The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 65, No. 23, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 9, 1978 Page: 3 of 16
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threshing-it-out
KTRU seeks tax increase to restore stereo signal
Campus radio station
KTRU-FM is turning to the
student body for help in
regaining its recently-
departed stereo signal.
KTRU has broadcast in
mono since last March when
the stereo generator unit of its
transmitter was pronounced
unfit to pass FCC proof-of-
performance specifications.
Numerous and varied efforts
to repair or replace the ancient
equipment with other used
machinery have been frustra-
tingly unsuccessful. New
equipment is necessary, but
the KTRU budget cannot
support such expenditures.
Thus, on Tuesday, February
21, when Rice students go the
the polls to elect student body
representatives and officers,
they will be asked to vote yes
or no on a proposal to increase
KTRU's blanket tax allotment
from its present $3 per student
to a new level of $4 per student.
KTRU, a non-commercial
progressive rock/progressive
jazz station, derives all of its
revenue from donations and
the student blanket tax. No
salaries are paid; all funds go
directly into station operation.
Yet the station has faced a
financial crunch for two years,
dating back to the "Great
Flood" of the summer of 1976.
The studios (and Willy's Pub)
were essentially destroyed,
and while federal disaster
relief covered the brunt of the
damage, KTRU was still stuck
for a bill for over $3500, which
it is still paying.
Meanwhile, KTRU's archa-
ic equipment is presenting
new problems every day; the
stereo generator is only the
most obvious need. Reel-to-reel
tape recorders, headphones,
cassette recorders, amplifiers
all need to be replaced (if not
now, then shortly). KTRU
tries to stretch its dollars as far
as possible by designing and
building much of its own
equipment, but in many cases
this is simply not possible.
The stereo problem is the
number one priority, however.
Since last March, the KTRU
engineering staff has spent
countless hours trying to
renovate the old stereo
generator, without success. In
August, another Houston
radio station donated to
KTRU an identical stereo
generator it had once used as a
backup; this unit turned out to
be in worse shape than
KTRU's original. Currently,
staff engineers are trying to
redesign a major component of
this generator in hopes of
making the device work, but
they are not optimistic. Even if
they should prove successful,
the entire unit would need
replacement within four to
five years at most, and be
unreliable in the meantime.
Thus, KTRU recognizes the
need for the purchase of
replacement stereo equipment.
Stereo transmitting equip-
ment is not cheap. Good-
quality used devices cost
slightly less than $3000; name-
brand, high-quality new
equipment lists between $5000
and $8000. Given the blanket
In the colleges
Wiess—The cabinet meets at
10:00 p.m., Tuesday the 24th in
the T.V. room to discuss
capital improvements. The
foremost proposal is to spend
$1,200.00+ (the entire budget)
on a kitchenette. A piano, pong
game, T.V. room renovations,
and a computer terminal have
also been suggested. There
was a T.G.I.F. last Friday.
Register for college elections
with Richard Berry, Room 147,
526-2733. 0
* * *
Will Rice—Selected as next
year's officers in Tuesday's
election were:
Pres.—Jim Lancaster
V. Pres.—Lee Hochberg
Sec.—Larry Fossi
Treas.—Ronnie Cytron
Internal Affairs Chairman-
Leigh Cariker.
Sid Rich—Last Wednesday,
February 1, Walter M. Widrig
of the Art History Depart-
ment, enlightened those who
stayed after dinner at Sid
Richardson College of the
preliminary results of the
recent archeological excava-
tions conducted by Rice on the
outskirts of Rome. For the past
two summers, a group of about
twelve Rice undergraduates
and professors along with
eight other volunteers from
archeological schools of
England and Europe have
spent 6 weeks digging and
recording the buried ruins of
what is considered the oldest
Roman villa of its type in
Italy.
Widrig confessed that he
had had no idea of the
existence of this archeological
treasure that lay under-
ground. In fact, the digging
was initially conducted as a
"rescue" excavation of
whatever ancient archeologi-
cal bits there may have been
from the ravaging effects of
deep plowing. Deep plowing
techniques are blamed for
nearly 80% of the shards of
pottery, tiles, etc* from
antiquity that were strewn on
the ground of the surrounding
fields, as recorded in a 1964
survey of the area.
The slide Widrig showed
demonstrated the cautious,
step-by-step unearthing of the
villa and the various
fragments of pottery, tile, and
coins within the villa. It is
believed that the original villa
was constructed in the 3rd
century B.C. and then
remodeled during Julio-
Claudian times (first century
A.D.). The home was probably
inhabited for over 500 years.
Though no golden treasure
was found, the archeological
artifacts uncovered are
invaluable in piecing a clear
picture of ancient Rome.
—greg greenwell
tax increase, KTRU would
shop around on the basis that
whatever is eventually
purchased be a lifetime
purchase of good quality and
not a continual headache as
its present generator has been.
It is clear that whatever is
eventually purchased will be
expensive, so money needs to
be saved right now.
Passage of a blanket tax
referendum requires that 35%
of the student body vote, and
of that number, that 60% vote
in favor of the referendum. A
large turnout is necessary if
the blanket tax increase is to
be approved.
KTitU offers the advan-
tages of non-commercial radio
as music without interruption,
request music at all hours of
the day, and news and sports
and coverage of events on the
Rice campus. To be considered
a truly viable alternative,
however, to the established
FM rock market in Houston, it
needs a stereo signal. The
KTRU staff asks for the help
of the students on February 22.
D00NESBURY
good evening. this is the scene
in new york t0ni6htas hundreds
of demonstrators 6ather out-
\ side a dinner for the empress
! of iran. roland hedley is there.
J
cfe? 'sfe'
HARRY, I'M TALKING J)A COUPLE
OF STUDENTS RIGHT NOCU, BUT UN -
LIKE MOST OF THE FOREIGN DEMON-
STRATORS HERB, THESE YOUNG MEN
m*0~ARE AS AMERICAN AS
HEY, LOOk! WELL OF
n's kochhts mrse!
_rMAY0R KOCH! [j's ^5
CITY!
HEY, LOOK! SHIRLEY MACLAINE?
n's SHIRLEY ID0NT BELIEVE
MACLAINE! IT! WHAT'S SHE
DOING HERE?
UTTH THE SERVING OF A
pfrE PE R)IE 6RAS AND A
LIGHT CHABUS, THE FRIENDS
i OF EXXON SOCIETY DINNER.
1 HONORING THE SHAHBANOU
" FARRAH IS FINALLY UNDER-
E WAY, HARRY..\
-rue shah
, isamur-
] 06RBRI
HARRY, THE
SITUATION HERE
ON V€ BALLROOM
FLOOR IS BEGIN-
NING TO HEAT UP,
TO SHY THE LEAST.
/
harm, there's been a sl'ght
delay in the festivities tonight
as hie await the late arrival
of pro-shah forces here at
the new york hilton hotel.
ifo <§% 'S?
bad mather apparently delayed
the buses bringing the shah's re -
quits tony., so out of fairness,
planners have held up the banquet
to allow counter- demonstrators
time to tare up thejr positions1
k
^ <&> <&_?
MOREOVER., I AM TOLD THAT
THEY ARE STUDENTS OF DR. HENRY
KISSINGER, THE FEATURED SPEAK-
ER AT TONIGHT'S DINNER HON-
\0RJNG WE EMPRESS!
GEHTLEMEN, TELL ME, WHY ON
EARTH ARE YOU tUEARJNG THOSE
MASKS? SURELY YOU'RE NOT
PROTECTING RELATIVES OR.
wLOVED ONES IN
\IRAN? ^
MYPD
HEY! KOCHY!HERE
10 ENDORSE POLIT-
ICAL REPRESSION
IN IRAN P
kJVPD
NOT AT ALL, YOUNG MAN!
PERSONALLY, I'M VERY BIG
ON HUMAN RIGHTS! BUT CON-
DITIONS ARE MUCH WORSE
jrgj—1THE SOVIET UNION1
►JVPD
HEY, SHKLlWHAT GIVES ?
DON'T yOUKNOW WHAT
HAPPENS TO POLITICAL
DISSIDENTS IN
DESPTTE THE U6LY PROTESTS OUT-
SIDE, SOME OF OUR BRIGHTEST
STARS HAVE TURNED OUT, RANG-
ING FROM VACATIONING NEWSMAN
WALTER CRONKTTE TO TONIGHT'S
BIGGEST SURPRISE, ACTIVIST SHIR
LEY MACLAINE! >
for your information, fellah,
iranian dissidents are sent to
the shah's prisons, where they
are interrogated, brutalized,
, and rarely heard
, from again!
1HB SHAH IS A Mt/W&t£R /
7fB SHAH /S A MOR-
t - peft&.!(
EVEN AS I SPEAK, ONE TUX-
EDOED GENTLEMAN SHOUTING
"THE SHAH IS A MURDERER" IS
BEING WRESTLEDTO THE GROUND
PY FOUR. DECORUM-MINDED
IRANIAN SECURITY AGENTS.
-.SCUFF*,,.
UONBINB THEYCOMEmU!
TUP ^AU "MS UK£
//IP JfVin. P/EMM'S UNDER
t._ 4<7/ WAY, HARRY!
fel
-i.
no, but we've whoa:
got mid-terms say no
c0min6 up, man. more!
G8'fa<&acL-
oh, well,
good pa nt, barney, 6cttta
sir! nis 60, boys!
not! keep it
peaceful!
OPO'tnA
thats right.
so you can
stop acting
so damn
superior!
WELL, THE
^CCM\\ SPEECHES HAVE
7rP-^y. ALREADY BEGUN
15 0K! HERE AT THE HIL-
ton ballroom,
harry..
/
PRESUMABLY TO STIFLE HIS OUT-
BURSTS, A NAPKIN SNOW BEING
STUFFS) IN THE MANS MOUTH, AN
UNNECESSARY MEASURE IN THIS
REPORTERS JUDGMENT, AS A NASTY
RABBIT PUNCH HAS ALREADY TAKEN
AMY HIS WIND! '
DEMI- FOR THE EMPRESS'
TASSE, REACTION, UP TO
SIR.? Y0UATTHEHEAD
TABLE, BARBARA!
the rice thresher, february 9,1978—page 3
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Parker, Philip. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 65, No. 23, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 9, 1978, newspaper, February 9, 1978; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245360/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.