I was a KTRU DJ from 1996-2003, Music Librarian from 1997-1999, and Station Manager from 1999-2000.

I was actually planning on dropping out of Rice before I got involved with KTRU. Instead of dropping out, I had the opportunity to learn firsthand how to oversee the day-to-day operations of a 50,000 watt non-commercial/educational radio station, with an effective listening radius of 50 miles in the 4th largest city in the United States. I learned how to manage an organizational budget of $18,000, and how to lead and train a diverse staff comprising over 100 student and community volunteers. I learned what the FCC requires of radio stations and why, and how to meet those requirements. I learned how to communicate effectively and diplomatically with different stakeholders (DJ’s, University administrators, A&R reps, news media, the general public) to pursue the station’s mission and reach long-term goals, and how to work closely with others to organize/promote well-attended concerts for highly respected local and touring artists.

In fact, my experiences learning this last lesson are some of my proudest moments so far. In my wallet, I still keep a ticket from the KTRU-sponsored Negativland concert on the Rice campus in 2000, a concert which I co-organized and which sold out *all* 1800 seats of Hamman Hall. For months, my best friends and I worked our hearts out for this show: everything from driving all day to distribute posters, to puzzling over which fancy lights/equipment we should rent, to drinking a case of Pepsi (per the rider, no joke), to praying the band wouldn’t blow all of the building’s fuses for a third time in 15 minutes, to cleaning up the theater on our hands and knees. It was probably the hardest I had ever worked, the most responsibility I had ever had, and one of the best times of my life.

At this point you may be thinking, “Well, that is great and all, but why should this matter to Rice now?”

Perhaps you’ve noticed that I haven’t really even mentioned the music on KTRU. This is not because my music education as a DJ was insignificant– it was amazingly broad and deep, and what I learned as a DJ made my life richer and my time on this planet infinitely more enjoyable. What I want to emphasize, though, is that the loss of KTRU’s frequency, license, and transmitter represents a profound loss of opportunity and responsibility for the students of Rice University. This loss cannot be remedied by an internet station for a variety of reasons.

No frequency means no reporting to CMJ and other music journals (no new CD’s). No frequency means no real chance for promotion (no way to attract bands and fund concerts). No frequency means that students will never get a chance to accomplish and learn amazing things through radio, and be so delighted and encouraged by their successful risk-taking that they really have no choice but to try and ultimately succeed again. This alternative is what Rice University and President Leebron are choosing by selling KTRU. I simply cannot understand or endorse this. I will not provide any spoken, much less financial, encouragement for an institution which actively (and secretly) seeks to deny its students the kinds of opportunities for success that KTRU provides.

Meg Smith