[AGL] OFF CURRENT TOPIC

[michele mason]

Hi All, Just wondering if you got the same "letter"?  mm

Begin forwarded message:


> From: "Hart, Roderick P" <rod.hart at austin.utexas.edu>

> Date: August 31, 2009 5:22:42 PM CDT

> To: Michele Mason <m_11 at att.net>

> Subject: RE: TOO  WHOM.. ..

>

> Dear Ms. Mason:

>

> Thanks for your note of August 20th about the current cutbacks at  

> KUT.  I understand your concern and I respect your viewpoints.   

> Personnel decisions like these are terribly emotional issues but  

> there's one thing I know for sure: The management at KUT has spent  

> months trying to redo its balance sheet so that layoffs would be  

> avoided.  At the end of the day, that proved to be impossible.

>

> Then the question became: How should the cutbacks be made?  In the  

> radio business, the standard way of making rescissions is to  

> examine which shows are attracting listeners and which are  

> performing less well.  After looking at a great deal of over-time  

> data, Stewart Vanderwilt and his colleagues made the decisions they  

> made.  I believe they did so in good faith and I know they did so  

> with deep respect for those affected, staffers who have made  

> important contributions to the Station over the years.

>

> Let me add another piece to the puzzle: I have spent most of this  

> summer trimming budgets throughout the College of Communication.   

> Every unit in my college has been hit and I have anguished when  

> making each cut.  The decisions I've made are probably imperfect  

> but I had no choice but to make them.

>

> Our hope is that the financial picture will brighten in the  

> future.  When it does, we hope to be able to reach out to Paul Ray,  

> Larry Monroe, and John Aielli and find additional ways of using  

> their considerable talents to make KUT programming even better.  We  

> do not yet know what's possible but we do know that this  

> triumvirate has been a vital part of KUT's legacy and we want them  

> to be part of KUT's future as well.

>

> I continue to believe that KUT is among the finest NPR stations in  

> the nation.  Please be assured that we will do all in our power to  

> win back your confidence in KUT during the months ahead.  Again,  

> thanks for sharing your concerns with me.

>

> rph

>

> ********************************************************************** 

> ******

> Dr. Roderick P. Hart, Dean

> Shivers/Cronkite Chair in Communication,

> College of Communication

> University of Texas at Austin

> CMA Building, Suite 4.130, 25th and Whitis Sts.

> Austin, TX 78712

> (v) 512-471-5646; (f) 512-471-8500; rod.hart at austin.utexas.edu

>

> Personal homepage:

> http://communication.utexas.edu/strauss/rph/

>

> Institute homepage:

> http://communication.utexas.edu/strauss

> ********************************************************************** 

> ******

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: michele mason [mailto:m_11 at att.net]

> Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 1:55 PM

> To: Vanderwilt, Stewart

> Cc: Hart, Roderick P

> Subject: TOO WHOM.. ..

>

> . . are you selling "The Best Public Radio in the Country"-to be no

> more? Don't want to hear no stinkin' California. Haven't they taken

> enough to dry up our water as it is-now its the best,  most

> knowledgeable and historical/future research in Public Radio, or is

> it to be-any more?

>

> Prediction: this icon-these irreplaceable icons, go. U fall flat on

> your face, even in dirty money.

>

> Not another penny deary, Ms. Michele Mason


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