Use Restrictions

Permission is required for reproduction. Please consult with the repository for details.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research, except for subseries 1.4 which is restricted. Please consult the repository for details. To view the audiovisual materials in the collection please make an appointment to ensure the necessary equipment for viewing is available.

Preferred Citation

Secrets of the Sequence records, Accession # 2013/Aug/68, Special Collections and Archives, Health Sciences Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va.

Aquisition Information

Transferred from Virginia Commonwealth University, Office of the President.

Biographical/Historical Information

Secrets of the Sequence (SOTS) is an educational television series that aired on Public Television in 2002-2003. The show, a weekly TV news magazine hosted by Lucky Severson, was created to educate the public about current developments in genetics and life sciences,as well as the applications of the research from these fields. Ward Television Corporation produced the program in collaboration with six leading life sciences research institutions: Harvard University; Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (Cambridge, England); University of California, San Fancisco; University of Michigan; University of Wisconsin, Madison; and VCU. The project was funded in part by Oracle and the Pfizer Foundation. Each episode consisted of three, eight-minute segements which featured the work of scientists and researchers from the participating institutions. The show debued on April 7, 2002 and ran until March 2003 with a total of 52 episodes aired.

The idea for SOTS began at VCU due to President Eugene P. Trani's active support for the life sciences. He spearheaded the creation of VCU Life Sciences, a comprehensive program intergrating the School of Medicine, VCU Health System, the Inger and Walter Rice Center for Environmental Life Sciences, and programs in the sciences, engineering, business, education, and the humanities. This program was created to educate not only students, but the broader public as well to raise awarness about research and advancements in the Life Sciences. In 2001 VCU engaged the services of McGrath/Crossen Associates, a public relations firm, to find ways of promoting these ideas to the community at large and to raise the profile of the University. The concept of the show was created and other institutions were invited to join in the project. At a press conference in March 2002 to promote SOTS Dr. Trani stated that the series represented a "breakthrough in the effort to establish a public dialogue about the implications of research in a post-genomic era." He discussed the need for an informed society for the formation of responsible public policy on these issues and declared, "where the public goes, so goes the future of education and public policy."

Fifty of the best segments of the SOTS shows were adapted to assist teachers in the application of genetic research across the biology curriculum. These 8-10 minute videos were made available for free download through VCU. This project was funded by the Pfizer Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences. Additional funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institution allowed for the creation of more videos which have been added to the site. Each video includes an accompanying classroom-tested lesson that encourages students to further explore the video topics. These vidoes can be found at http://www.sosq.vcu.edu

Scope and Contents

The records of the Secrets of the Sequence (SOTS) television show, 2000-2007, are those created and collected by the Office of the President at VCU, which played a key role in the creation and production of this project. The records include correspondence, project and production information, video masters, b-roll footage, and other materials related to the creation and production of the television series.

Series 1: Administrative records, 2000-2007. This series consists of records relating to the development of the show and is divided into four subseries.

Subseries 1.1: Correspondence. This subseries includes printed copies of emails that were exchanged primarily between VCU, McGrath/Crossen Associates, Ward TV, and the other institutions involved in the show. Topics covered include the development of the concept, funding, production, and promotion of the show.

Subseries 1.2: Development of concept and publicity records. This includes materials such as the script for the series pilot, episode descriptions, press releases and details of the press conference held to promote the show, a progress report, a white paper on the neccesity for life sciences education, and other related materials.

Subseries 1.3: Participants. Materials include profiles of the six research institutions involved in the creation of SOTS, biographies of the members of those institutions who also served on the Board of Advisors, and other materials relating to the Life Sciences programs at those institutions.

Subseries 1.4: Legal records. This subseries contains arbitration testimony, materials regarding the Ward TV bankruptcy case, and materials related to a FOIA request by the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Series 2: Production records, 2001-2003. This series includes the production files for episodes 106-152 which contain scripts, location and crew releases, chyrons (television graphics that appear on the lower third of the screen), edit decision lists (EDS), and other materials related to the productio of SOTS. Also in this series are files containing personal, logo, location, and stock footage releases and a file of stills and slides.

Series 3: Videos, 2000-2003. This series contains the master tapes of SOTS and b-roll footage used for show segments. The majority of these are Betacam SP cassettes, but there are also VHS tapes, CDs, and DVCam cassettes. Some of the masters are PAL or International format. A link to the video inventory can be found at https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/items/show/114810

Arrangement

The Secrets of the Sequence records have been divided into three series with subseries as needed:

Series 1: Administrative records, 2000-2007 Subseries 1.1: Correspondence, 2001-2003 Subseries 1.2: Development of concept and publicity records, 2001-2006 Subseries 1.3: Participants, 2000-2003 Subseries 1.4: Legal records, 2002-2007 Series 2: Production records, 2001-2003 Series 3: Videos, 2000-2003

Efforts have been made to preserve the original order of these files where applicable. Series 2 has been kept in the exact order in which it was received. The videos have been placed in order by the six digit number found on all the videos except for those in box 52, which do not have a number.

Related Material

VHS copies of the Secrets of the Sequence episodes 101-133 are located in the media collections at VCU Libraries, call number QH430.S47 2002.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Audio-visual materials
• Virginia Commonwealth University. Office of the President