Lycoming College Report, January 1983

              LYCOMING COLLEGE REPORT
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Seated outside the U.S. Embassy in Iran in 1979, Sieve
(?9 and Martha Schneider Smith 70 wait for the
possible release of the hostages They were assigned by
CBS News to film the release and other events related
to the Iranian revolution.
While operating what has been described as "the hottest
video studio" in Philadelphia, Steve T Smith 69 and his
wife, the former Martha Schneider 70, continue to circle
the globe, videotaping news and entertainment pieces for
clients like the CBS, NBC. and ABC television networks
To say that the Smiths are busy is an extreme under-statement
When they aren't in Philadelphia working as
Videosmith, Inc., a script-to-screen production company
they opened in 1980. the Smiths are usually on
assignment in one of the world's hot news spots.
In March of 1979, for instance, they were sent by CBS
News to Iran to cover the revolution. Three months later,
they were in Nicaragua to cover that Central American
country's revolt. When a colleague at ABC was murdered
during that assignment, they were evacuated by CBS to
Panama as a safety precaution.
By November, 1979, the Smiths were back in Iran
working on the hostage cnsis They spent hours each day
sitting in front of the American embassy, photographing
the chanting mobs and watting in vain for the hostages'
release. While in Iran, they also traveled to the port city of
Bandar Abbas, to the oil fields near Abadan and Awhaz,
and to Kurdistan and Turkomamstan.
The Smiths left Iran shortly before Christmas in 1979. A
week later they spent New Year's Eve at a black club in
Salisbury, Rhodesia, shooting a cover story for CBS'
"Sunday Morning news show. That show later won a
prestigious Overseas Press Award
After returning to the United States in early 1980, the
Smiths were assigned to the Winter Olympics at Lake
Placid They then spent two months on the primary
campaign trail with Vice President George Bush, then a
presidential contender.
The Smiths worked that summer at the Democratic
Convention in New York City, and later in Newport
photographing the America's Cup Races In Newport,
they spent almost two weeks "hanging out of a helicopter
shooting two specks on the ocean," Steve Smith said.
While in Newport. CBS called and asked them to rush
off to Baghdad, Iraq where the war with Iran was iust
heating up. They never got any closer than a border town
300 miles from the capital, however. They spent three
weeks in Amman, Jordan, waiting in vain to get Iraqi
visas.
In April of 1981 , the Smiths rushed off to Belfast,
Northern Ireland, for what they thought would be a five-day
tnp to shoot again for "Sunday Morning "They
completed the assignment in four days, but rather than
reluming home, they were asked to stay on and cover the
IRA hunger strikers. Three weeks later, the Pope was shot
in Rome, so they were rushed to Italy to cover that. They
then got sent to Pans to cover the exchange of power
between presidents Giscard and Mitterand, and then
covered an OPEC meeting in Geneva, Switzerland Their
five-day trip had now covered more than five weeks.
During the sixth week of that trip, CBS asked the Smiths if
they would like to go to China.
After returning to the states to repack, they left for a
three-week assignment following then-Secretary of State
Alexander Haig to Peking. Hong Kong, and Wellington,
New Zealand.
A couple of weeks after returning to the United States,
the skywalks" at the Kansas City Hyatt Hotel collapsed,
killing 113 people, They were on a plane the next day,
working for ABC's "20/20" news magazine show. Steve
called that assignment "one of the most difficult,
emotionally, we have ever experienced Wewere
interviewing survivors and rescuers who had iust
witnessed a terrible, terrible tragedy, and were telling their
stories for the first time. The pain and suffering was very
near the surface, and we were all affected by it."
The piece was done so well, however, that it later won
an Emmy Award, the second prestigious award to which
the Smiths have been connected.
From Kansas City, the Smiths then were sent on a much
happier assignment : the Royal Wedding in London.
They celebrated New Year's Eve. 1981. in Frankfurt,
West Germany, waiting for the Russians to invade Poland
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Budding sculptors can compete for scholarships
Lycoming is inviting high school students with a strong
interest in sculpture to compete for $1,500 scholarships
The competition for scholarships is open to students
who want to earn the bachelor of fine arts (BFA I degree in
sculpture offered by Lycoming in cooperation with the
prestigious Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture
in Princeton. N|. Scholarships will be awarded to those
students who successfully complete a portfolio review and
who demonstrate financial need.
Applicants also must meet all of Lycoming's admissions
standards, and complete the college s financial aid
application and the national Financial Aid Form (FAF) All
awards are eligible fur renewal for three additional years.
Applications for the scholarships must be received by
Lycoming by March 1. They are available from the Office
of Admissions.
Lycoming also is accepting nominations for
scholarships Nomination forms are available from the
admissions office, and must be submitted by the same
date
The BFA in sculpture program is a unique degree
offering designed specifically to train professional artists It
is a synthesis of three forms of education, a studio-art
program that emphasizes the skills and concepts of the
visual language; an apprenticeship at the atelier that taki-s
technical expertise as the departure point, and the
scholastic method employed in both art history and the
general-education components
BFA-degree students must complete a specified course of
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