The University of Oklahoma • Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Comunication
REPAIR AND RELOAD : Computer network administrator Buddy Wiedemann maintains the Gaylord College network servers and the host of computers on which faculty, staff and students rely. Photo by Billy AdamsTechies keep students, faculty plugged in
Two staffers ensure college's technology is bot hcutting edge and user friendly
Technology has changed journalism, as Gaylord Hall’s servers, computer labs, studios and cameras show. Sometimes the interface between machine and user is more complicated than that between machine and machine.
Two Gaylord College staff members have as their primary responsibility facilitating that connection between human users and machines.
They troubleshoot, they install, they maintain and they stay up to date on new hardware, software and equipment of all sorts. Most important, they translate the language of machines so that those who do not speak it fluently can use them successfully to do their work.
Meet the Gaylord Hall techies: Buddy Wiedemann, computer network administrator, and Monty Roberts, broadcast engineer. Both are fluent in the language of technology.
Meta Castarphen, Gaylord Family Endowed Professor and associate dean of academic affairs, oversees the college’s technology. She also serves as chairwoman of the Technology Committee, of which both men are members.
“They are hard working, absolutely brilliant with what they do and really invaluable to the function of the college,” she says. “Our college and the fields we prepare students for require a familiarity with technology. Our emphasis is on state-of-the-art technology that allows students to be as prepared as they can be for their careers.”BUDDY WIEDEMANN
Wiedemann’s third floor office contains three computer monitors, two computers and a constantly whirring test server. To watch him work even briefly is to see that he has a special knack for computers as he clicks in and out of programs and windows that say things no mere mortal could possibly decipher.
He is responsible for two buildings, Copeland and Gaylord halls, with eight labs, three servers and 188 computers, not to mention an array of scanners and printers and projectors. In addition to three labs situated in Copeland Hall are five in Gaylord: three teaching labs, one wireless lab and one open lab for all college students.
“He knows his stuff,” says Seth Joseph, Wiedemann’s graduate assistant in 2005-2006. “His mind works really fast. He’s not just dealing with the networks, but also with computers in the labs, videoconferencing equipment and classroom technology such as the whiteboards and the projector systems. It’s a huge job keeping the technology in this building running.”
Wiedemann says his primary responsibilities at Gaylord College are to recommend what technology to purchase for the student labs and classroom, to install and maintain the equipment, to provide tech support for all faculty and staff and to sit on several committees.
“My job is mostly interruptions,” he says. “I chose this office because there’s a stairwell just a few feet away right down to the classrooms and the computer labs. It’s a really unusual job. It’s not regimented. I work really well this way. I come in the morning, and I have a number of projects. I also am the Web master, so I run the college Web site. I may come in planning on redoing a section of the site. Then I’ll get a phone call from a lab saying a printer isn’t working or a student can’t log in or a projector isn’t running.”
Wiedemann emphasizes that he is committed to ensuring that students get what they pay for with their technology fee of $25 per credit hour for most Gaylord College courses. That money is for purchasing and maintaining computers and other devices.
Wiedemann did not start out to be a computer guru. He earned a bachelor’s degree of fine arts in piano performance in 1982 and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and advertising in 1997. When he completed his master’s degree in journalism, electronic media and new technologies at OU in 2003, he knew he had found his calling.
Wiedemann now finds problem solving and working with technology and its users second nature.
“You don’t get trained for this job,” he says. “You have to be really good at learning things quickly and really good at solving problems quickly. I get bored fast. I like challenges. I like problem solving. Problem-solving skills are important in this field.”
On the desk and bookshelves of Wiedemann’s office are bowls of Ferrero Rocher chocolates and Kraft caramels, bottles of water, boxes of tea bags, pieces of fresh fruit and assorted candy bars. They are there for a strategic reason.
“I keep them because people tend to be intimidated by technology,” Wiedemann says. “People sometimes don’t know how to ask what they need to ask. I get paid to answer questions. If you are intimidated by technology, you become a machine yourself.”
Joseph said that while Wiedemann has a wealth of knowledge, his personality makes him easier to approach than many institutional technology people, who often are impatient with those who aren’t IT savvy.
“Some IT guys are jerks,” Joseph says. “Buddy is personable. It’s not how much experience a person has or what systems he has used, but what kind of person this is. I see a lot of students approaching him. Our undergrads don’t hesitate to come to him with problems, or just to pop in and grab some candy during the course of the day. His literal door is almost always open, and his figurative one always is. You kind of get the impression that he would rather be talking to people than machines.”
Wiedemann says as a piano major he hated computers and could not understand why people would be so interested in punch cards.
After using typewriters his entire life, he took a job at AT&T in Tulsa and was amazed by the new word processors. He knows that many people don’t have his knack for and understanding of computers.
“One thing is that machines and people don’t talk the same language,” he says. “I am a liaison between machinery and the human beings, and I have to find a way to facilitate the technology and make it work so that it doesn’t get in their way. Technology is supposed to enhance and improve the way people teach. The only thing that really frustrates me is when I’m not able to solve the problems with people – when I’m not able to communicate the solution, even if I know it. What frustrates me is the frustration of a teacher in a classroom. Until you’ve been there in front of 60 students and technology fails you in class, you don’t know how stupid it makes you feel. I hate to see that happen.”
Wiedemann says his personality, rather than his knowledge, helps him to bridge the gap between technology and its users.
“People think I’m a lot smarter than I am,” he says. “They think I’m an expert. I’m really good at solving problems and finding answers and figuring out software, but I’m not really smart or really trained. I think I have a personality that works really well for this job. Most IT people have an aloofness to them where they blame the user, and I think that I tend to not be that way.”
Lynn Franklin, visiting assistant professor and faculty adviser for TV4OU, the college’s student-run television station, says Wiedemann is essential in the maintenance and protection of the broadcast network.
“He’s been instrumental in keeping us out of harm’s way,” Franklin said. “Buddy is aggressive in keeping up in terms of what is current not only within this building but within the industry.”1 • 2
