Editor’s Note: Eric Vogeler is a voting member of the ASUU Student Assembly, representing the College of Humanities.
To those readers fearing that the proposed absorption of the U’s radio station, KUTE, into the ASUU infrastructure is akin to George Orwell’s “Big Brother” from his novel 1984, I’d just like to say: “Calm down. Take a deep breath.”
As a member of the ASUU General Assembly, I’ve heard quite a bit about this topic. Though I’ve not been involved in writing the proposed legislation, I have attended and participated in debates about the issue.
This situation is not as invasive as certain individuals claim. The Associated Students of the University of Utah is not the Utah State Legislature and KUTE is not KSL. In fact, that association, previously made by an astute Chrony reader, is more unfair than might be readily recognized.
To supporters of an “independent” KUTE, I ask: When has it ever been independent? It has relied on student government funding for years.
Anyone fearing propagandizing and politicking from ASUU via KUTE should the proposed “takeover” occur should have been crying wolf years ago when the radio station was created. If Big Brother had made his presence known then, we’d already have been treated to the “Alex Lowe Show” or “Today with John and Ali”-instead of the music and talk-format programming KUTE produces today.
Furthermore, the claim that media and government must remain mutually exclusive breaks down at our university level when one considers that KUTE is funded by our student government.
Without ASUU, KUTE would not exist. Period. And before someone cries foul, even if student fees were allocated to KUTE via a different route, the fact of the matter is that funding would continue to come from the equivalent of student “taxes.”
Were this to happen at our state level-say, a tax-funded KSL-a few things might happen. One, an incredibly boring, state-controlled radio station would be created, intended to serve the public and represent the state of Utah and its residents and make the most of its public funding.
Two, taxpayers would have a vested interest in this station, like public education or parks and recreation. Interested parties would regularly monitor the quality of programming, equipment and management. It would become either a source of pride or shame to all tax-paying citizens, but either way, public interest would be inherently strong.
Three, if the radio station were to be as inept and unpopular as KUTE, the public uproar would be incredible. Blood would run from the steps of the Capitol, and someone would be held responsible for improving the station.
That responsibility logically fall would on?guess whom?
Right. The governing body of the state, which allocates tax funds to the station.
Similarly for ASUU, it is a simple financial decision: Either KUTE makes better use of the funding provided and takes advantage of ASUU resources, or it looks for private funding elsewhere.
ASUU has resources and personnel that can aid KUTE in becoming a respectable, even successful operation. Students should be calling for it, not crying out in anger.
The question of whether or not ASUU should take a stronger hand in the management of KUTE is not the ethical separation of media and government, or even preventing Big Brother from taking control. The real question to ASUU is: “What took you so long?”