Farewell KTRU...

When I was a student at the University of Houston majoring in Radio and Television I attempted to apply for a job at KUHF the radio station at the University. The Federal Communications Commission established educational frequencies so that colleges could use them as teaching tools for students who wished to enter broadcasting. Upon entering KUHF I was informed that they simply didn't hire students.
I and several at the school Newpaper the Daily Cougar riled up a few people who mounted a protest which then head of the School of Communication Dr. Robert Musburger crushed. KUHF decided to pacify those of us who disagreed with the theory that a college radio station should NOT be a home to college students but rather to fat, middle aged radio hasbeens who had never been by creating a student intern position.
Why the ire? The two other educational frequencies in the city of Houston i.e. KTSU at Texas Southern University and KTRU at Rice University have some student programming. KTRU in fact is ENTIRELY student run. Shortly after graduating from the university of Houston I ventured over to KTRU where I did a late night show for two years. I was taught to use broadcast equiptment and sound boards and didn't have to pay them a dime and at the same time I was on the radio (albiet to a small audience) in the fourth largest city in America. It paid NOTHING but at any point had they asked me to pay THEM for the priviledge of being on air I would have gladly done so.
Earlier today I read a piece in which I learned that the University of Houston had just purchased KTRU much to the chagrin. Needless to say I was livid. KTRU does what many THINK KUHF is supposed to do, it TEACHES people who know NOTHING about radio how to utilize broadcast equiptment. It doesn't attempt to be some PR machine for a school which doesn't give 2/10th of a damn about students who can't dribble a basketball or run a 4.4 40 yard dash. It serves a purpose. Rice University is a very exclusive school, but it's radio station was open to all unlike it's cross town counterpart.
I was never truly a fan of most of the music I played on KTRU (although they did give me an appreciation for Japanese pop music) but it afforded me an opportunity to work behind a microphone for two years which my alma-mater (which will never recieve a dime from me) didn't think I or any student in it's own Radio and Television program was deserving.
To my alma-mater as they take over the station which I considered myself honored to be a part of, I say this. Ignore the rich history which you'll erase, hire more washed up jackasses who've spent their entire careers on the outskirts of radio rather than giving a new generation a reason to enter and love radio. My contempt for you as an educational institution was only surpassed by my contempt for you as a broadcasting entity and now I can safely say you utterly disgust me on every possible level.