10/15/12 ema

HAYS, Kan. -- Eight students have been given portable video cameras to record the life of Fort Hays State University students in Hays and their hometown communities.

Eye of the Tiger, a civic journalism site, is a cooperative project between the FHSU American Democracy Project's eCitizenship initiative and Eagle Communications.

With eCitizenship, 34 institutions will come together and study how emerging technologies, particularly social networks, support and facilitate civic and political engagement. The goal of the initiative is to build leadership skills and apply them in the online world. Students will document the life of FHSU on video, in blog posts and audio. Other students, faculty and community members can join in the conversation with comments and posts.

"Three students are the real motive forces for this project," said Dr. Chapman Rackaway, associate professor of political science. He named Lydia Fuqua, Jetmore senior, Tre Giles, Colorado Springs, Colo., freshman, and Becca Kohl, Hays sophomore, who can be reached via the Eye of the Tiger website, http://eyeofthetigerfhsu.wordpress.com.

"The best part about this project is that Dr. Rackaway has many different students as bloggers and each of us are involved with different activities," said Fuqua, who plans a career in theatre and blogs for the site. "We are spread out all across campus, so we bring all kinds of new perspectives from our corner of FHSU to the entire campus."

"I think it is a really unique project and for the first time, students will get an insight on what's happening on campus through fellow students on an official, yet more casual channel," she said.

"We envision Eye of the Tiger to be part of the student voice of FHSU," said Rackaway. "The students will upload video, blog and provide on-the-spot reporting on a variety of topics. FHSU and Eagle Communications' Hays Post will share content as well."

"I have done a few videos so far that pertained to FHSU theatre in order to generate interest from students who might not otherwise hear about what's going on," said Fuqua.

"I am very ecstatic about Eye of the Tiger," said Giles, organizational leadership major who blogs for the site. "It is a new way to get the word out about things that happen at FHSU. Each blogger will have their own things they post about, so people will get a diverse look at Fort Hays State."

For more information, contact Rackaway at 785-628-5391 or crackawa@fhsu.edu.