Office of Public Relations
Missouri Baptist University
One College Park Drive
Saint Louis, Missouri 63141-8698
314.392.2307 / fax 314.392.2265
www.mobap.edu / pr@mobap.edu
For Immediate Release
RE: Broadcasting for Babies
Broadcasting for Babies
November 15, 2005
MBU students shoot promotional video for March of Dimes
More than twenty MBU students helped save the lives of an uncountable number of babies earlier this month.
MBU Communication students prepare to broadcast
at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.
Surprisingly, these students weren’t pre-med majors. None planned to even pursue nursing as a career. In fact, the majority had never even contemplated working in a healthcare-related setting.
Instead, these students were using their academic knowledge and hands-on broadcasting skills to help reduce the number of babies who are born everyday with medical complications.
The MBU communications department was awarded the opportunity to craft a promotional video for the March of Dimes annual fund-raiser, “Radio Broadcasters for Babies.” Every year, local radio stations attempt to raise money for March of Dimes by asking listeners to donate money for the cause.
“This was an opportunity for our students to learn invaluable lessons while contributing to a wonderful cause,” said Ray Killebrew, instructor of communications at MBU. “With assignments like this, our students are able to learn in a way that can really benefit our community.”
So while numerous local radio talent were on the airways soliciting support and dollars for research related to improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature births and infant mortality, MBU students were capturing the day by putting their academic preparation into practice.
Will Federer and Tyne Schwent broadcast
at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
Once completed, the video, which was shot at three local hospitals, will serve as a six-minute promotional piece for March of Dimes and an unforgettable learning experience for MBU students.
“Our team gained valuable experience in the communications business. We functioned as a team with a common goal and produced footage that will help make others aware of the March of Dimes,” said Zak Studebaker, one of the students who shot footage at Cardinal Glennon Children Hospital. “We became aware of the premature births that take place everyday and that became our focus, our motivation.”
In an average week in Missouri, over nineteen percent of all babies are born preterm or at a low birthrate. Every week, eleven babies die in Missouri before their first birthday.
With those staggering statistics, the experience for MBU student Tyne Schwent wasn’t just another college assignment. It was a task that she believed in.
“This experience is one that I will never forget,” Tyne explained. “We were able to see a glimpse of what these families go through. It was a great experience. I just wish that more people could have experienced it.”
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Missouri Baptist University is a premier Christian university in Saint Louis, offering graduate and undergraduate studies in over thirty specialized fields and nine degrees. MBU's education and fine arts programs are nationally known in addition to business, religion, administration of justice, and more. MBU is one of the fastest growing higher education institutions in Missouri with an enrollment of over 4,500 students at five locations in the bi-state region — West County, Lincoln County, Jefferson County, Franklin County and the new Illinois extension at Lewis and Clark Community College.
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