OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

Public Broadcasting Atlanta (PBA) recently sent a letter to Institute President Wayne Clough suggesting they become involved in the management of WREK 91.1. WREK is a student-owned and operated radio station and should remain that way; any proposal to the contrary should not be considered.

PBA suggests that bringing in the expertise of their "experienced management team" would give Tech "an improved and stronger WREK." We find their insinuations that our student station is weak and in need of improvement offensive and patronizing. For one thing, PBA suggests that our students are incapable of the engineering and management involved in a station that has been under student direction since its inception in 1968. Students involved with WREK are highly capable of running the station; it is also a valuable learning experience for them, which they should be allowed to keep.

Additionally, PBA's idea of improvement is not in line with what the Tech community would consider improvement; their goals are different from ours. The primary draw of 91.1 is that it is an alternative station that offers diverse and varied music to Tech students which they would be unable to find anywhere else. We do not need another station playing NPR programming or Top 40 countdowns; we can find those options elsewhere.

Public broadcasting options are clearly geared toward a more specific audience, whereas WREK has diverse programming for a diverse audience, which we would lose with a change in management. While every student may not like every program playing on WREK now, there will be at least some students who enjoy each program, especially considering it may be the only place they can hear it-and that is the point.

While the official party line is that we could reach a wider audience by taking PBA's offer, that is not WREK's purpose. According to the organization's constitution, they are a "non-commercial, non-profit radio station which shall be operated in the interest of and by the students of Georgia Tech."

Selling out would be going against everything for which WREK stands. We need a station that plays what we want to hear and cares about our interests; PBA could not give that to us. The station should remain for students by students, not for a few students and greater metro Atlanta by a few students and outside management.

If administrators are concerned about WREK being better utilized, perhaps they should look for options to do so within the Institute. WREK is a valuable part of the Tech community, and students should be allowed to keep it that way while maintaining the privilege to manage it themselves.