I was only a DJ at KTRU for one year, 2000-2001, and that’s probably a good thing.  In my waking life I enjoyed my shift immensely, freely experimenting with genres and bands and poring over other people’s funny and insightful album reviews.  But in one frequently occurring dream, I would see the counter with the remaining music seconds click down to zero, be unable to find any music to put on the air in time, and there would be the dreaded silence on the radio.  50,000 watts broadcast into the world mattered, and my subconscious wasn’t going to let me forget it!

Just as the best of my academic classes from Rice continue to influence my worldview, my two semesters at KTRU have been a rich vein of material that I’m still drawing from 10 years later.  I’ve chosen to make my career in the arts and KTRU was influential in that decision, giving me hands-on experience with a fiercely grassroots cultural organization at just the right time.

People sometimes ask me what criticisms I have of Rice.  My response usually centers around the insularity often present at the institution, the attitude subtly promulgated by the administration at the time I attended that students didn’t need to go beyond the hedges for anything, that everything we might want was no further than the next college over.  KTRU was a compelling counterweight to this tendency, a powerful link to the larger Houston community, not just by reaching out to listeners driving the Houston streets, but by pulling Rice students out as well, encouraging them to explore new territory.

I’m deeply disappointed that the current administration would cut off a vibrant and historic Rice asset in such a nakedly crass maneuver. More than the withdrawal of my involvement in the alumni interview program or the withholding of my humble monetary contributions, I believe the greatest loss would be my lack of ability to be an ambassador for Rice.  I would be forced to warn any promising youngster or prospective faculty member that I come into contact with that the university doesn’t seem to recognize its own best features.

Ellen Chenoweth, Sid ‘01