Here on campus there are hundreds of different
clubs that cater to student’s wants and needs. As soon
as one comes to the University, new tables in the
Campus Center and flyers advertising one thing or
another bombard students. At the risk of sounding like
a school recruiter, whatever you want to do here at
UMass you can find a club for it. The Ski ‘N Board
Club, ALANA and The Hangliding Club are among a few of
the hundreds of clubs on campus, all of which are
student run and organized. This includes the media
outlets on campus specifically UVC, the student run
television station that airs original programming and
productions by students on channel 19 here on campus.
You may have flipped passed it trying to watch the
X-Games and caught a glimpse of interviews, sketch
comedy or public service announcements. UVC is the
ultimate place for students to air their ideas,
opinions and creative talents.

Sandhill Productions is an independent production
company that creates original stories and molds those
stories into short films performed through
marionettes. Head writer and founder of Sandhill
Productions, Josh Butkiewicz, has created over 60
marionettes for this small independent production
company that were molded by hand. The first two short
features The Taking of Mt. Sodom and A Sandhill
Revolution are based on Biblical stories that were
adapted into original stories by the crew and the
newest feature, Nighttime in Heaven, is a totally
original story thought by Mr.Butkiewicz.

The ideas are processed like an actual feature
film. First the ideas are processed into storyboards,
then into scripts, sets are created for each story and
finally they shoot each story. The films using
multiple camera angles to catch the essence of the
story unlike other marionette shows in which all you
see is the stage. The elaborate sets, puppets and
preparation that goes into these projects creates an
impressive final product that can be enjoyed by any
amateur filmmaker. At their website
www.sandhillproductions.org, you can see photos of
production, gain info about their group and past
projects and you will able to see clips from past
productions on the website. The films are unique and
worth a gander at if you are switching through the
channels.

Speaking of channel surfing, that brings me to the
next show, Changing Channels, a show that, as its name
suggests, switches between sketch comedy and
informative pieces of news from interviewing people
about the election to talking to the Stonewall Center.
Created by two Communication majors Lisa Green and
Eric Estremera, it focuses on mocking parts of our
popular culture and educating the population of UMass
with global, national and local news and opinions.
Both write and produce the show equally in order to
get fresh ideas and concepts in their work. They both
agree that this freshness keeps viewers interested in
watching the show once they’ve put it on. The cast for
the skits is also fresh, because they run it on an
open door policy, allowing people who are interested
in helping them out to do so. Familiar faces in the
cast include Dwayne Northe, Toni Haskins and Dominique
Jackson. When I watched Changing Channels, I was
amazed at how well the subject matter was covered and
the transition from comedic performances to
informative broadcasting. I highly recommend this show
for any college student who is just channel surfing
and comes across it. You can email them with comments
and questions at [email protected].

Finally, one of the most original shows on any
television is the UMass original Feeding the Ducks
created by students Scott Landes, Lee Briante, Bryce
Craver, Jon Green, Skip Jones and Franko Arsenault.
The best way to describe this comic show is best said
by cast member Jon, “We go willy nilly all over the
boob tube.” The episodes have no real theme and
revolve around college kids being college kids. The
comedy that they perform feels as if they are speaking
for the college community, joking about the status-quo
and pop trends (for instance, complementing each other
on the new Baby Walkman). These vignettes are
basically rough ideas. No scripts were used in
creating the episodes, but just a general idea on what
is to be done. The cast of Feeding the Ducks which met
through each other, all work up ideas and share them
with the group that then decides on which ideas would
make the audience the most uncomfortable and hence
have them continue watching to see what else the
comics will do. No, they are not Tom Green or a bunch
of Jackass rip-offs, they are just students having fun
and getting other people to live vicariously through
them. But just because they don’t appear on primetime
television, it doesn’t mean that they don’t have their
favorite shows. Among them are The Simpsons, The Croc
Hunter, The Iron Chef and Felicity. You can meet them
at www.feedingtheducks.com and learn about the show
and the cast.

Anyone interested in getting a show on UVC or
helping with the station should call UVC at 545-1336
or go to the UVC office next to The Hatch.