A presentation at the Fullerton City Council’s March 19 session revealed a new program initiated this year at Fullerton College. Students will now have the opportunity to learn firsthand how to fly, control, and safely handle drones. The class shows students how to use this state-of-art technology for careers such as journalism.
Mayor Protem Jennifer Fitzgerald and Councilmember Ahmad Zahra called it “cutting edge,” while other council members were appalled at the idea. Council member Jan Flory said she was at a local shopping center recently loading groceries into her car when a drone started hovering only a few feet above her head! After asking what regulations are in place for drones she found that it was illegal to fly over groups of people.
The FDR (Federal Drone Registration) states that “all new drone owners must register each drone that is purchased weighing between 0.55 lbs to 55 lbs.” Another important regulation said the Fullerton College Journalism director is that while “drones can fly over your property, they can not stop” and hover.
Find out more about the Fullerton College classes at http://news.fullcoll.edu/first-drone-journalism-class-takes-off/
Are you happy or appalled at the idea of drones hovering over our homes?
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Categories: Opinions
Patricia Gilbert. That is an invasion of your privacy. I do not approve of this. Just another instance of Big Brother is watching you!
I have strong opinions on this, but will reserve further comment until I do some research with the FAA. If I’m not mistaken, FJC and Raymond Hills is right under the flight path of Fullerton Municipal Airport, so not sure the legality of flying drones over Fullerton College or even in the area. Real airplanes flown by actual humans take precedence over drone aircraft. Time will tell. Stay tuned folks.
As the author of this article, I’m only in 7th grade, the FAA is pretty credible, but feel free to do your own research! THANKS FOR READING!