Reader Profile - Jorge A. Santana

Name: Jorge A. Santana
Cameras: Canon GL2, Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3
Editing Platform:iMac 24" and a MacBook Pro using Final Cut and iMovie
Support Gear: Slik Able 300 DX
YouTube Channel: armsantana

A year before retiring, after 37 years as a college Spanish professor at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), I decided to take a few video production classes to make this one of my post-retirement hobbies. During my academic career I took many student groups traveling to foreign countries and always carried my cameras with me. First, it was a still camera, than a heavy porta-pak VHS and lately a camcorder. During my years teaching I was asked to teach a distance-learning class that was televised throughout the region and I saw the potential that TV could have in the educational process. I always used visual aids in my teaching and saw the value that audio-visual materials had on my students.

In 1972 I began showing 16mm films and with time these evolved to DVDs. Towards the end of my career at the university I used the internet and YouTube specifically, to supplement my Mexican Culture classes. Students were in awe when I talked, for example, of the Mexican Revolution, and was able to show YouTube clips of Emiliano Zapata's funeral. History almost came to life!