The Rice Thresher, Vol. 98, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, August 20, 2010 Page: 4 of 24
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Op-Ed: KTRU 91.7
KTRU sale regrettable but necessary
This week's announcement of the
agreement to sell Rice's FM broadcast
license and tower to the University of
Houston has been, not unexpectedly,
not well-received by some students
and alumni who are or have been
KTRU volunteers or listeners.
Linda Thrane
I can understand their disappoint-
ment that KTRU's programs will no
longer be broadcast over the air,
but it is important to remember that
KTRU will continue to be there for
those students, volunteers and lis-
teners online at www.ktru.org. Simply
put, KTRU is not going away.
Think about it: Is KTRU about
unique, student-run programming,
or a tower located miles away from
the Rice campus? The tower and
50,000 watts are in fact much more
than needed to reach the small,
albeit loyal, KTRU audience, many
who already regularly access KTRU
programming through the Internet.
Yes, there will be a few people in cars
who will not be able to tune in, but
the ability to use mobile devices to
access the Internet in cars is increas-
ing steadily. And a 50,000-watt sig-
nal has geographic limits, while the
Internet is global. At the same time,
the sale frees up valuable resources
we can use in many other ways to
enhance the student experience on
campus, even as KTRU fans continue
to enjoy the station's programs.
In fact, Rice leaders have a respon-
sibility to ensure that we manage and
deploy our resources to the greatest
benefit possible within our academic
mission. Sometimes difficult decisions
can be postponed, as when endow-
ments were increasing by double-digit
percentages over several years. But the
last two years of economic downturn
and ongoing turmoil have made it es-
sential to make some tough decisions.
And selling the license and tower was
one of them.
The question was not whether
the opportunity provided to a small
number of students by KTRU was
worth about $10 million. The Inter-
net station will continue to provide
those opportunities. Rather, the
question was whether the use of a
50,000-watt radio license was worth
those resources — especially since
those watts reach so few ears. There
was also a question of fairness in
tying up millions of dollars for one
student activity — KTRU — when
those resources could be used for a
diversity of purposes that serve many
more students -- without taking
KTRU away.
Let me state this again: The sale
does not affect the opportunity KTRU
offers to our students. Interested
students will continue to design pro-
gramming, play music and manage
the station. The student experience
and student opportunities will ex-
pand as we explore ways to provide
more media opportunities to our stu-
dents, and we will solicit their ideas
on how to deploy the sale proceeds.
In discussions with students over
the past several months, other ideas
have emerged often, such as lighting
more of our recreational fields and
funding scholarships.
I know some of the concern
about the sale focuses on process
and timing. Throughout President
Leebron's leadership at Rice, he has
been committed to consultation and
open communication — starting
with his open-office hours for stu-
dents. That also included extensive
conversations about the expansion
of the student body and Rice's pos-
sible merger with Baylor College
of Medicine. Occasionally, though,
there are issues that demand higher
levels of confidentiality, and one of
those was the process for marketing
and negotiating the sale of the radio
license. Once we entered into serious
discussions with the University of
Houston, we signed a confidentiality
agreement. Discomfort over the inabil-
ity to consult more broadly was eased
somewhat by the fact that the discus-
sions were not about shutting down
KTRU, but rather about selling the
radio frequency. Fortunately, occasions
when such confidentiality is required
and justified are extremely rare, and
the administration remains committed
to using broad-based engagement and
consultation processes when major
decisions are at stake.
Ultimately, the Rice Board of
Trustees and the administration are
obligated to undertake the steward-
ship of university resources in ways
that maximize the benefit not only
to today's students, but to future
students as well. And that is what
this comes down to: trying to look
carefully to the future in making this
decision. By almost all accounts,
broadcast radio licenses are a declin-
ing asset. Internet-based radio and
satellite radio are growing technolo-
gies. We are capturing top value for
a declining technology that we can
invest in emerging technologies and
in opportunities for more students.
As one alumnus who helped
found KTRU nearly 40 years ago
observed, it is sad to see the tower
go, but technology marches on. Our
students can be part of the exciting
possibilities ahead - in fact, they can
make KTRU one of the best online
stations in the country if they put
their wonderful minds to it.
Linda Thrane is the vice president for
public affairs.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR thresher-opsmice.edu, twitter.com/TheRiceThresher
To the Editor:
In his letter to the Rice commu-
nity, President David Leebron sug-
gested that KTRU would continue to
operate as an Internet-only radio sta-
tion, and that this would sufficiently
serve the needs of Rice students and
KTRU listeners, and could even "po-
tentially reach a broader audience
than ever." Wow! That sounds great!
But wait, what's wrong with this pic-
ture?
1. KTRU already does Internet ra-
dio. In addition to KTRU's air broad-
cast, we have carried a live stream on
ktru.org for several years. The Inter-
net stream does have a lot of merit,
because it allows our out-of-state
and international listeners to tune
in, and lets Rice alumni keep up
with the station wherever they may
be. However, to propose taking the
transmitter away and going Internet-
only as a "compromise" is ludicrous.
The only possible result is a dramat-
ic decrease of our audience.
2. Many of KTRU's listeners, and
radio listeners in general, tune in
most often when they're in the car.
This is why radio is still a popular
medium, and why satellite, HD or
Internet radio have come nowhere
close to replacing FM broadcast.
3. KTRU aims to serve the ENTIRE
Houston community, including less
privileged listeners who may not
have access to Internet radio.
4. KTRU is part of a vibrant Hous-
ton music and arts community, and
to move to a locality-less Internet-only
broadcast would risk severing that im-
portant connection.
5. Any schmuck with a computer
can operate em Internet radio station.
The power of a world-class educa-
tional institution like Rice is that it can
provide its students with an amazing
resource like KTRU, a real terrestrial
radio station. The opportunity to par-
ticipate in a legitimate broadcast sta-
tion is what draws students to KTRU. If
Rice Radio goes Internet-only, couldn't
students just as well stay in their dorm
rooms alone with a headset and a lap-
top? Sounds like fun to me.
Katie Mayer
To the Editor:
Some of the most creative people
at Rice in the 70s and 80s were DJs
at KTRU. This is an important avenue
and expression outlet for creative mu-
sic and journalistic reporting. I may
agree it was underutilized, but my
challenge to you is to consider how
much of that was due to undersup-
port of the administration. I do real-
ize the world is changing, but I hope
this is not a backlash against a "leftist,
leaning liberal college radio station."
KTRU kept a number of students sane
and probably saved lives and college
careers of many. To take the measly
$9.5 million legacy of KTRU and put it
into the side building project capital
fund for a servery is an affront to all
Rice alumni. Don't insult your alumni
base; take that money and fund per-
manent blog reporting and creative
music, and journalism programs at
Rice for the students. Pay for cafeteria
annexes out of the building fund. Tru-
ly insulting. Don't ignore the legacy
of KTRU. Do a better job and research
the legacy of KTRU so you understand
what you have killed. You may now
force me to to start a blog against any
future alumni donations to the per-
manent fund until KTRU services in
kind are restored to the student body.
Please reconsider at least part of your
decision. The priorities as outlined
don't respect KTRU's legacy.
John Bins, Baker '83
To the Editor:
When I checked Facebook this af-
ternoon, I spotted an unnerving story
on the Houston Press about the sale of
the KTRU tower and FCC rights.
Immediately, I checked my KTRU
e-mails. Silence. So I assumed this
was an unsubstantiated rumor. Hear-
say, surely. My alma mater would not
approve this without a conversation
with the student staff. Sadly, it seems
that I was mistaken.
It's unnerving to see this done
with what seems like no student or
alumni input. It's ridiculous to hear
about this not from the administra
tion, but from a Houston Press blog.
Mostly it's unfortunate that it will no
longer be possible to get quite the
education that I was so fortunate to
receive. Not at Rice University.
Devin Naquin, Hanszen '07
Administration's KTRU>
sale sets poor precedent
Ten years ago, Rice administra-
tors pulled the plug on KTRU in a
very literal sense, resulting in civil
protests and more than 400 alumni
calling to withhold pledged dona-
tions. This Monday night with the
release of a Houston Chronicle ar-
ticle, Ktruvians were shocked to
discover that it was happening all
over again — with a twist. In 2000,
the administration wanted to as-
sert power and make a point; this
time they seem to want $9.5 mil-
lion and as little fuss as possible.
1 '51
Vs-V,
Kelsey Yule
Rice administrators are plan-
ning to sell KTRU's signal, trans-
mitter and FCC rights to KUHF, the
NPR and classical station at the
University of Houston. KUHF in-
tends to turn 91.7 FM into 24 hours
a day of classical music, despite
the failure of all previous Houston
classical stations. Certainly, the
loss of KTRU on the airwaves will
be felt by the Houston commu-
nity. People commuting to work
or sitting at a desk regularly call
to say how the music is making
their day. Local bands laud the
station as one of their greatest
allies in the fight to be noticed. If
you don't believe that KTRU is a
veritable cultural institution in
Flouston, read some of what's go-
ing on at savektru.org or just pull
out your computer
and search "Rice sells KTRU" for
a deluge of comments, support
and outrage.
I know that there are members
of the student body who have
never listened to KTRU, perused
our music library or attended one
of our concerts featuring local art-
ists. For those students, it's easy
to think that KTRU doesn't matter.
For more than 60 student disc
jockeys, it does matter tremen-
dously. The skills we've learned
from and experiences we've had at
KTRU have been nothing short
of invaluable.
We've organized concerts
featuring artists like Ted Leo and
Ratatat, broadcast sporting events
and Shepherd School concerts,
tinkered with electrical equip-
ment and computer programs and
spun music for shows focusing on
genres such as hip-hop, world,
jazz, kids, blues and electronic. If
we lose our signal, we'll be among
the thousands of other Internet
stations, where we won't be able
to snag listeners that stumble
upon our sound on the dial. Our
name will be removed from major
and indie record label distribu-
tion lists, making it increasingly
difficult to fulfill our mission to
provide
fresh sounds.
Bands may have less interest
in performing in a studio that is
heard only online when they can
simply point fans to recordings on
a MySpace page. The excitement
and nervousness associated with
coming into the station knowing
that your voice will soon be blast-
ing across the city will fade into
something more like the thrill of
a Tweet. a
Regardless of their opinions df
KTRU, all Rice students who care
about student input into univer-
sity decisions should be made
to feel uneasy by this deal. The
administration did all of this with-
out notifying the students, staff,^
faculty and community member^
who built KTRU in Hanszen Col-
lege's basement in 1967, who cul-
tivated the programming that has
won Best Radio Station in Houston
from the Houston Press and who
volunteered the time, money, ^
energy and equipment to run thiW
station over the past 40 years.
Understandably, the specifics
of business deals between Rice
and UH needed to be confidential,
but months before those negotia-
tions began, Rice put KTRU on _
the market a year ago without ™
consulting anyone. With student
input, other options could have
been discussed, such as splitting
air time with another station, as is
done at UT-Austin's KVRX.
To make matters worse, they
conveniently went public with th
decision in the midst of O-Week,
when organization would be most
difficult for student leadership.
This sort of action doesn't align
with President Leebron's Call to
Conversation, which discussed
the importance of open dialogue,
or Vision for the Second Century,
which called for engaging with the
Houston community and a holistic
learning environment. It's difficult
for me to imagine a "food service
venture" that would embody
unconventional wisdom more than
an independent student-run radio
U
Regardless of their
opinions on KTRU,
all Rice students who
care about student
input into university
decisions should be
made to feel uneasy
by this deal. The ad-
ministration did all of
this without notifying
the students, staff, f
faculty and commu-
nity members.
w
station.
Rice will now be the only top-
20 institution in the U.S. News &
World Report without a student
broadcast radio station. Since
we've started putting a sticker _
price on invaluable Rice instituW
tions, how about that football
stadium? Talk about an underuti
lized resource. When was the last
time that thing that was full? Or
better yet, 1 bet the Texas Medical
Center could probably use some
more space. I.pfs sell all the •
buildings! Don't worry, we'll still
have the same quality education,
just online.
Kelsey Yule is the
KTRU station manager and a
Hans/en College junior.
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Wilde, Anna. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 98, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, August 20, 2010, newspaper, August 20, 2010; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth398476/m1/4/: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.