the 1980’s to prevent the state from being carved up willy-nilly by gas pipelines, high tension corridors, and broadcast towers. With the sudden proliferation of cell towers beginning in late 1990’s, it became the most sued agency in Connecticut by both an arrogant upstart industry if applications were denied and by towns/citizens when bad sites were forced on them. CSC gradually formed a defensive posture that drives their decisions toward industry with deeper pockets and attorneys on retainer.
For citizens, nothing can wreck one’s day like the CSC. It behooves towns to protect what little toolkit they have, and understand the legal parameters of the CSC’s playing field. The CSC is not a “normal” government agency where municipal/citizen redress is based on logic and local support. Their process is largely immune to everything but specific kinds of evidence – like town regs with setbacks/fall zones, radio frequency transmission signal strengths, sensitive areas identified, and detailed wildlife inventory, among others.
There is a current cell tower fight involving two intervening towns -- Washington and Warren; both with good cell tower regs – over a tower site within 1200’ of a Montessori School, near Steep Rock’s nature preserves with comprehensive geology/wildlife databases that include endangered, threatened and special concern flora and fauna, on established federal/state migratory bird flyways, within throwing distance to a historic site capable of being listed on the Underground Railroad, and with an access road on a blind curve entering a state highway that will permanently damage wetlands, vernal pools, and core forests. There are well credentialed environmental experts, including Dr. Michael Klemens, former chair of Salisbury’s P&Z, as well as the former director of migratory bird management at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and an RF engineer testifying to alternative approaches, plus three attorneys representing intervenors. It is the most professional challenge I have seen at CSC since Falls Village successfully mounted one that protected Robbins Swamps several years ago.
The hearing is ongoing, with uncertain results. To see what it takes today to stop an inappropriate tower siting, see Docket #543 under “Pending Matters” at https://portal.ct.gov/csc before removing local cell tower regs – the lowest hanging fruit that any town can possess in case it’s needed.
B, Blake Levitt is the Communications Director at The Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council. She writes about how technology affects biology.