photo by Courtney Combs '06
Carole Braun
Antioch College Communications Technician
“Carole is extremely knowledgeable concerning all the equipment in the Com. Facility. She is always there to help fix a technical glitch or give a pep talk to help you restart a project for the third time because you didn't save it properly the first time around.” – Courtney Combs ’06
Carole Braun, the Communications Technician, has worked at Antioch since November 1987. Her job involves managing the equipment in the Communications Department, including cameras, video editing systems, and a printing press. She also oversees the Federal Work-Study Program students who work in the department and assists students who are using the equipment: “Any production associated with the Communication major I try to facilitate for the students.” She occasionally teaches classes in the department.
When I spoke with her, it quickly became clear how passionate she is about her work. She gave me a tour of the department and clarified the distinction between film and video as recording media when I revealed my lack of understanding. Film, it turns out, records physical images on a strip of light-sensitive film, much like a traditional still camera. Video, on the other hand, records information magnetically on a strip of videotape.
Carole’s passion for her work also comes out in her protectiveness of the equipment. For instance, she does not allow students to have drinks near the equipment: “People make fun of me for this thing I have about drinks. This poor guy even had a vase of flowers next to the computer and I flipped my wig. He knew he couldn’t have drinks, but he thought he was doing a nice thing with the vase of flowers, and I was thinking, ‘There’s water next to the computer! Ack!’”
She is very proud of how much the department has grown since she began working at Antioch: “It’s much different now than when I was hired. The year I was hired there were two or three video majors, there wasn’t a film instructor at all, and we had one light kit and two VHS cameras. Last year we had 25 majors graduate—more than a quarter of the class—in video, film, photography, and journalism. We still don’t have a lot of equipment, but we have enough state-of-the-art equipment that students can come out of here and be able to step in anywhere and work.”
Carole’s own education was in film and journalism at Indiana University. In addition, she is currently enrolled in the McGregor School’s Conflict Resolution program, which takes up most of her free time. As part of her practicum, she has volunteered her services to Antioch’s Dean of Students Office as a mediator: “I’ve been trying to get people to come to me for mediation, because I can think of a lot of problems that grew bigger because there was nobody around to provide that service.”
Carole’s daughter, Sarah Braun ’07, is an Antioch student whose most recent co-op was with Manhattan Neighborhood Network, a public access television station in New York City that was co-founded by Antioch alumnus and professor Bob Devine ’67.
by Campbell Meeks ‘04
page last updated:
November 10, 2004
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Yellow Springs, OH 45387