The Times from Munster, Indiana • 54

thTimes Sunday, October 12, 1963 Mfv-twnMMf i "T'ir air tr i i 1 1 1 milium, impi ST. JOHN One of the Calumet Re- gion's healthiest "two-year-olds" is thriv- ing here. It's WCAE, the fledgling educational television station that has nearly tripled programming since its birth. Another growth spurt will come soon. A matching funds federal grant ena- bled the Lake Central School Corp.

to ex- pand its closed circuit TV system into an open circuit UHF system. The federal 4 5 is 1 1 i the books9 with pupils. James Sheets cracks at 384 ft. TV tower. Region TV Station Grows grant shared the cost up to THE CHANNEL 50 telecasts began in the fall of 1967, with approximately.

16 hours of viewing weekly. WCAE now averages 45 hours per week. Further programming will be offered through a statewide educational television network hookup with universities and colleges that includes Purdue, Indiana, Indiana State, Ball State, Vincennes and I. U. Medical Center.

Equipped to receive the signal for closed circuit telecasts are St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago, St. Margaret Hospital in Hammond, Mercy ana inein-odist Hospitals in Gary, Purdue-Westville Campus, Indiana University Northwest Campus and Purdue Calumet Campus. The programs are distributed within the individual buildings. The transmitter originally provided viewing in a 25-mile radius.

A translator mounted atop the Gary National Bank building in Gary picks up the signal from Channel 50 and translates it to Cannel 72 for Central Gary Glen Park, Hobart and East Gary residents. ADDITIONAL programming will be available when WCAE joins the National Educational Television Network in November. Lou Iaconetti, station director, said, "We intend to expand the viewing schedule as much as the present staff will permit. At this time, we can't afford to hire additional personnel." Through a grant from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, full-time program director Ted Lucas was employed. A few months ago, one night engineer and a part-time engineer were hired to assist Chief Engineer James Sheetz.

A VOCATioiNAL. television course was initiated in September for Lake Central High School students. In addition to learning the technical aspects of TV, the students are engaged in the production of programs and operation of equipment. "Viewpoint" and "Coin Club" are en tirely student-produced and directed. Ka- lU.t Dnxrlan in ntcn nnnHnf tinrt 9 urepVlw program reviewing college activities within Indiana.

Iaconetti said the station hopes next year to expand the vocation class to oth- room. By Shirley Cearing Times Correspondent Times Photos By Dick Rudzinski Manager Lou Iaconetti hiffh srhnol students in the viewine area Program topics cover a wide range of interests. In addition to classroom instruction which is available to area schools during the day, programs include horticulture, travel, bridge lessons, hobbies, state gov ernment reports, cultural ana patriotic lOpiCS A special program scheduled for 7 30 p.m. Oct. 27 will be the 1969 Northern In- diana State Band, Orchestra and Vocal Association Contest.

The Lake Central Hieh School Marching Indians and Cen- tralettes won Sweepstakes honors for the sixth consecutive year at the NISBOVA contest. BAND DIRECTOR Douglas Jordan, using WCAE equipment, filmed and recorded the contest. Bands which will be shown during the hour-long show will include Lake' Central, Bishop Noll, Lowell, Elmhurst, Blackford and Ft. Wayne North Side High Schools. WCAE will conduct its first auction -live from 7 to 11 p.m.

Nov. 5 through 8. Telephone lines are being installed so that Calumet Region residents can bid on the items toll-free. The auction will be conducted in the Lake Central High School fieldhouse so that anyone desiring to do so can attend. Items which have been donated by area merchants include almost everything but the kitchen sink and range in value from $25 to $1,000.

MERCHANDISE which will go on the auction block includes a snowmobile, fishing equipment, black and white and color televisions sets, furniture, bedding, sides and quarters of beef, modeling courses, paint, lumber for remodeling, clothes and bicycles. Among the unusual items are two weekends in an area motel bridal suite, 500 hamburgers, a ring-tail monkey, a trip to the New Orleans Mardi-Gras, a trip for two to Las Vegas, a dinner for two plus Champagne, 52 car washes, and an hour-long flight over Chicago in an executive's plush private JT 1 Jmmmmmm V.tTT, 1 Vx Students learn techniques in control iinMinniiiinnnJr i milium Phil Lamb. Larry Franks, teacher, and Iaconetti. Ted Lucas, right, watches student Bob Baker work the board..