From the Editor

From the EditorVisiting the FSU Side of the Street

By Rosanne Dunkelberger

I’ve lived here more than 24 years now. A mere blip to Tallahassee old-timers, who tend to measure longevity in generations, but it’s nearly half a lifetime for me. When I got here in 1983, Capital Circle Northeast was four lanes and Thomasville Road was two; Market Square Shopping Center was brown; Doak Campbell looked like an overgrown high school stadium; and the Democrats were running the show in the Capitol.

Working in publications and public relations for most of that time (and being a daily newspaper reader), I have tended to keep my antennae up and tuned in to what’s going on locally. I feel like I know everybody.

But I know that’s not true, because when they do those crowd-scanning shots at local sporting events, I never see anybody I know. And whenever it’s time to report a story, I’m constantly meeting people I never knew doing things I’ve never heard of. I have my stomping grounds and they are, for the most part, in northeast Tallahassee. One of the places I never seem to get around to is the Florida State University campus. (I take that back: My car can drive itself to the University Center Club ballroom, where it seems every social event of a certain size is held. But those events are at night, when the usual college business is done for the day.)

In the past year, I have had an opportunity to learn a lot about what I’ve been missing sticking to my quadrant for all these years. Last summer, I made several forays to the FSU campus (and had my share of parking nightmares) to report a story about the university’s renowned Department of Dance. For this issue, I returned to write about another celebrated school within the university, the College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts – or, as it’s more succinctly titled, The Film School.

With a unique concept – students don’t have to pay their own filmmaking expenses – an all-star faculty and a commitment to help graduates find meaningful work in the industry, The Film School has had resounding success. Its students have won numerous awards and gone on to enjoy successful careers despite the college’s relatively short history. And, like the dance department, its reputation seems to be better known outside Tallahassee than within the city limits.

I am hoping that this issue’s cover feature will show us “townies” the fabulous things that have been happening in the same building where we have been enjoying our charity do’s. As you can see, we needed double the cover space to fit in all The Film’s School’s dignitaries and notable personages.

But that’s not all. Once again we have got a great lineup of stories, including biographies of two local beauties vying for national pageant titles, the story of a contingent of local people who got a person-to-person introduction to the Muslim culture of Turkey, and a preview of a new type of construction that could revolutionize how houses are built.

My resolution is to make Tallahassee Magazine bigger and even better for 2008. I’d say we’re off to a great start.

Wishing you only good things in the New Year.