USF Faculty Opposes Sale of KUSF

Dear Colleagues,

The USFFA Policy Board has adopted the following resolution. Please respond to me directly at neamane@usfca.edu or to any PB rep if you have any further questions or wish to take any further action,

Sincerely,

Elliot Neaman

President, USFFA

***

WHEREAS, Radio station KUSF 90.3 FM is a non-commercial community broadcaster located on the University of San Francisco (USF) campus that, since April 25, 1977, broadcast around the clock on the 90.3 frequency, until 10 a.m. on January 18, 2011 when USF staff, without notice, terminated the broadcast and ejected KUSF staff and volunteers from the station and then revealed plans to sell KUSF's license to broadcast on 90.3 FM to a Los Angeles classical music station; and, Whereas KUSF has served as a location for teaching, mentoring, internships, and workshop experiences for thousands of USF students and alumnae over the years, as well as a resource for faculty seeking a wider audience, and

WHEREAS, KUSF routinely provides a wide range of invaluable community based programming giving a voice to a unique range of cultures and communities such as: Senior News; Disability Report, which has been broadcast for over 25 years; Chinese Star Radio, which has broadcast community news, health, and cultural information in Cantonese for over 15 years; Armenian Hour, which has broadcast for over 25 years; the Turkish Cultural Program, which has broadcast for over 10 years; Radio Goethe, which has broadcast in German for over 10 years; and So Da Brasil, which has broadcast for over 10 years; and KUSF has a significant direct effect on our local economy by supporting local musicians, artists, record labels, and live music venues and promoting the work of our rich non-profit community through its coverage of myriad museums, independent film houses, internationally attended film, arts, and music festivals in San Francisco; and,

WHEREAS, KUSF 90.3 FM is a public trust and community asset that serves as an extraordinary educational tool, provides access to vital information to those who otherwise won't have it, promotes local and independent music, and is immensely valuable to the people of San Francisco and integral to the fabric of our city, and the loss of KUSF would have a very negative impact on San Francisco's eclectic and prolific local music, arts, and social justice communities; and

WHEREAS, the sudden closing of KUSF fits into a historical pattern of the administration failing to consult with the USFFA and broader community prior to taking significant action that affects the entire University;

NOW THEREFORE, be it resolved that the University of San Francisco Faculty Association requests USF to cancel the sale of KUSF 90.3 FM and offer members of the San Francisco community the opportunity to obtain the 90.3 FM license and KUSF name to keep it a San Francisco run non-commercial educational and community station; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the USFFA urges the Federal Communications Commission to reject the transfer of the broadcast license of KUSF 90.3 FM to a Los Angeles company until the community is first given a chance to keep KUSF on the air in San Francisco.