If we pretend, for a moment, that ubiquitous Internet access is available for free for the entire population of Houston, you’ve still got the issue of tapping into the resource. The number of users who currently have Internet access built into their cars is minuscule. There’s no trend suggesting that will explode, either.

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I’m a big fan of KTRU in Houston, which is a fantastic and eclectic mix of new hip-hop, old Saturday morning cartoon music, college baseball, Reggae, and whatever else the DJs can find.

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The history of KTRU is as a terrestrial station, something people listened to in their cars, at home, with friends; the future of KTRU as an online-only station is an ersatz one at best. The polarized public outcry, retelling of stories of how KTRU shaped lives and careers and passions is a celebration of those terrestrial memories and of the way KTRU has changed lives.

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An organized protest has been planned for 2 p.m. this Sunday at Willy’s statue – aka Rice founder William Marsh Rice – on the Rice campus. A street team was formed to distribute flyers as well as circulate copies of the petition found on the savektru.org website.

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KTRU already does internet radio. In addition to KTRU’s air broadcast, we have carried a live stream on ktru.org for several years. The internet stream does have a lot of merit, because it allows our out-of-state and international listeners to tune in, and lets Rice alumni keep up with the station wherever they may be. However, to propose taking the transmitter away and going internet-only as a “compromise” is ludicrous. The only possible result is a dramatic decrease of our audience.

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Rice has reputation for not interacting with city, but KTRU is one of the ways that we did,” says Laura Elizabeth Bellows, an alum and a DJ for six years. “Even after college, it’s something that keeps me connected to Rice, so shutting it down, it makes me much less likely to donate, not just because I’m angry but because that connection is lost.

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Rice students opposed to the sale of their radio station KTRU to the University of Houston have called for a protest 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon, at Willy’s Statue in the quad on campus.

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More information about the protest from SaveKTRU.org >

Yang and other KTRU representatives made the case for keeping KTRU on the Houston airwaves: It’s a “vital and thriving” student organization on campus, a reason students attend and alumni donate, a vital media outlet for the community and one of the most visible symbols in Houston of Rice.

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Nowhere else on the dial can members of one community get the unique blend of programming they get on one radio station. But now this beloved student-run station is in jeopardy, and students are fighting to save it.

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Locally speaking, I think KTRU is an entirely unique outlet for underexposed musicians. My shows are dedicated to it, but every show on the air includes local music from a wide variety of genres.

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The administration of Rice University has an obligation, as a trustee of its students, faculty and alumni, to value our contributions and opinions just as concretely as it does a new building. Not only have you and the Board of Trustees failed to do so, you have made crucial and irreversible decisions about an invaluable part of this university in secret, without consulting or informing the people for whose benefit the institution ostensibly exists. This is a breach of trust and a violation of the mores of liberal education. It is unethical.

Read the full, impassioned letter at Nonalignment Pact >

[T]he agenda item for Tuesday’s public meeting at which the U of H purchase approved negotiating the purchase may have been lacking in full disclosure, said Joe Larsen, a lawyer with the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.

[U of H rep Karen Clarke] said as the deal progressed over the last few weeks, Rice “was concerned about why it would go public and even said, ‘Why do we have to do this in public?’

“We knew that some Rice students might be upset, but the way it was portrayed [by Rice] was that it was a small and insignificant number and that they would manage it. We never got the impression that it would cause an uproar.”

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“Radio industry business-types seem to be in favor of this purchase; but for those who cherish locally-produced radio, this is a huge blow for the Houston airwaves. … I spoke with KTRU’s Student Manager Kelsey Yule (Rice ’12) by email. In our conversation, she confirmed my belief that the announcement of the sale happened during summer vacation at Rice, which has made it even more difficult for students to organize and voice their discontent.”

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I’m upset that all the different music KTRU exposes to people will be gone. As a 20 year-old not only was I exposed to a lot of music I didn’t know about, but I was also involved with a station that opened its arms and had me there. Now there won’t be that same possibility for kids that age to get involved in radio.

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Still stunned, confused and exhausted from the news that Rice University had agreed to sell the terrestrial broadcast rights and capabilities of its largely student-staffed radio station KTRU (91.7 FM) to the University of Houston System, several dozen DJs, alumni, listeners and a handful of local musicians gathered to brainstorm and commiserate at Sammy’s Pub in the Rice Memorial Center Monday evening.

Read the full article at Houston Press »