Leave Rock 104 alone!!!!

[smedge2006]

I think this whole uproar makes a sale of the WRUF's somewhat more likely. They've gotten on Tallahassee's radar, and that's never a good thing. Look for the legislature (dominated by Republicans) to start making noise about "free enterprise" and looking for a good corpcaster or church group to buy the stations. The classical fans may not get their WUFT back, but they just might get payback.

[ThatGuyOnTheRadio]

Brother Bear, not everyone is a suit who is in a programming/leadership position.

And it's also not entirely true about those who can't, teach/lead.

I've said it once, I will say it again... WRUF has gotten a little scratch from taypayers money at somepoint. It's how government works.. you're telling me that the Lawyers and CPA's didn't maybe grease a palm or two at the IRS to let a few things go?

Come on...

[Brother Bear]

The suits I'm talking about are lawyers, Guy. there are too many of them now and they just seem to procreate like kudzu. And they feed on their own kind like the cannibals they are.
And if there is so much radio talent in the teaching ranks, how come they're not out here trying to save the industry on the front lines? They don't have the passion or the stomach that we do? Or is it just easier to get tenured and not really stand for anything?
or is it for the easy access to the nude dancers in the cafeteria?

[PhDance]

Anyone who can sit there and say they get NO funding from the state is naive. If they fall a little short one quarter and need something, they know where to go.

Yet, until that happens, you're just arguing a hypothetical. If that did actually happen (that they fell short), then something clearly wouldn't be working, and then I would agree that changes need to occur. Since there isn't anything wrong with the station's business logic, I fail to see the relevance at this time.

I agree, teaching them a commercial atmosphere is beneficial, but it's possible to teach them well enough to go out in the world without doing it directly hands on.

I'm not sure how beneficial that is. If we were talking about Santa Fe Community College, I'd be inclined to agree with you. Make no mistake about it- it's a very small minority of the students in the college of communication that are placing into entry level radio DJ jobs. I'd be surprised if people are going to a top ranking 4 year university to work at a job paying minimum wage! Since the primary purpose of the college of communication is not to train radio DJ's, I'm not quite as offended that students looking for experience on a radio station operated by the university have to turn to one of the other many opportunities.

Plain and simple, while I personally don't find L&T overly offensive, I can see where the things they do would come across that way and an Educational Institution should not be the vehicle for their content.

So then where do you draw the line? Why should the school operate a football team?

Amazing how UF admin can say they don't believe it's appropriate and against UF's policies and yet still keep it on.

Considering the large gaping holes left in the school's shrinking budget from the state, it's my opinion that they have bigger priorities than cutting off another source of revenues at the service of a few classical buffs.

[radiodxrichmond]

Yeah...I'm pretty sure a non-profit organization can run a for-profit station. The University of Virginina did it for years as an album rock station before LMA'ing it out. Brown University runs one of the coolest rock stations in the nation...WBRU.

I could go on and on but its quite obvious colleges know how and are legally allowed to operate commercial stations.

And you think L&T is bad? Listen to most small college stations. Chances are you're gonna hear about sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll. Not to mention all the uncensored music during safe harbor hours! What will they ever do? Sell them to the religious broadcasters?

This whole thing with the pols seems to just be another moral panic...just like with Tipper Gore and the PMRC in the '80's. Either that or somebody wants to get 103.7 up for sale to work on some budgetary stuff. Just leave the colleges alone and let 'em run their stations...they're not the ones asking for debt restructuring or flirting with Chapter 11!

Radio-X
(Who listened to 103.7 A LOT during my oh-so short days in Orlando a few years back)

[ratingsgeek]

Yeah...I'm pretty sure a non-profit organization can run a for-profit station. The University of Virginina did it for years as an album rock station before LMA'ing it out. Brown University runs one of the coolest rock stations in the nation...WBRU.

I could go on and on but its quite obvious colleges know how and are legally allowed to operate commercial stations.

One of the big differences between WBRU/Providence, WUVA/Charlottesville and WRUF-AM/FM is that Brown University and the University of Virginia long ago put a firewall between themselves and their radio stations by separately incorporating the stations as non-profit subsidiary corporations: Brown Broadcasting, Inc. and WUVA, Inc. There is no firewall at Florida. The two commercial radio stations are a department within the College of Journalism and Communications, and therefore are part-and-parcel of UF. But your point is correct. Colleges are legally allowed to operate commercial stations.

Radio began at colleges and universities. According to at least one source I've seen, the first radio station of any kind was at the University of Notre Dame around 1890. Other early "experimenters" were Texas A&M, Wisconsin and Michigan State. Iowa State owned the ABC television affiliate for Des Moines for more than 40 years, and Notre Dame owned South Bend's NBC TV affiliate for more than 50 years.

The relationship between commercial enterprise and higher education has always been entertwined. Just visit a physics lab at MIT or stay some night at the Washington Duke Inn in Durham and play a round on the beautiful Duke golf course. Stand in line for an ice cream cone at the Penn State Creamery or check the latest political stats in the Quinnipiac poll. As another poster pointed out, Florida runs a $100 million-a-year athletic department, led by football & basketball coaches being paid around $4 million apiece. But all of these activties represent legitimate experiential learning opportunities for students in related majors at all these schools--and students in media/communications are no different.