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Opinion
Thursday, September 14, 2000
For comments, contact Ben Embry or Emily Hughey at 864-4924 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com
Perspective
Corporations FCC stifle local radio
Here's some news, folks. The GOP is about to get an itchy horsefly bite in its derriere.
Heard about the big FM radio dilemma being batted around in the mahogany halls of Congress?
Briefly, it goes like this: The elephant doesn't want pesky little proselytizing radio stations (community and college radio) to clutter up available bandwidth when the big boys are perfectly willing to shell out a lot of clams for their wattage. This is called protecting business interests, a hallmark of Republicanism. Valid enough.
With these interests in mind, Republicans have been vociferously stating their opposition to the enactment of 1998 FCC regulations allowing for the creation of up to 4,000
low-power (1 to 1,000 watts) radio stations. Norshely bite yet; the party is simply grand-standing for its preferred client, Mr. Big Business, as major parties do.
Where does the problem enter?
It turns out that the vast majority of organizations applying for licensing to broadcast at low-power frequencies have been Christian parishes. This creates a conflict of constituency
Ramona
DeNies
columnist
opinion@kansan.com
interest for a political party that tends to promote a broadly Christian agenda.
It is, of course, also ironic that a political party finds itself tangled up in a battle between good business and the First Amendment. You see, there is more to this issue than simple conflicts of interest. The base question is whether radio is a commodity or a public service.
Many of us believe that democracy and radio should go together like milk and cookies, in which both contribute to the other's continuing popularity. Unfortunately, radio has been reefed by some awfully near-sighted types since the inception of the game
signed types since the inception of the game. The FCC regulations approved in January 1998 ostensibly marked the end of an era of media consolidation, if you believe FCC chairman Bill Kennard. Prior to the regulations, all unlicensed low-power stations had been banned, with frequent FCC crackdowns attempting to eliminate private stations. In 1996, an amendment to FCC guidelines relaxed regulations limiting the number of stations that could be owned by a single company. The result was rapid nationwide consolidation of stations, including Lawrence's KLZR, now a member of the Zimmer Radio Group. Lawrence's community radio station KAW 88.9 was gobbled up by FCC pirate sharks. KJHK The Hawk. The University's licensed student-run station, was mercifully granted permission to upgrade from 500 watts to 2,900 in 1999. The new FCC regulations appear to take a step away from this period of monopolistic radio practices.
However, it would be a mistake to think that the regulations are actually an attempt to re-democratize radio, as Kennard states. Rather, the parceling-out of such a limited bandwidth can be seen as an effort by the FCC to appease the more than 13,000 individuals who hounded the FCC in 1998 regarding the availability of low-power stations. And the licensing for newly approved low-power stations does not come cheap; a one-watt station, with a potential radius of one mile, costs an FCC-estimated minimum $2,500. A 1,000-watt station has a potential broadcast radius of nine miles and costs a minimum $100,000.
What is happening to radio is what is happening to major information sources in general: the establishment of the dreaded pyramid structure of power. An increasingly few wealthy media conglomerates control the vast majority of FM radio bandwidth, while the barest minimum is divived among small neighborhood parishes and college stations that barely broadcast beyond town limits. Democratization of the airwaves means that the primary consideration in doling out bandwidth should be the presence of an audience rather than cash flow.
What's to be done? I say tune in, log on and drop a line to your favorite local station to do the same before the referees get there.
DeNies is a Portland, Ore., senior in Latin- American studies.
Kansan report card
Chan Lowe / TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES
Pass:
- The Athletics Department is working with the University General Counsel to finalize a department code of conduct, with guidelines for dealing with sexual assault and harassment. As they say, better late than never.
University professors have been awarded a $362,000 grant to develop space-based Internet. Now with the help of our own faculty and graduate students, computer fanatics can become even further removed from society ... and the planet.
Campus thefts and burglaries declined last year for the third year in a row. Along with University rankings, student possessions are increasingly less appealing.
Fail:
Jefferson Commons apparently is gouging students with exorbitant fees and withholding security deposits. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola and Jefferson Commons executives were spotted leaving their evil lair of doom in the Dollar-bot.
The Granada stopped short a recent Weezer show for Ladies Night and kicked out the under-21 crowd. Even minors should be allowed to stay and listen to bad music if they paid for it.
KXTR 96.5 changed music formats from classical to modern rock.
Question: When are we going to finally get an all-Twisted-Sister, all-the-time radio station?
Perspective
International student affected by dress code
he recent happenings at Jack
Flanigans Bar and Grill have forced me to leave international politics at least for a moment. As you may know, international politics is usually the focus of my writings. However, when something like Jack Flanigans dress code is brought to light, nobody can be silent. I certainly will not.
"Students say dress code at bar is discrimi-
Students say dress conatory" was the main Kansan headline on Sept. 7. The story that followed described a student's experience trying to get into Jack Flanigans.
Since then, many University of Kansas students have talked to me about this matter. Everyone I have talked to in the past few days agrees that every business owner has the right to set a dress code or any other rules that would try to make the business a better place for its customers.
I read Jack Flanigans' original dress policy — also included in the Kansan story — and I disagree with most of it. Despite my personal feelings, I recognize the bar's right to set it — trying to accomplish its best interests.
Any policy that focuses on the welfare of students is a good one, and that is common sense in a college town where most of us are students. The problem with the old dress code is that Abercrombie & Fitch is a brand associated with a certain group of students — and we all know that. FUBU also is a brand usually linked to a specific group of people. The mere fact that the bar clearly stated that Abercrombie was welcome and FUBU was
Cássio
Furtado
columnist
opinion@kansan.com
not welcome was the problem. Someone easily could have thought that the group of people associated with FUBU was not welcome at Jack Flanigans. The bar's dress code did not fulfill its purpose, which was making everyone's environment better. It simply excluded a certain group of people who used this brand.
As I mentioned before, it is OK to impose certain rules in order to promote the welfare of everybody. The problem is that nobody can prove that restricting the entrance of people who wear FUBU will make the environment safer or more pleasant to the rest of the business' customers.
I'm glad that Jack Flanigans' owner thought carefully about this policy. If he hadn't, he would be damaging his business' reputation and also how it would be regarded by students in Lawrence. University of Kansas students wear Abercrombie, FUBU and many other brands. Because I don't wear any of the brands mentioned by the dress code, I feel comfortable and impartial analyzing this situation. By changing this unnecessary dress policy Jack Flanigans avoids experiencing some radical reactions — maybe as radical as the initial dress code itself. The bar avoided reactions like the one of a Kansan reader in last week's Free for All, who said, "The entire city of Lawrence should boycott Jack Flanigans."
The easiest way to draw the line between who you want to enter your business and who you don't is to raise the price. If Jack wants to select some people — the best way is to increase its prices. However, the business fears that some people it initially didn't want to turn away will be gone.
Give it a thought. Maybe it's just a matter of opening everyone's minds a little bit.
Fartado is a Pelotas, Brazil, senior in political science and journalism.
Editorial
Campaign too focused on religion
Lieberman promotes his Jewish faith as a reason for moral credibility.
Joe Lieberman needs to ease up on the religious rhetoric. Even the Anti-Defamation League is alarmed by his straddling the boundary between church and state. Religion shouldn't be an issue in any political campaign, but more importantly, it should not be a shortcut for proving a candidate's morality and leadership.
Lieberman has claimed that the Constitution gives us freedom of religion, not from religion. He justifies important policies regarding topics such as prescription drugs on the teachings of the Torah. The Anti-Defamation League, a pro-Jewish group that pursues separation between church and state, has criticized Lieberman for making religion an important part of his campaign.
But religion isn't as important as image is for Lieberman, who has been quick to criticize the Clintons. Gore needed a running mate that would assure the voters that he would have a moral administration. Lieberman has the image.
n Gore doesn't want to debate with the Republicans on Clinton's character, why bait them with a vice president such as Lieberman? Why dignify the imbecility of "restoring dignity to the White House?"
This image assumes that because a person is religious, he also is a moral leader. Bush and Gore invoke God to curry favor with voters, but Lieberman has gone a step further by asserting the necessity for instilling religious principles in government.
All the talk of religion won't stop Lieberman from double dipping on election day. He already has won the right to run for the vice presidency and his old Connecticut Senate seat at the same time.
It is a breach of moral leadership principles. The best reason to run in two elections is to hedge your bets and put your interests before the interests of the state and the country. Which is the better test of a leader's mettle, the religious things they say or the things they do? If Lieberman is an orthodox anything, he's an orthodox politician.
Brett Watson for the editorial board
Free for all is the telephone public forum for the University Daily Kansas. Callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. The Kansas reserves the right to edit submissions, and not all of them will be published. Slanderous statements will not be printed.
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If I had my way, this world would have a free Tibet, a free Leonard Pettler and free Cheetos for everybody on campus.
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What's with all that powder crap they like to call soap in all the KU buildings? I thought they banned that crap back in the '70s when too many kids were caught sniffing it.
Gunther Cunningham, coach of the Chiefs, is an emotional roller coaster. How can his players rally around him when he's estactic one moment and then completely infuriated the next. You're not going to get team motivation or team unity with a coach like that.
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Fanigans is just like any dance club. Try wearing FUBU into a club in Paris or London and see if you get in.
The half-baked idea of Free for All serves merely as a landfill for the epigrammatic failures of campus nimrods.
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If newspapers are distributed at various locations on campus, than a program of recycling bins should be instigated.
Everyone is concerned about giving Tibet its land back, but we should remember that we stole our land from the Indians and should give it back to them.
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My favorite threat is "I'm going to set you on fire." I don't know why it just appeals to me.
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I'd like to congratulate the Kansan for all their coverage on Ralph Nader. The disaffected Liberals who would have voted for Gore and will now vote for Nader instead, are the exact people who will help elect Bush. As a Republican, I say thanks and keep up the good work.
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China illegally took over Tibet and has since been carrying out a program of cultural genocide. Callers should check their facts before making imperialistic, racist and incorrect statements.
Who Wants to be a Millionaire is getting old; they need to do something to spice it up. I suggest that they have Regis and the contestants do everything in the nude. That would be sweet.
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