College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University

Keeping an eye on the skies

Weather program becomes tradition on campus station.
For three years now Jeff Edmondson has appeared on ISU TV's "Cy's Eyes on the Skies."

The twice-weekly weather show is shown live on local television where Edmondson and other Iowa State student meteorologists give local, regional and national forecasts.

Nielson doesn't track the viewership of "Cy's Eyes." And even if they did, there's no doubt that the weather show wouldn't rate very high.

But Edmondson and his fellow student meteorologists don't care in the least.

"I don't know how many people actually watch," he says. "I do get comments from time-to-time from (meteorology) faculty who watch.

"I'm not doing this to be seen. Looking into the camera you don't know if there are a million people watching or if your broadcast will end up on someone's VCR."

"Cy's Eyes on the Skies" is a 20-minute informative weather show produced, directed and anchored by students and airs at 6:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays on ISUtv Channel 18 during the fall and spring semesters. It is the longest continuous running program on ISUtv.

The ISUtv Weather Team consists of students who have a passion not only for weather but for broadcasting. The program is an excellent opportunity for the students to hone their broadcast skills.

"This is an experience I couldn't get anywhere else," Edmondson says. "If I had an internship I might get to work on a few things but I wouldn't get any air time.

"This gives me a lot of practice delivering the weather and it gives me an idea of what it is like to be on television."

But the meteorology students that appear on "Cy's Eyes" don't only appear on the show to perfect their on-air talents. Hours prior to the broadcast, the student meteorologists are working on their forecasts in the department's computer lab in Agronomy Hall.

KCCI-TV (Channel 8 in Des Moines) has donated two professional graphics-rendering computers that the students use to get hands-on experience.

Each on-air personality is required to make his or her own graphics for that evening's show. One meteorologist is assigned to either the local, regional or national weather map.

"When we go on air we have no script so we have to think on our feet pretty quickly," Edmondson says. "I try to create a story from the start (of his segment) to the finish.

"I stay very positive and outgoing, always with a smile on my face."