Jan. 28, 2008

RUSTON - By Tierra Nelson The Tech Talk

After several months of work, the athletic department, in conjunction with College Sports Television, has launched the new and improved Tech athletics Web site.

Malcolm Butler, associate athletic director of media relations, said the improvement of Tech's image in the eyes of the public is a key to improving the university as a whole.

"Louisiana Tech has made a concerted effort as an athletic department to upgrade its image both locally and nationally," Butler said. "A lot of credit should go to (Athletic Director) Jim Oakes for his part in making this happen. This is a financial commitment he made for the future image of our university and athletic department."

The Tech athletics Web site is visited by individuals within the Tech community as well as outside of the community.

The university decided to partner with CSTV in the improvement of the Web site and believes the decision was a smart one, Butler said.

"We felt like signing on with CSTV and totally revamping the look and feel of latechsports.com would be a solid step in the right direction," Butler said.

"CSTV is considered the premier Web site hosting company for college Web sites in the country, and after months of research and discussions with a number of companies, we made the decision that they would be the best fit for Louisiana Tech."

David Wiechmann, assistant athletic media relations director, said the entire Tech athletics community is impressed with the improved Web site.

"We're very excited about our newly designed Web site. The reaction has been very positive so far," Wiechmann said.

"The fans are loving the new look, and I think they will really enjoy the Game Tracker feature during home games."

The Game Tracker feature on the new Web site allows fans to follow the Tech games with live statistics from the team's performances through various radio stations.

The stations available for fans to listen through include KXKZ, ESPN, and KPCH.

Leah Beasley, athletics marketing director, said the Internet improvements have been a long time coming for the university.

"We have needed this for a long time. This will only help our image," Beasley said. "And we want to help achieve the goals Tech athletes are reaching for."

Beasley, a Tech alumni and former softball player for the Lady Techsters, said she is willing to do what it takes to see the athletics program exceed expectations.

"This Web site is going to be a huge difference from the one before and is going to open up a door for advertising, helping Tech earn the much needed funds for athletics," Beasley said.

The Web sites creation was a complicated process that called on help from individuals all over the Ruston community.

"In the process of creating the new Web site, we utilized a number of experts on campus and off campus in order to come up with what we felt like would be the most user-friendly site," Beasley said.

Butler said Neal Breeding, from the Marbury Alumni House, and Tom Soto, from the university's marketing department, were both instrumental in helping throughout the process of creating the new Web site.

"It was a total team effort within the athletic department as well as from the university side as well," said Butler, who also noted that Associate Athletic Director for External Operations Eric Buskirk was helpful in the process.

Students have been noticing the improved site and are appreciating the enhancements.

Kylie Bassett, a junior kinesiology major and current softball player, said she really enjoys using the new site.

Basset said she believes individuals outside of the Tech community enjoy the enhanced Web site as well.

"I love it, and I have had a lot of people comment on it like family and friends," Bassett said.

"It's nice to have a change and it was a dramatic one."