Ninety seconds doesn't sound like much. Unless, of course, you are "NewsWatch" producers Paul Pfotenhauer and Bob Knop -- and the faculty and staff members who've used those seconds to tell more than 250 UC Davis stories on public television. The information-packed stories on KVIE, Channel 6, are educating as many as 800,000 viewers a week about the depth and breadth of UC Davis' teaching, research and public service activities. Putting UC Davis in the limelight 12 times a week has created advantages for the campus, according to "NewsWatch" advisory board member and psychology professor Linda Acredolo. "What it does is highlight UC Davis for the whole Sacramento area. It's my impression that, up until now, Sac State has had more recognition as the 'home school,'" she says. The program is unique within the UC system -- and one of only a handful of such university-produced programs for PBS in the nation, says Pfotenhauer, a 21-year employee of UC Davis' News Service. Partnership begun in 1998 For $150,000 a year, a partnership was begun in January 1998 between the campus and KVIE that bought air time for both "NewsWatch" and promotional spots for campus programs (with the possibility of free air time between midnight and 5 a.m. Monday through Friday). Various units, such as University Relations, Undergraduate Admissions, University Outreach and University Extension have helped fund the partnership by purchasing promotional spots to augment funding provided by the Provost's Office. Pfotenhauer, the reporter/producer for "NewsWatch" from News Service, and Illustration Services' Knop, the videographer, share more than 50 years of experience producing succinct and lively news stories. Before he joined the News Service in 1978, Pfotenhauer, a UC Davis alumnus, was a KCRA reporter and producer for seven years. Knop, who joined UC Davis three years ago, has been a filmmaker for more than 25 years, working on feature sport films and documentaries. His résumé includes a recent stint as the chief videographer for a syndicated TV show in Hawaii on sport fishing. Pfotenhauer says he is ever mindful of his PBS audience -- college-educated viewers, often managers, with an average age of 50. He looks for stories that align with the audience's interests. At the same time, he's always looking for stories with strong photo opportunities. "Veterinary medicine stories are highly visual as are those from engineering," he says. "For me, the hardest part is finding visuals in the humanities. Generally, more production time is required to adequately showcase the subject. But I've set myself the challenge of bringing these stories to life in a minute and a half, and I do the best I can." Getting to the point Pfotenhauer is praised by his "NewsWatch" subjects as a man who knows how to get to the point. Acredolo is a veteran of national television through her research on infant gestures, with appearances on "Oprah," "The Today Show" and "Dateline NBC" as well as Los Angeles and Bay Area television stations. She says Pfotenhauer's ability to grasp and focus on the important issues leads to news segments that deliver complicated ideas intact. "I'm used to short stories. That's the way the broadcast media work," Acredolo says. "I've learned that a minute and 30 seconds is longer than you think -- and that's because Paul is organized and knows how to integrate information. He asks what are the most important things you want to convey in the story. "Paul picks topics that are clearly relevant to the community -- and that's going to help the 'Ivory Tower' reputation we have. 'NewsWatch' demonstrates that we're out there trying to make a difference," she says. Ellen Zagory, arboretum collection development manager, says she has learned from Pfotenhauer how to be relaxed while getting her information across. "He's worked with me, telling me, 'Just say what you really think,' but guided me in how to say it to be as succinct as possible." This emphasis on delivering the news in a straight and factual manner is part of the "NewsWatch" creed, Pfotenhauer says. As well as being broadcast teachers for the campus, Pfotenhauer and Knop get the nomination for campus adventurers extraordinaire. By helicopter and rubber boat This campus TV production team has helicoptered over Sacramento with the medical center's LifeFlight crew to film a series on the airborne pediatric transport service, crawled beneath Briggs Hall to show firefighters practicing rescues in tight spaces and weathered rough weather in a small rubber boat to find sea otters in the Monterey Bay. "NewsWatch" stories have ranged from the student-oriented, such as features on the Aggie water ski team and interns at the Sacramento County coroner's office, to research findings, such as the fact that pill bugs have an appetite for stink-bug eggs, and that children who use gestures before they can talk seem to develop an intellectual advantage. They've also demonstrated that Davis is a resource center for the region. Perhaps that's the reason why Pfotenhauer has helped the arboretum's Zagory become UC Davis' own version of Martha Stewart, featuring her in more than half a dozen stories that offer information about gardens and landscaping in the Central Valley. Zagory says the exposure has certainly produced tangible results for her program. The arboretum raises money through monthly plant sales as well as the big annual October sale. On segments preceding a monthly plant sale, the Friends of the Arboretum have seen sales triple, Zagory reports. Last week, 1,500 members of the UC Davis community received a questionnaire from the News Service, seeking feedback on "NewsWatch" and the partnership. The campus and KVIE, hoping to expand coverage, are exploring additional programming opportunities with the Institute of Transportation Studies and the School of Veterinary Medicine. "But we want to know if people think our 'NewsWatch' production quality is good, what impression we're leaving with the viewers and if the partnership is perceived as valuable," Pfotenhauer said. If you'd like to comment on the program, you can contact Pfotenhauer by e-mail or drop him a note at the News Service, University of California, One Shields Ave., Davis, Calif. 95616-8687.