Bill Kahn has some pretty creative ideas here. I am particularly interested in the concept of using the station working with other "educational concerns" such as other School Districts and post- secondary institutions. Perhaps the station could be sold to a new non profit with time leased back to Minneapolis (and other) districts. Does anybody else have any ideas other than the status quo? The School Board will need to take action soon.
Ray Marshall Minnehaha ----------------- Subj: [Mpls] RE: Should the Mpls Schools be operating a radiostation? Date: Sunday, January 2, 2005 2:24:07 PM From: WJKAHN To: [email protected] With existing technology--existing within MPS--I believe that this station can be retooled to benefit far more students in the district than it has in its history without tapping out the limited MPS resources available. Add to the existing partnerships with business and nonprofit groups in the geographical broadcast area and you can exceed what potential exists today, I hope. Keep in mind this is coming from an old mechanic; I never throw out a tool unless it is broken beyond repair or beyond redesign to another purpose--it is the kind of industry that Homo sapiens sapiens evolved to do and what our culture has derailed in favor of wasting both opportunity and resource for a bizarre and abstract notion of "the bottom line." We've all got to start thinking in the long term and value sustainability over generations for millennia to come. Holding on to KBEM is a good first step in learning to use everything we've got until it is unusable. As far as the KBEM metro traffic report contract with MNDOT, we have yet to hear how MNDOT will insure that Metro drivers will get reliable updates over their radios except for what other public and commercial stations happen to dole out for free as a neighbor points out in a recent Star Tribune letter. Are we all supposed to get cellphones, dial 511, and spin off the road in distraction? It seems that such updates are thought unnecessary. We're about to start this years legislative session, and I hope this topic gets some discussion. Given the anti-Minneapolis bias in the House, perhaps the sale and relicensure of KBEM or another station to a broader group of education concerns with direction and input from MNDOT, MN Department of Education, and the Metropoliton Council as a resource for a greater number of state school districts should be considered. Or, in our time of controversy over Federal Communications Commission regulation of the air waves, it is time for Minnesota to clearly define what is required of stations to serve the public good instead of leaving it up to the whims of station owners and managment. The air is ours and our public needs count. If we can't get information vital for the good of society when and where we need to have it, our democracy doesn't count for much. As usual our legislature and state bureacracies have much to define, discuss, and perhaps do something about this issue. REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
