[acbotech] student uses Braille to anchor news

  • From: "Ramesh Tamby" <rt52@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <acbotech@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:48:03 -0400

Interesting article

KTIV NewsChannel 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and SportsCollege

student uses Braille to anchor the news



College student uses Braille to anchor the news



   Posted: Monday, September 7, 2009 2:01 PM EST



   NORFOLK, Neb. (KTIV) -- To break into the broadcast news

business, you have to have determination, good writing skills,

   and of course the voice. And for one Siouxland student trying to

break into the biz, the ladder is even harder to

   climb.



   It's your typical midwest college, and your typical student

broadcast department.  There's a studio, audio board, and

   television prompter.



   "I do want to go into broadcasting, " said Nick Pavel, a

sophomore at Northeast Community College.



   Every year thousands of broadcast students try their hand at

breaking into the TV news business, and at Northeast

   Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska there's one student who

uses his hands literally to master his craft.



   Nick uses his hands because he can't see the prompter or any

scripts.  Nick has been blind since birth.



   "I was an anchor last semester for our TV newscast and I also

read the news on the radio last semester as well," said

   Pavel.



   Nick does it with a Braille note.



   "I type them out in my Braille notes so I have to type everything

out from beginning to end, so it's kind of a long

   process," said Pavel.



   While he's been using Braille for years, Nick, like any other

broadcast student, had to get use to reading aloud.



   "He wasn't used to reading out loud from that, but he's gotten

used to it," said his instructor, John Skogstoe.



   Training for a broadcast career is challenging even with all of

your senses, but Nick minus sight says you can't miss

   what you never had.



   "Since I've been blind since birth, I'm used to how I read," said

Pavel.



   Which makes him a real inspiration to his instructor and classmates.



   "For someone like Nick with a visual impairment who only has the

same challenges that everyone else does, that's a real

   testament to his attitude and how hard he works at doing what he

wants to do," said Skogstoe.



   "He's very smart and has the potential to be a broadcaster like

everyone else here," said classmate, Austin Taibemail.



   And with such determination, you may never know where Nick could

turn up someday.



   "Nick Pavel for KTIV News Channel Four," said Nick Pavel.



   The competition just got a little more stiff.



   Nick is a sophomore from Lesterville, South Dakota.



   His instructor says he has heard of other blind radio announcers

but has not heard of a blind television newscaster.

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