United Theological Seminary

I went to United (in Dayton , Ohio.......just 40 or so miles north of my then home in northwest Cincinnati) in late 1989 after discovering that Dennis Benson was there teaching in a Communications Program,  which offered a MARC (Masters of Arts in Religious Communication) degree.  It was something which seemed to fit where I perceived myself to be heading what with my Theological Training (MDiv. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1981) and lifetime interest in all things technological,  particularly communication technologies.  Prior to the computer networking revolution spawned by the rise of the Internet,  my focus had been in the broadcast medium of video and audio.  

I had used resources published by Dennis Benson in earlier years,  and had even called him on the phone to talk with him about what he had for discussing popular music,  and which he had responded enthusiastically by sending me all sorts of things he had put together around incorporating what is communicated by popular music to today's youth.   When I found a book he had just written while browsing a book store in 1988,  and found that he was in Dayton directing this program,  I made a note to myself that I needed to investigate.  After a brief sidetrack while my wife and I had our first child in March 1989,   later that fall I paid a visit to a class Dennis was teaching,  and ended up enrolling as a full time student in January 1990,  to go for the MARC degree.

Ken Bedell became my advisor,  which was to be very significant. Ken had been a leader in several groups formed around Church computer Networking,   and had,  on one occasion of my aforementioned visit,  in a chapel service,  set up an online connection and a display projector,  and the participants in chapel offered prayers for the victims of the earthquake that had just happened in San Francisco.  These prayers were typed in on the spot and were read by participants gathered with a similar setup in San Francisco,  so we had a "realtime" chat which connected the prayers of the participants at both ends.  Little did I realize at that time how deeply immersed I was to evntually become in the idea of online community.

When I arrived at United,  the aim was to get involved in Video production,  and one of my "Student WorkStudy jobs" was to troubleshoot and re-connect things in the Audio-Video studio,  part of which was a couple of Amiga Computers that were there to aid in the task of Video graphics.  In my work toward reconfiguring and upgrading the equipment,  I investigated Amiga VideoToaster,  a video production system for the Amiga,  and learned some of the basics of computing in the process,  including connecting to Computer Bulletin Board systems.

After a year and a half,  my focus had completely shifted from video production to computer networking,  and I took a job upon graduation selling electronics at Circuit City,  with the goal of moving into the Computer departments that they were beginning to develop for all the Circuit City stores.  This I did,  and got my first PC,  and immediately began connecting to BBS's and online services and exploring the world on online communications.

© Copyright 2003 Dale Lature. Last update: 9/23/2003; 3:35:04 PM.