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ASU students put humanity, individuality into videos


April 13, 2010

What does it mean to be human? ASU students at Barrett, the Honors College, drew on their creativity to answer that head-scratcher in a video contest. Five students have won recognition by creating short videos for an “Eyes on Barrett” contest.

First place went to Josh Lambert, who submitted a two-and-a-half minute video of evocative campus scenes and piano music, interspersed with clips from his own family life. Lambert, an electrical engineering freshman, won a flip camcorder for his piece, “Humanity: an Autobiography.”

Second-place winner was Garret Walliman, for his four-minute entry featuring student voice-overs and images from around the world. He won a 16 GB flash drive for his entry, “Thus Humanity.” Walliman is a computer systems engineering freshman.

Honorable mentions went to three students: Grishma Singh, philosophy freshman, for her humorous entry, “Rousseau Explains Social Networking”; David Berger, global studies senior, for his musical road journey through Scotland, “To Be Human”; and Gregory Begenyi, marketing sophomore, for his photographic interpretation of the Pearl Jam song, “Sleight of Hand.”

Videos were judged by a panel of Barrett students at ASU Polytechnic. Each entry was scored on its originality, interpretation of the theme and its overall effect.

“This was our first year to hold the contest, so we didn’t know what to expect,” said Jennifer Brady, Barrett program coordinator at the Polytechnic campus. “Barrett students are quite creative and have a lot to express, and we’re pleased with the results.”

The videos will be shown with other student work as part of the Barrett Film Festival from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., April 22, at the Cronkite Theatre, at the ASU Downtown Campus. To view the contest videos online, visit http://www.youtube.com/user/EyesOnBarrett.

Other films to be shown at the festival include four short documentaries by ASU journalism students: “Mixed Rice: Japanese Americans and Interracial Marriage,” by Maxine Park; “Silent Voices: The Underrepresentation of Native Americans in Local News,” by Colton Shone; “Lodestar: A Holistic Haven for Help and Humanity,” by Jessica Andrews and Denica Moodey; and “Living Homeless: Kids on the Street,” by Tara Prindiville.