Post by CCADP on Apr 16, 2006 9:50:20 GMT -5
Local student wins C-SPAN competition with death penalty video: Documentary: "Is the Death Penalty Dead?".
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2006 Tulsa World
Byline: Jason Collington
Apr. 10--His documentary is called "Is the Death Penalty Dead?" Scott Hemphill chose the title because, at 17, he had a lot of questions about the issue. The answers he found didn't just satisfy his own curiosity, but also won him a national award. Hemphill, a junior at Broken Arrow Senior High School, received first prize and a $1,000 cash award in C-SPAN's StudentCam, a national competition that invited middle- and high-school students to produce a documentary exploring a current political topic. Megan Aud, Victoria Johnson and Shannon Keller, eighth-grade students at Sequoyah Middle School in Broken Arrow, earned an honorable mention and $250 for their documentary titled "Wildfires Update 2006." The competition was sponsored by C-SPAN Classroom, a free service dedicated to helping teachers use its programming in classrooms. C-SPAN provides public access to the political process.
Students entered videos that touched on issues that ranged from federal wiretapping to video game violence. "We think it's important for our viewers to know what students are thinking about," said Joanne Wheeler, C-SPAN's vice president of education relations, during a telephone interview. "They are the next generation of voters." Hemphill picked the death penalty for his documentary because of the debate that surrounded the December execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams. A former member of the violent Crips street gang, Williams was put to death for the 1979 robbery murders of four people in Los Angeles. In prison, Williams became an anti-gang crusader. "I really wanted to figure out what was really going on there," Hemphill said. "There is a lot more to the death penalty than most people think." So he began calling on people with views on both sides of the issue. His first interview was with Tulsa lawyer Rob Nigh, who defended Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. He then talked to Tulsa County First Assistant District Attorney Doug Drummond. Hemphill also interviewed a priest who leads vigils outside the penitentiary during executions in Oklahoma State Prison in McAlester. He then talked to Oklahomans who have had loved ones killed by people sentenced to death row and a man in Oklahoma City whose son was executed. During a trip to McAlester to get footage at the state penitentiary, Hemphill and his father, John, slid on the ice and totaled their van. The accident left the father and son with scratches and bruises, but it didn't stop them from renting a car and continuing with the trip. Hemphill edited the resulting four hours of video in his bedroom. The finished product was a 10-minute documentary. "I said before I went in, I would not make up my mind on what to think until I was done," he said. "I think that is the problem with the media today. It is either too liberal or too conservative."
Wheeler of C-SPAN said there's a reason why the top contest videos will be shown on the channel. "They are all very well put together," she said. "And Scott did great not only with the content but technically. It's really amazing." Keith Isbell, a Broken Arrow Public Schools spokesman and former reporter for KJRH, channel 2, added: "Scott's documentary is good enough to run on any network." Hemphill already is working on another documentary. He's editing and doing the graphics for one from a production company in Atlanta. The film looks at an animal sanctuary in Florida that takes in tigers. In addition to his filming, he records music and is involved in the school's musicals. He's also in advance placement classes. "I have a pretty tight schedule," he said. "Sometimes I sleep." ------------
Copyright (c) 2006, Tulsa World, Okla.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.),
(213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2006 Tulsa World
Byline: Jason Collington
Apr. 10--His documentary is called "Is the Death Penalty Dead?" Scott Hemphill chose the title because, at 17, he had a lot of questions about the issue. The answers he found didn't just satisfy his own curiosity, but also won him a national award. Hemphill, a junior at Broken Arrow Senior High School, received first prize and a $1,000 cash award in C-SPAN's StudentCam, a national competition that invited middle- and high-school students to produce a documentary exploring a current political topic. Megan Aud, Victoria Johnson and Shannon Keller, eighth-grade students at Sequoyah Middle School in Broken Arrow, earned an honorable mention and $250 for their documentary titled "Wildfires Update 2006." The competition was sponsored by C-SPAN Classroom, a free service dedicated to helping teachers use its programming in classrooms. C-SPAN provides public access to the political process.
Students entered videos that touched on issues that ranged from federal wiretapping to video game violence. "We think it's important for our viewers to know what students are thinking about," said Joanne Wheeler, C-SPAN's vice president of education relations, during a telephone interview. "They are the next generation of voters." Hemphill picked the death penalty for his documentary because of the debate that surrounded the December execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams. A former member of the violent Crips street gang, Williams was put to death for the 1979 robbery murders of four people in Los Angeles. In prison, Williams became an anti-gang crusader. "I really wanted to figure out what was really going on there," Hemphill said. "There is a lot more to the death penalty than most people think." So he began calling on people with views on both sides of the issue. His first interview was with Tulsa lawyer Rob Nigh, who defended Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. He then talked to Tulsa County First Assistant District Attorney Doug Drummond. Hemphill also interviewed a priest who leads vigils outside the penitentiary during executions in Oklahoma State Prison in McAlester. He then talked to Oklahomans who have had loved ones killed by people sentenced to death row and a man in Oklahoma City whose son was executed. During a trip to McAlester to get footage at the state penitentiary, Hemphill and his father, John, slid on the ice and totaled their van. The accident left the father and son with scratches and bruises, but it didn't stop them from renting a car and continuing with the trip. Hemphill edited the resulting four hours of video in his bedroom. The finished product was a 10-minute documentary. "I said before I went in, I would not make up my mind on what to think until I was done," he said. "I think that is the problem with the media today. It is either too liberal or too conservative."
Wheeler of C-SPAN said there's a reason why the top contest videos will be shown on the channel. "They are all very well put together," she said. "And Scott did great not only with the content but technically. It's really amazing." Keith Isbell, a Broken Arrow Public Schools spokesman and former reporter for KJRH, channel 2, added: "Scott's documentary is good enough to run on any network." Hemphill already is working on another documentary. He's editing and doing the graphics for one from a production company in Atlanta. The film looks at an animal sanctuary in Florida that takes in tigers. In addition to his filming, he records music and is involved in the school's musicals. He's also in advance placement classes. "I have a pretty tight schedule," he said. "Sometimes I sleep." ------------
Copyright (c) 2006, Tulsa World, Okla.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.),
(213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.