By Lexus Yamashiro | Staff Writer

The Board of Student Publications (BOSP) will be unveiling its new Creative Media Lab next month that has been in the works since Spring 2016. Scheduled to open by Monday, Oct. 16, BOSP executive members have been finalizing its process in creating a space in ʻIliahi 124 for students that will serve as a creative outlet with access to computer monitors, digital equipment and more.

From Photoshop to creating movie files, any current KCC students will be allowed to visit the lab to use any of the six Macintosh or two Dell computers for only creative media arts-related work. The latest Adobe software will be installed into each monitor which will enable students to edit audio files, video files, photographs, and more.

Three digital cameras will also be available for students to rent while having to follow an equipment borrowing policy. The BOSP executive team will teach students how to maintain borrowed equipment properly beforehand.

“We wanted kind of like a creative space for students to have … a creative output to them, and have resources for them that they are able to access that are … not offered in other places on campus,” said Leiolani Malagon-Leon, the chair of BOSP.

The use of BOSP student fees, which students pay $10 a semester for, was used for the purchase of computer monitors, furniture, digital cameras, Adobe software, and paint supplies. According to Cheri Souza, the supervisor of BOSP, a total of $44,023.60 that accumulated over the years was spent into creating the media lab.

The idea of creating a media lab was proposed by former BOSP executive members Quinn Daluz and Maxwell McDonald in Spring 2016 after surveys were sent out to students asking what they would want their student fees to go toward. Based on student input, Daluz and McDonald decided that the idea of a media lab would be pursued and was carried out by Fall 2016 board members Jordan Umeno, Leiolani Malagon-Leon, and Vendela Lindahl.

“They had really wanted to kind of do something that would be lasting and accessible for all students,” Souza said. “Because there are other computer labs on campus, we wanted to try and differentiate ourselves.”

Once open lab days and hours go into effect, a media lab monitor will be present to regulate activities and behavior in the lab. This will be a job position made available on SECE for students who are familiar with Adobe software and digital equipment; BOSP will inform students of when this position will be open for applications.

According to Malagon-Leon, with the New Media Arts program’s media lab as the only other resource of media arts on campus, BOSP is hoping that its new Creative Media lab will provide students with a new space to work in and release stress through art.

“We kind of want the [media lab] to be … a creative output, but also a space that students can call their own,” Malagon-Leon said. “We do hope that they will take advantage of the opportunity that we do have them.”

For more information contact the Board of Student Publications at kccbosp@hawaii.edu or visit ʻIliahi 124.