Towson University students display their checks for their winning audio and video PSA entries for the Maryland Vehicle Theft Prevention Council and Maryland DC Anti-Car Theft Committee.
Confidence and cash — not a bad day’s earnings.
Towson’s Electronic Media & Film (EMF) students Jasmine Jones ’15, Sarah Lupton ‘15, Leonardo Brito ‘16, Gina Ciardi ‘16, Mickey Fortune ‘16, Asia Bell ‘15, Jack Dunlap, ’16 and Jacob Jumbelick ‘17 each had winning entries in the 2015 Maryland Vehicle Theft Prevention Council & Maryland DC Anti-Car Theft Committee PSA audio and video competitions. The 30-second PSAs focus on auto theft crime prevention, auto arson, insurance fraud, theft from vehicle or owner give-up and will be broadcast locally on WBAL-TV and WBAL-AM 1090.
According to John MacKerron, Chair, Electronic Media & Film, “The contest provides an opportunity for the local community to see the high quality work done by Towson University Electronic Media and Film students. For the winning students it’s a great addition to a resume.”
“I gained confidence in my filmmaking” said Jones after receiving the grand prize for her winning anti-theft audio PSA on Monday, May 11 in the Media Center TV station.
Jasmine Jones ’15, center, receives her check from Paul Holland ’83 and Christopher T. McDonald for her award-winning PSA video “Safety Checklist.”
Fortune and Ciardi each won $500 for their audio PSAs. Jumbelick and Bell won the audio PSA grand prize, which awarded each student $500.
Fortune, a non-traditional student from Mount Airy, Maryland, who professionally produces trade shows, said “the experience has helped me create videos for my company to help with our marketing, and, I’ve had great professors at Towson.”
Bowie, Maryland, native Jumbelick added, “it’s a good feeling and I never expected it.”
The winners of the video PSA competition, and $500 each, were Brito from Germantown, Maryland, and Lupton from Bel Air, Maryland. Dunlap received second prize, winning $1,000, and Jones won the grand prize of $2,000.
Jones, who works at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, said her experience at Towson “helped me gain experience in editing and camera work.” She hopes to make documentary films one day.
Paul Holland ‘83, a member of the MD/DC Anti-Car Theft Committee along with Christopher T. McDonald, Deputy Director of the Maryland Vehicle Prevention Council, presented the winners with their checks. The two organizations provide $6,000 to be split among winning submissions.
Paul Holland ’83 of the MD/DC Anti-Car Theft Committee along with Christopher T. McDonald, Deputy Director, Maryland Vehicle Prevention Council, present Jacob Jumbelick ’17 and Asia Bell ’15 with the grand prize audio PSA award.
This is the sixth year the Maryland Vehicle Theft Prevention Council and the Maryland DC Anti-Car Theft Committee has worked with Towson EMF students on their anti-theft PSA campaign. According to Holland, “one of the reasons we continue to work with Towson is the students present a professional product, and Towson has the right equipment for them to work with.”
McDonald said the Maryland Vehicle Theft Prevention Council and the Maryland/DC Anti-Car Theft Committee are “happy and pleased” to work with Towson.
“The PSAs the Towson students produce are the best in the Baltimore region. We’re happy to work with the Towson students to produce a real product to get the message of auto-theft to the public.”
The Maryland/DC Anti-Car Theft Committee (MD/DC ACT) is a non-profit 501c3 organization dedicated to reducing auto theft in Maryland and the District of Columbia through support for law enforcement; the education of our citizens; and the enactment of legislation that supports cost effective programs and laws that diminish auto theft.
The Maryland General Assembly created the Vehicle Theft Prevention Council in 1994, as a statewide planning and dedicated funding resource. The Council embraces a statewide strategy directed at public awareness, vehicle theft by juveniles, law enforcement and prosecution through a grant award process. This strategy has proven to be highly successful in reducing vehicle theft rates throughout the state of Maryland. Since the creation of the Council in 1994, overall vehicle theft rates in Maryland have been reduced by over 58 percent for an estimated economic savings of over $148 million.
