By Matt Reese
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – Construction has been a recurring theme this semester at CCC Blackwood, as buildings; walking paths and parking lots have all been constructed in the past months. The newest addition to the campus is a video board at the entrance off of Ring Road. This video board was built the week before Thanksgiving and installed the following week. Now in use for two weeks, the board has displayed messages available for everyone to see quickly.
Assistant Director of Public Safety Steve Hetherington said he believes this video board will help communication. “This board is an effective way of delivering messages to a large amount of students,” said Hetherington. The board will display upcoming events and dates, school and road closures and sign-up dates for classes. “The purpose of this video board is to inform the students of notable events at the college in a fairly short period of time, such as last week’s flu shots,” said Hetherington.
The board was built at the entrance off of Ring Road near Jefferson Hall. This spot was chosen because it was believed the most traffic comes past that entrance.
Not only is the video board functional, it also adds to a quickly improving campus. “This is a high quality video board that adds color and functionality to the entrance of the college,” said Hetherington. The video board, along with the construction of the walking paths, has made this campus seem more like a large university campus to some.
“I think that the video board makes the school feel more like a four-year school. It makes it look like a real college,” said Heather Rios, 18, a student at CCC Blackwood. “All of the construction has improved the campus compared to just in September.”
With winter coming, weather alerts will be displayed on this board, alerting students of closures and class cancellations. The hope is that the video board will inform students of dates and events they have been missing.
The video board is a good idea; however, I believe there are better campus locations. Many students are not aware the board exists. In addition, even a quick glance at the video board while navigating the circle is unwise. In addition, there is not a lot of foot traffic in the area.