Daily part of life

I would like to comment on how important WMUB radio station is to me. It is a daily part of my life because I can get intelligent programing from national AND local voices...voices I recognize and which resonate with intelligence, thought and caring for our community. Not a day goes by that I don't have WMUB turned on in my studio, in my truck etc. Cheri Lawson's interesting health and spiritual programs are on in the morning when I'm in the barn. Diane Rehm, Garrison Keillor, Sound Advice, Writers Almanac, the noon show of color which often offers me new ways of thinking, All Things Considered, This American Life....I may not be able to spell any of them but I love listening to all of them and they are important to my life. I refer to WMUB as our "community conscious radio station."

Thanks for your time.     

--Debra Bowles, Oxford

Continue WMUB as we know it

I want to take this opportunity to express my strongest support for the continuation of WMUB as we know it at Miami and in Oxford as we know it.   With all due respect to the alternative public radio station in our area, WGUC, "MUB" provides a much more relevant line up in terms of local, state and national news coverage (not to mention a richer, more diverse offering of music).  Ours is one of those families that has all radios set to MUB and uses it as one of our top sources for news and information.  IT is probably our best source of information for both local and state news on a day to day basis.  It is common to hear information about Miami, Oxford, and state government first on MUB, and the information is often not even duplicated in our local newspaper, The Oxford Press, which as you know has only one edition per week. Also, NPR's coverage of national and international issues is simply outstanding.  While the headlines that it tends to cover may be duplicated in other media, the depth of news and information that it provides are unequaled.  I also enjoy very much the range of music and weekend programming, which exposes me to a broader range of music than I would otherwise have the time to follow. Our community would be diminished in many important ways should MUB cease to be a part of it. 

Please let supporters like me know what else we may do to help support the station's continuation. 

--Kip Alishio, Ph.D., Director, Student Counseling Service, Miami University, Oxford

WMUB bridges Miami and the area

WMUB bridges the university and the surrounding area. As a community member totally disinterested in sports, WMUB keeps me in touch with the arts, the intellectual side of the university and the global perspective. My radio is turned on during workday hours. I am always grateful for the professionalism and high quality of the broadcasting; however, when pedestrian student programming takes over, my radio goes off.

When I look at Miami University and see vast sums of money spent on athletic programs, a high rise parking garage that stands almost empty after filling streets with construction dust for over a year, ruthless amounts spent on administrative advising, waste almost beyond belief in food services, and dormitories with personal housekeeping for students, I can't help but wonder where are values are directed. I have always believed that a university is to be an institution of higher learning, teaching and research. Miami seems to be moving in the direction of a Club Med.

I will admit that I am one of the volunteer participants in WMUB programming. My work for the station has been enriching to me personally and to the

community at large. I have received outstanding coaching and direction from the WMUB professional staff, and I am most grateful for this special opportunity in my artisanal life.

WMUB is our lifeblood; we must keep its pulse strong with funding and support. 

--Mary Jo McMillin, Oxford

[Chef Mary Jo is a regular guest on WMUB's Free Advice]

Would miss this resource

I am writing in regards to the announcement I heard Sunday night. I am a long time listener to MUB and feel it is an important resource in this area. I have supported, financially, public radio in the past and have recently had limited funds to do so with MUB.

I enjoy the programming from NPR and am pleased with MUB's schedule of NPR programs. I also like the local programming that airs most mornings. I feel that NPR stations give the most accurate and balanced reporting compared to commercial radio stations. I normally hear all sides of a subject and it is delivered in an intelligent manner. What I really like is public radios ability to handle ALL news stories with class, they have never over emphasized a news story, in my opinion.

I am unsure of MUB's future, but I would greatly miss this local resource if it were to leave the air. Thank you.

--Ritch Baudendistel, Brookvile, Indiana

Vital function for Richmond and beyond

I am writing to give feedback on WMUB and its relation to Miami University.  I live in Richmond, IN and have been a loyal listener (and financial supporter) of WMUB for years.  I find its programming excellent; it is the primary way my partner and I keep in touch with local, national, and world news, and it has enriched us culturally, intellectually, and aesthetically in ways too numerous to list.   We keep the dial on WMUB when we are home throughout the day.  We would be far poorer in many ways without it.

I realize that supporting WMUB costs Miami University financial resources.  The station, however, performs a vital function in ways that seem to me central to Miami's educational mission.  First, it connect the University to the surrounding community in ways no other means would do--and in ways the reach over state, class, social, and other boundaries.  In so doing, it also connects people to the University who would otherwise have no connection.  Because of WMUB, I hear about Miami sports teams; I hear about and attend events on campus; I feel connected to the University as a center of regional cultural and intellectual life.

Cutting ties between the University and WMUB strikes me as a short-sighted policy, in that it would sever these ties, and in so doing,  vastly reduce Miami's educative impact on the local area and its communities.  I am distressed by the trend in higher education generally in recent years, to view everything in terms of bottom line revenues, as if education were primarily a business and everything that does not turn a direct profit should be outsourced or cut off. There are things so central to an educational mission, that to cut financial support simply because they do not turn a profit for the University would run directly counter to the whole purpose of a university in the first place-in Miami's case, as a public institution supporting intellectual and cultural life.  WMUB is an intellectual and cultural treasure.  I deeply hope Miami will continue to support it.

--Scott Hess, Richmond

WMUB's role in the community

First and foremost, WMUB has carried live and then replayed the local Candidates Forums of the League of Women Voters of Oxford for many, many years. These are very important for the Oxford, Hamilton area. The professionalism of the WMUB staff is outstanding. It would be a tremendous loss to us all not to have this partnership. No one else can do it.

I view election and news coverage of our area  as critical for our region. The other NPR stations in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky and Yellow Springs may cover Dayton and Cincinnati, but NO ONE covers are our area in the depth and detail in which WMUB does. If WMUB were not here, we would literally not have a local (Oxford/Hamilton/Preble County) news outlet.  While we may not have the numbers, we do have land area of a distinct region.

In so many ways, the City of Oxford and Miami University offer a quality of life in a small town that is outstanding. There is no question in my mind that WMUB, it staff and it's variety and quality of programming are a crucial part of this quality of life issue for all of us.

Thank you for this opportunity to say how important WMUB is to our community and to this community at large.

--Prue Dana, Director of Christian Education Oxford Presbyterian Church; League of Women Voters of Oxford Candidates Forum Chair; Vice Mayor, City of Oxford

Area needs a public station

The area served by WMUB has its own identity, its own character.

Although the issues that its listeners face may be comparable to those faced by listeners in the denser markets of Cincinnati and northern Kentucky, the particular mixture of concerns here argues for a public radio station to address these concerns.  As an example, Hamilton County is unquestionably an urban county.   An examination of the swath of territory of the WMUB listening area embraced by parts of Indiana, Butler County and Dayton yields a somewhat different profile of communities: old and struggling like Hamilton, rapidly suburbanizing like Liberty Township, farms under pressure from development and, of course, the university's special place.

Consequently, a public radio station here is an essential as a forum in which these different communities can see the forces that animate them all.

WMUB has explained well the pressures it faces, especially the smaller market it serves.   Because this station serves its listeners well, I hope that ways are found to support it so it may continue its service.  Miami University plays such a special role; one can reasonably expect it to increase its support of WMUB.  I will continue to do my part.

--Steve Dana, Oxford

Miami needs WMUB

My feedback regarding the relationship between MU and WMUB:

1. Miami University prizes its status as a '"major league"
institution. Without a public radio station, that status is diminished.

2. There is no other local radio station in Oxford and surrounding
area, thus no other way to get quick information during weather
emergencies, unusual school closings, and other local news. Other
radio stations that claim to be local are parts of syndicates that
actually broadcast from distant counties, are automated, and have
little or no live personnel.

3. WMUB's programming is interesting and valuable, both the locally
produced programs, and the NPR programs. The next closest station is
probably WVXU, which doesn't carry too well this far away. It would
be a huge loss to the community not to have access to the unique
programming. Miami would suffer a serious public relations blow if
the relationship were cancelled.

4. At a time when MU is trying to become more involved in the Oxford,
Hamilton and Middletown communities, losing the radio station would
be very counterproductive.

--Marcia Waller, Miami University, Oxford

Service contributes to mission

WMUB is an important service to radio listeners in our area and thus contributes to the mission of the University. As  news and discussion format station, WMUB programming is compatible with Miami's mission as a public institution working to inform the public.  WMUB programming offers Miami students a model of rational, informed, and civil participation in public issues. The WMUB broadcast range is probably also  Miami's primary recruiting area and helps the University maintain a positive public image.

I write as a long-time supporter, regular listener, and occasional guest on "Free Advice,"

--William A. Wortman, Oxford

Alumni appreciate WMUB

My wife and I are both Alumni of Miami University, and now live in the Dayton area.  Within the last five years, I have begun listening to WMUB each day, and many of our contributions to Miami over the last five years have come through WMUB and their annual fund drive.  

I enjoy the wonderful programming the station provides, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Mama Jazz, The Diane Rehm Show, Fresh Air, and many others.  I have found WMUB and public radio to be a welcome change from other news sources.  The programming is insightful and thoughtful.  

At a time when so many programs in the media seek to polarize the public, it is important to support such an endeavor as WMUB and public radio.  I have increased my monetary support to the station, and this is a time when Miami University, as a public university in southwest Ohio, should be increasing its support for WMUB and public radio.  While I understand budget constraints, Miami must continue to provide this valuable service.

--Brian Boyd, Vandalia

Overwhelming enrichment

I began listening to WMUB long before I had the slightest idea what NPR was.  I suppose my story is somewhat unique.  I was raised in a strictly religious family.  Radios and TV were not allowed.  After a road trip taken with a friend of the family, I snuck the cheap AM/FM radio and headphones they had purchased for me home and hid it under my bed.  Once the lights went out and I thought it was "safe" I would slip the headphones on and listen to whatever I could find.  It didn't take long to discover the fascinating voice and music of Mamma Jazz.  I have been a jazz lover ever since, even though the headphones were confiscated a few weeks later!  

Fast forward 15 years and I met a wonderful man who inadvertently introduced me to NPR...it was a match made in heaven...me and NPR that is, the guy's ancient history.

I have it on in the car, at home, streaming across the internet at my desk...and I was thrilled to become a "real" member during the past fall member drive.

I feel like I've just found my radio home, and I certainly don't want to move.  

I don't know what I can say that someone else hasn't already said...and probably better...but the bottom line is:  I can't imagine what possible benefit to Miami University would be achieved by even a reduction in support to WMUB.  

In fact with the overwhelming enrichment to any kind of community that an affiliation with NPR provides, and taking into consideration the local color and pure passion for life, news, and education infused in the WMUB staff (have you heard Tana Weingartner during a member drive?!?!)…frankly, I would think this would be a rhetorical committee.

--Natalie Peffers, Dayton

Concerned for station's future

As daily listeners to WMUB and longtime contributors to the station, we are concerned for its future.  The broadcast schedule is outstanding, both the local programming and those provided by NPR.  There is nothing to take its place.  The university is well served by WMUB.

--Elaine and Harvard McLean, Oxford

WMUB enriches the university and the community

I am one of of those Oxford residents that has all of her radio
stations (car radio, kitchen radio, radio-alarm clock, radio at
work ... ) tuned to WMUB and I have, at times, remained in my car
after I arrived to my destination in order to continue listening to a
particularly meaningful piece. I know I am one of many to have such
relationship to WMUB. Having WMUB available is one of the
advantages I find in living in a university town and I like living in
the kind of community that supports and endows the local radio
station. If WMUB had to either drastically reduce their national
broadcasting or to dismantle the radio station altogether, it would
be a great loss to me and to our community.

I wake up to the news and welcome WMUB mixture of local, national and
international news. Mostly, I enjoy the in depth nature of its
newscasting as well as the thoughtful conversations that take place
in the talk shows. I particularly value the fact that the news and
commentaries that WMUB broadcasts are relatively independent of
advertisement and market forces. I would probably not even listen to
radio were it not for the quality of programing that WMUB currently
broadcasts.

I hope that in evaluating the value that Miami University places in
supporting WMUB, the committee would consider how much WMUB
enriches not only the university but also the community as well as
the relationship between the two.

Thank you in advance for your consideration,

--Merce Caballero, Oxford, Ohio 45056

WMUB should help faculty in the classroom

I have been a listener and contributor for most of my years here at
Miami. I have found the programming to be both informative and often
incite full. Lately, I have been wondering whether it's full
potential to truly educate and inform is significantly realized by
our student body. After polling students in my classes for several
semesters I have come to the conclusion that it is not. I do not
know whether the station has any data to show what percentage of our
students listen to WMUB specifically, or NPR in general, but my
suspicion would be that they (for the most part) do not.

I sincerely believe that the time has come to connect WMUB to our
academic endeavor - in both a purposeful and calculated way. Name a
discipline - and I'm confident I can find multiple relatively recent
segments pertaining to that discipline. To me, it seems like WMUB
needs to begin to emphasize its utility in helping students and
faculty in the classroom. At the same time, it appears to me that
WMUB/NPR is the perfect adjunct to teaching. I personally require my
students to find and listen to at least one broadcast or podcast
relating to topics under discussion.

In my mind, the "Academic Division" of WMUB would work to coordinate
with faculty to help them with the latest comprehensive discussions
in their discipline. Submit your syllabus and let us help you find
information on-line or in broadcast that will help you develop your
class. Coordinating NPR programming with the needs for current
discipline specific content relevant to a whole host of course
offerings would seem like a pretty worthwhile endeavor. I would also
think that with some creative marketing faculty would welcome the
opportunity to have varying points of view on course content,
present day data on the impact of important events or conditions, and/
or news that supplements the curriculum. "Bring your syllabus to
life" might be one of several marketing strategies.

In my mind, I cannot think of a more creative use for a university
public radio station. Not only would this bring the station more in
line with the mission of the university, but it would have the added
impact of increasing listeners and perhaps membership; but more
importantly, it would have the potential to enhance the learning
experience of our students.

The "Academic Division" of WMUB could also work in conjunction with
individual faculty to help them work with their students to "produce"
research for broadcast. Not to say that the old standby - the
Research Paper - is dead, but more and more in the classroom students
are being encouraged to "produce" in other forms. Power Point, multi-
media, overheads, and drama have all begun to find their niche in
classroom assessment - why not broadcasting. Is that area only for
the Communication department? How about a joint/interdisciplinary
project between a group from say, COM 258 and Geography Geo 201, that
results in a 1/2 hour broadcast on the impact of the growing Hispanic
community in Hamilton County? I think that the possibilities are vast.

WMUB has a tremendous impact on the local community and I believe
significant numbers of university faculty and staff also benefit and
participate to a great extent; however, I think that the greatest
opportunity for growth and relevance lies in the 16,000+ students in
the immediate Oxford area. Hey, just think of all the potential NPR
listeners we'll have an opportunity to create.

Just some rambling thoughts from an ardent fan of public radio. You
can file them in the "for what it's worth" column.

--Douglas W. Green M.A.
Assistant Director for Learning Assistance Programs and
Coordinator of Learning Disabilities Services
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

The only station on our radios

We are members of WMUB.  I think WMUB is the only radio station programmed on our radios, including the car.  We depend on WMUB for news and views we cannot get on any other Public Radio station and we refuse to listen to the talk shows on radio, either the right or the left.  We want balanced reporting and discussion and WMUB provides it to a couple of people who are very involved and running a lot.  Thanks.

Morning Edition, including Saturday and Sunday's weekend editions are always on and the radio usually stays on until the end of All Things Considered. 

If there is programing in the evening we want to hear we do so, but usually we switch over to Public Television.

We like the format of WMUB and while we have access to two other public radio stations we generally stick to the one station that fits our life style, WMUB.

--James & Roberta Farinet

WMUB is my favorite

WMUB is my favorite radio station, and I listen from daybreak, before 5AM, until 6pm.

I like most: Diane Rehm, Fresh Air most of the time, the Black broadcast at noon.  I love jazz programming esp Scott Hanley, not Mama Jazz - too much talk. I don't like the recycled programming on Sat 7 am, and I don't like Mama's gospel. I like jazz a lot and love gospel but the talk bugs me. So I turn it off.

I listen to all the NPR coverage: Morning Edition, and All Things Considered etc.

Problems:
1. no jazz that I like until 11 pm, sooooo late for me. Why not start the satellite feed earlier? Or better yet, replace Mama. I know there are a lot of loyal fans, but I am not one. I wish there were another DJ and the jazz is essential for me. Don't change that!

2. static in Yellow Springs; poor reception. I have 5 radios. Only 1 gets wmub consistently; the tuner occasionally, late at night; the other 3, not at all. I told Olive Kettering Library head about my appreciation of the station and he wondered, How do I get any reception? He could not.

3. I listen for news and views. I appreciate Daniel Schorr. Want more in depth news analysis. Don't agree that your view is one-sided as many conservative listeners complain. Your reporting is balanced.  I have been requesting more Darfur coverage for several years, and I guess the situation there has gotten bad enough to get more attention now. Finally. I point this out because you are not news LEADERS - you need to let your listeners lead you too!

4. I implore you to devote coverage to the denial of the Armenian genocide, since you now feel safe to cover Darfur. The application by Turkey to become a member of the EU is your launching pad.  I sent a message to NPR as John Hingsbergen suggested, but don't know that it will be 'heard'

--DB, Yellow Springs

Public radio - a rural treasure

Like many other folks commenting here, my family and I have our radio dial consistently tuned to WMUB for the full variety of wonderful programming and news that the station offers.  As loyal listeners and contributers to the station, we have treasured the station's firm presence in our community as way to connect local listeners to one another, to events and debates at Miami, in the surrounding community, and around the world.

As radio broadcasting in the U.S. continues to be privatized, and our federal government continues to be blind to the merits of fully supporting public broadcasting, truly PUBLIC radio stations are in danger.  But the importance of public radio, particularly to more rural communities such as ours, is not to be overlooked.

Without a public radio alternative, many rural communities lack a way to communicate local events and debate crucial issues of importance to them.  Without public radio outlets, rural communities are often locked into relying on news outlets that are more concerned with profits than with good investigative reporting.  Without public radio outlets, forums about school board elections, regional athletic events, and other items of local concern have few if any other outlets available to ALL citizens across a wide rural area.

Public broadcasting is a vital part of any democracy, and part of it's link with democracy is the fact that it serves both urban/suburban areas as well as the rural areas scattered across our nation.  WMUB is so valuable to me in large part because it serves our local/regional rural communities in southwest Ohio and southeast Indiana so loyally.

--Kathleen Knight Abowitz, Oxford

Save WMUB

I'm sure that I don't have to detail the many ways that WMUB strengthens our Oxford and Miami communities. However, I would like to suggest that WMUB also strengthens our national visibility and enhances Miami's academic reputation.

Several years ago, I lived and worked in Cheyenne, Wyoming. As I listened to my local NPR station from the University of Wyoming in Laramie, National Public Radio featured an extended interview with Miami University Professor of History Andrew Cayton, broadcasting from WMUB. NPR sought out Dr. Cayton because he could discuss election results in the context of Ohio/mid-West history and because he was associated with an NPR affiliate. Subsequently, I heard Political Science Professor Adeed Dawisha commenting about the Iraq war, also broadcast nationally—and to me in Cheyenne--from WMUB, Miami University.

I urge the committee to recommend preserving WMUB.  Do not allow this resource to be diminished.

--Nancy Arthur, Oxford

One of the best ambassadors for Miami

I am writing to ask that the university continue to fund WMUB or even increase the funding!  WMUB provides its listeners with excellent programming, local news and entertainment. This station is one of the best ambassadors the university has to the community and to all those outside the community who also listen online.  I think it would be a shame to let it flounder for lack of funds.

--Sondra Karipides, Miami retiree after 23 years of employment, Oxford

WMUB is part of our life

WMUB is a part of our life. I have a high tower with a 10 element yagi FM antenna to be sure of obtaining good reception. It is on the time we get up in the morning to evening. It is our weather report, our local, our state, our national and international news, our entertainment and our window on important matters in the world. We even depend upon it for local happenings. We contribute to WMUB because we do not want to loose any programing. Please do not take anything away from this important treasure.

--Don Spangler, Dayton

Please don't leave us homeless

As a Miami University English professor since 1965, I've listened to thousands of hours of WMUB. For years I divided my time between WMUB and WGUC, which both featured classical music.

 

Nowadays, under General Manager Cleve Callison and Program Director John Hingsbergen, WMUB is unique in serving our community. From its studios in Oxford to Cincinnati, Dayton, and way beyond, WMUB is sui generis as a public radio station. No other station has a roster of locally produced talk shows like "Interconnect," "Help Desk," "Soundhealth," "Free Advice," and "Forum"; that's five hour-long weekday programs which, in effect, say, "Here we are, world, direct from the Miami Valley, home of Miami University!"

 

What's more, WMUB's "Mama Jazz" show is streamed by night owls from coast to coast.

 

Aside from the access WMUB gives us to such NPR staples as "Car Talk," "A Prairie Home Companion," and "All Things Considered," as a source of local shows WMUB gives listeners a healthy earful of our vibrant university town. WMUB demonstrates our cosmopolitan values, our street cred, to 35,000 listeners, many of whom would feel totally bereft without us.

 

I am shocked and dismayed to hear that WMUB faces budget problems that threaten its existence. From my standpoint as an old-guard RedHawk, WMUB is at least as vital and necessary to us as a new parking garage or student union. The thought of cutbacks at 88.5 FM makes me cry, "Shame!"

 

Last week while driving back from a poetry reading I gave at the University of Findlay, I was perhaps 30 miles north of Dayton on I 75, listening to something mediocre on the FM dial. I pressed my car radio's number-one preset button and, lo and behold, "The Diane Rehm Show" greeted me loud and clear from WMUB. Suddenly, I felt I was home.

 

Please don't leave us homeless. Please help WMUB continue to be the glowing hearth it has been for more than 50 years.

 

Thank you.

 

--James Reiss, Professor of English & Founding Editor, Miami University Press

Important resource

I am writing in regards to the announcement I heard Sunday night. I am a long time listener to MUB and feel it is an important resource in this area. I have supported, financially, public radio in the past and have recently had limited funds to do so with MUB.

I enjoy the programming from NPR and am pleased with MUB's schedule of NPR programs. I also like the local programming that airs most mornings. I feel that NPR stations give the most accurate and balanced reporting compared to commercial radio stations. I normally hear all sides of a subject and it is delivered in an intelligent manner. What I really like is public radios ability to handle ALL news stories with class, they have never over emphasized a news story, in my opinion.

I am unsure of MUB's future, but I would greatly miss this local resource if it were to leave the air. Thank you.

--Ritch in Brookvile, Indiana

WMUB's importance to Miami

My feedback regarding the relationship between MU and WMUB:

1. Miami University prizes its status as a '"major league" institution. Without a public radio station, that status is diminished.

2. There is no other local radio station in Oxford and surrounding area, thus no other way to get quick information during weather emergencies, unusual school closings, and other local news. Other radio stations that claim to be local are parts of syndicates that actually broadcast from distant counties, are automated, and have little or no live personnel.

3. WMUB's programming is interesting and valuable, both the locally produced programs, and the NPR programs. The next closest station is probably WVXU, which doesn't carry too well this far away. It would be a huge loss to the community not to have access to the unique programming. Miami would suffer a serious public relations blow if the relationship were cancelled.

4. At a time when MU is trying to become more involved in the Oxford, Hamilton and Middletown communities, losing the radio station would be very counterproductive.

--Marcia in Oxford

WMUB's music is hard to find anywhere else

Three or four years ago I made frequent trips from Indianapolis to Dayton. I was often home in Indy by dinner time but occasionally it would be 9:00 or so. In fiddling with the radio when running late I found WMUB and specifically, Mama Jazz. I was able to get the signal until I reached the east edge of Indy and then I wished that you had a little more power. When I learned that I could get your programming on my computer, I was overjoyed. Now, I can have Mama [Phyllis] and then the guys who do "All night Jazz" in the background as I plug away on the computer. I've turned a couple of friends on to it and another who lives about 30 miles east of Indy gets your signal and told me they had already been listening to you on their radios.

The local PBS station used to have a four hour jazz program on weekday afternoons but they dropped it several years ago. The Univ. of Indpls has Jazz on weekday afternoons and Sat nights and that's about the extent of the local jazz airing. For a city that has turned out so many fine Jazz musicians, you wouldn't know it by listening to the local radio stations. Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend the upcoming three-night-celebration of Slide Hampton's 75th birthday [local boy makes good!] due to being scheduled for hospitalization at the time.

Whatever happens to WMUB in the future, I hope you continue to air the kind of music that is so hard to find on the radio.

--Mike from Indianapolis