Students sometimes feel as if their voices are not heard by older generations, but Monday through Wednesday they have an opportunity to speak up.
Because Ball State University was touted as the most unwired campus in the nation, Generation Next, a project interviewing students for a documentary, came to the university.
Generation Next: Speak Up. Be Heard. is a film project supported by Pew Charitable Trust that is creating a documentary allowing students to let their opinions, thoughts and feelings be heard. The team brought an R.V. and a kiosk to campus, and interviewed students via Web cam in the parking lot by the Art and Journalism building.
Jeff Nelson, a researcher and writer for Generation Next, said this is the next group of leaders and the project was intended to give the government and older generations a better idea of what the youth of today were like.
"Part of the idea is people don't pay attention to young adults but it's a big segment of today's population," Nelson said. "We wanted to come to Ball State because we heard it was the most unwired campus and because Muncie has always been a place to gauge the middletown public."
Students sat in front of a Web cam and were asked to respond to no more than five questions. Their responses were recorded onto DVD, and in about a week would be available on the Web site.
Chris Holtz, a sophomore social work major, said his first assumption of the R.V. was that he would just be giving his opinions about government issues. He did not expect to be interviewed via Web cam, and said he was impressed by the up-and-coming technology in the R.V.
"I thought it really did hit home," Holtz said. "They wanted to know about every bit of society by going to various colleges and universities across the nation. It was nice to see they took the initiative to come to some of the lesser known universities and not just the popular ones like UCLA, To come to Muncie of all places to hear our opinions about the nation was interesting."
The project also has partnerships with Yahoo, NPR and USA Today. Judy Woodruff, correspondent and former CNN anchor, and the Generation Next staff travel around the country and ask students their views on politics, life, thoughts about their generation, the direction in which the country is headed and ways their generation differs from their parents' generation.
Holtz said students who have not participated in the project should because they wanted to hear Ball State's opinions.
"Tomorrow's society is your future as well," he said. "What you say now will affect how you live and your well-being. It's important to speak up and let your voice be heard; otherwise, the rule of majority might not be what you're interested in."
The project started raising funds in February 2006 and will be completed in February 2007, Nelson said. There will be four or five news segments hosted by Jim Lehrer on PBS. In early 2007, an additional hour-long documentary will air on PBS, he said.
Venessa Mendenhall, researcher and writer for Generation Next, said she and Nelson had a hand in how the generation was portrayed and were authorities on Generation Next because they were younger and could relate better with the students.
"This generation has yet to be defined," Mendenhall said. "Part of this project is to let the generation speak for themselves instead of others speaking for them."
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