University Park, Pa. — Students in Penn State's College of Communications will be providing live audio and video coverage of the 2008 Penn State Dance Marathon (THON) from Friday through Sunday (Feb. 22-24).
ComRadio, the Web radio station run by students in Penn State's College of Communications, will provide 46-hour coverage beginning at 6 p.m. Friday at comradio.psu.edu. Reporters will introduce listeners to families, dancer, moralers, student volunteers and Penn State alumni, as well as providing conversations with the dancers who won't be sitting down until 4 p.m. Sunday.
The Webcast will also give listeners a chance to experience morale line dances and performing bands. ComRadio will also offer live blogging with slideshows of special appearances and full coverage of the final hours.
Additionally, more than 100 students from the College of Communications will produce live streaming coverage of THON at thon.org and on the University Park campus cable system. Telecommunications students in two courses — COMM 283W, Introduction to Audio and Visual Communications, and COMM 383, Production Administration — both taught by senior lecturer Maria Cabrera-Baukus, comprise the core of the production crew for the Webcast of THON. In addition, several other students from different majors eagerly volunteered to assist with the effort.
Their online broadcast incorporates live floor coverage, pre-produced video packages and video of other aspects of THON. The students will get support from faculty and staff in the college, as well as key technical support from Information Technology Services at Penn State and Penn State Public Broadcasting's WPSU-TV.
THON has raised more than $46 million for pediatric cancer since Penn State's Interfraternity Council (IFC)/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, known as THON, got its start in 1973. Last year alone students raised more than $5.2 million to support The Four Diamonds Fund.
For more information about Penn State's Dance Marathon, the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, visit http://thon.org. For details about how The Four Diamonds Fund supports pediatric cancer patients and research, visit http://www.hmc.psu.edu/fourdiamonds.
To donate to THON, visit https://secure.ddar.psu.edu/Thon/ online.