> I don't know who Len Clark is, but I guess he was a long
> time station manager there. And his departure should have
> nothing to do with this decision.
I beg to differ. Len was a student advocate and lived and
breathed WUEV. He ran into constant problems with administation
issues, trying to limit student involvement and grow the station.
This included issues involving space, FCC rules, and budget, which
the school continually was cutting. Even when donations were
given, they were not enhancements, but budget relief, and the
school would cut the station's already meager budget. The station
did have a tie with academics, in the fact, Len did teach at the
school. I am not sure of his replacement, and the curriculum has
changed in terms of majors and support. One of the issues that
Len tried to fight for, but ran into a buzzsaw, was the students'
ability to broadcast sporting events. The station was almost almost
exclusively prevented from broadcasting over the air Men's games,
but could do internet only, which the school also wanted stopped.
Yet the school paid a commercial station to air their games, with
a local sports anchor and the asst. AD or communications head as talent.
The station has a rich history. Under Len's leadership, it won
many honors, for its news and Jazz. I beleive it was Jazz station
of the Year by Gavin, and was a finalist for an NAB award a few times.
It's newscasts won statewide honors more than once, and now there is
no effort. The writing was on the wall when Len was forced out, and
things have not been the same since.
The school will make the tragic mistake, to get rid of the station, including the "eyesore" of the tower on top of the administration building. However,
they will realize their mistake too late, and it will impact the
school forever. The school gets a quick fix, but the long term damage
to the school and the community is not considered. This will be
a great loss, especially if is goes God Squad.
Len was an integral part of WUEV, and his impact was felt by the staff and
the station, as soon as he was absent. The writing was on the wall for the
station. While his successor has done a decent job, things have changed, with students losing out to automation and less access.
Sadly, the ones making the decisions really don't understand the
value of what they have, nor the history at the institution to understand
what it means, and what WUEV means to the community.