Just weeks before fall term began, the student-run radio station KPSU and the Student Fee Committee clashed over the radio station’s request for $16,169 to replace a defunct announcement system with state-of-the-art equipment called Google Automation.
Currently, KPSU operates using a 10-year-old demo copy of a program called Automix to program its on-air time slots, and uses an aging announcement, or instant replay (IRP) system, that houses all of the station’s public service announcements, underwriting contracts and informational legal IDs.
“It’s like if the Vanguard was working on Amigas and Commidore64s,” said KPSU Station Manager Jeremy Hardy.
The Google Automation system, which Harding said has become an industry standard, would allow the station to store their entire music library digitally, rather than having DJs manually take CDs from KPSU’s music library as they currently must, as well as replace the IRP’s functionality entirely.
“The Automix is sort of like a DJ when we don’t have a DJ,” Hardy said.
In the end, the SFC denied KPSU’s request for emergency funding.
Prior to the denial, the SFC suggested that KPSU search its own budget for capital to buy a comparable machine. KPSU Program Director Tony Prato and Hao Tran, KPSU computer director, who were present at the meeting, called the SFC’s suggestion a “duct-tape solution” to the problem.
Harding said the current computer system has been crashing at least a few times of week in the recently, putting the station at risk of violating FCC regulations that require nonprofit radio stations such as KPSU to broadcast a certain amount of public services announcements on a regular basis–thus endangering KPSU’s nonprofit status.
Further, said Hardy, the faulty machine is also a concern to the station’s underwriters who have given money to KPSU in exchange for advertising time slots on air. If the system crashes during a scheduled time slot, underwriters will have essentially given money to KPSU for nothing in return.
SFC member Matt Ellis called the SFC’s decision to deny funds to KPSU a fair exercise in policy.
“If this was something they could have foreseen in their budget, then this is something they should have put in their budget,” Ellis said.
Ellis said that the reserve request system was designed for one-time emergency uses for unforeseen changes that would that will likely affect the performance of a program, or in cases where malfunctioning equipment presents safety issues.
“The discretionary reserve is not really that large, either,” Ellis added. “These are really important funds that we need for actual emergencies.”
Ellis said that the SFC is not opposed to KPSU receiving Google Automation, however, he said KPSU must go through the standard budgetary request procedure during the 2008-09 academic year.
“We’re still figuring out a course of action and doing the best with the equipment we have,” Prato said.
At present, KPSU does not plan to press the issue this year with the SFC unless their current equipment breaks down entirely, but does plan to put a request for the equipment in next year’s budget.
In the meantime, the station is looking into other options, such as possibly replacing their IRP machine, which would cost roughly $2,000-$3,000, but the station directors have not come to a solid decision on the matter.
“We’ll cross our fingers and hope for the best,” Hardy said.