Overview
The purpose of this press release is to inform station members and the general public of the status of negotiations between WESU's Board of Directors and the Wesleyan University administration regarding the new conception of WESU. Outlined below is a depiction of the current problems plaguing WESU and an overview of the interests of the parties involved. No official arrangements have been made.

The University's Goals
President Bennet and the Wesleyan University administration wish to utilize WESU as an educational resource, and not simply as an outlet for creative expression. They want to ensure that the station's on-air product is professional in quality and serves to promote the interests of the University. Finally, they want the station to be financially self-sufficient, and operate without requiring monetary assistance from the University.

The Misstated NPR Proposal
When President Doug Bennet, on behalf of the Wesleyan University Board of Trustees, first outlined his plan for revitalizing WESU, he stated that roughly half of the radio station's broadcast schedule would be dedicated to National Public Radio programming, (Monday through Saturday, from approximately 6am to 7pm), and obtained via a feed from WSHU, Sacred Heart University's NPR affiliate. Representatives from WESU's Board of Directors were informed that, under this proposal, WESU would broadcast the live signal from WSHU and thereby bring two identical NPR feeds into the Middletown area. Furthermore, President Bennet stated that the role of community volunteers (CVs) at WESU would be dramatically reduced, and that many would be removed from the airwaves entirely. He also asserted that the administration would play a much more active role in monitoring the content of the station.

The WESU community felt that the administration's proposal did not respect or acknowledge WESU's 65 year tradition of student and community involvement and autonomy. Furthermore, the affiliation with NPR drastically undermined WESU's identity as a free-form, independent radio station. The Board of Directors resolved to commission Lukas B. Snelling of Radio Revitalization Corporation to draft a proposal which reflected the WESU community's conception of an improved station. The 42-page proposal, entitled The Future of WESU, was submitted to President Bennet in early November, at which time a meeting was arranged between President Bennet, WSHU General Manager George Lombardi, and representatives from WESU's Board of Directors.

The Real NPR Proposal
In the meeting with George Lombardi, representatives of WESU's Board were informed that many of President Bennet's initial portrayals of the potential relationship between WESU and WSHU were totally false.
- Contrary to President Bennet's initial depiction, WESU would not broadcast WSHU's live signal. Rather, WESU would have access to twelve separate NPR satellite feeds through which it could obtain whatever programs it so desired, for broadcast at whatever times the Board deemed appropriate.
- The Board of Directors would have the authority to broadcast as much or as little of the NPR programming as it so desired.
- During WSHU's pledge-drives, which would air on WESU only during the slots allocated to NPR programming, two-thirds of any and all donations WSHU received from WESU listeners would be paid to WESU.
- The association would be granted a trial run of one year, at which time the relationship could be reviewed and either renewed or rejected by the Board of WESU.

Association, Not Affiliation
Although there have been no official compromises made between the WESU Board of Directors and the Wesleyan University administration, representatives from both parties have agreed upon some points of compromise regarding the future conception of WESU, as listed below.
1. WESU will be associated with WSHU, but will not become an NPR affiliate.
2. Community Volunteers will not be excluded from WESU programming, but will play a lesser role in the formal management of the station.
3. Six hours of National Public Radio programming will be featured on WESU's airwaves, Monday through Friday, throughout the broadcast day as determined by the Board of Directors. Six hours is the minimum amount of NPR programming that a station must broadcast in order to waive all fees associated with obtaining the rights from record labels and recording companies to broadcast content online.
4. WSHU will provide WESU with the resources to finally begin broadcasting its programming over the internet, free of charge, and through WESU's website.
5. A new security system, incorporating the use of student ID key-cards and WESU community member ID key-cards, will be installed at the entrances to the station.
6. A sound-proofed recording studio will be constructed in the station.
7. WSHU personnel will help facilitate and implement training workshops to better educate WESU DJs of the range of technical capabilities, and the means to produce quality shows.
8. WESU will be granted a faculty advisor.
9. WESU will no longer be considered a free-form station, but will feature free-form blocks throughout its broadcast day.

The Struggle for WESU
At this point in time, the Board of WESU is striving to achieve the following objectives, which it feels are crucial components to any compromise that will ultimately be forged between the University and the station:
First, the Board believes it should have the authority to choose and select a General Manager, a post that all parties involved have agreed that WESU, as a radio station, desperately requires. The Board believes that it should have the right to select someone who serves the interests of the station, its members, and its historical tradition before serving the interests of the University. Were a GM to be hired by the station, WESU would be responsible for his/her salary and benefits. The GM's chief function would be to guide the Board in its administrative duties, provide consistency in management from year to year, and generally support the myriad activities of the station.
Second, the Board desires to implement some mechanism to limit the extent of oversight of the General Manager and the Faculty Advisor so that neither will be able to exert undue influence in the station's affairs, or be permitted to exclude or infringe upon creative expression, musical preferences, and political viewpoints on WESU's airwaves.
Third, the Board demands recognition as an independent outlet, designed to serve as a venue through which public affairs can be presented and discussed, and as an outlet and opportunity for lesser exposed music.
Fourth, and on behalf of the WESU community, the Board of Directors desires to unconditionally ensure a relationship between students and community members at the station, and to provide community volunteers with access to WESU's educational resources.
Fifth, the Board wishes to contractually codify the way in which it will be granted the power of constant review and authority over potential affiliations with other networks, including NPR, and to specifically determine its role in ensuring both academic quality and creative expression in its on-air product.

The Unacceptable Status Quo
Tragically, WESU is in a state of total disrepair. Years of ineffective leadership, due to the complete neglect and lack of support by the Wesleyan University administration, have totally crippled the station's operational structure, quality of product, and managerial control. Moreover:
1. WESU DJs violate basic FCC statutes on a daily basis, and there is very little knowledge regarding FCC regulations among WESU members. At this point in time, we have no acceptable method of monitoring our airwaves to prevent serious offenses.
2. The WESU Constitution calls for an unrealistic degree of decentralized administrative control, and many key measures that have been adopted in order to implement some level of DJ responsibility and discipline have been rendered totally unenforceable by its tenets over the last three years.
3. Attendance at all-DJ meetings is laughable; less than 15% of all WESU DJs attended the October 2004 meeting.
4. The new DJ training program is totally unsuccessful in teaching new DJs about the range of our technical capabilities, their use, and their function. There is almost no instruction as to how to produce a quality show.
5. The relocation of the station from Clarke Hall to 45 Broad Street resulted in the total loss or destruction of crucial resources, such as our alumni database, many historical documents, irreplaceable music albums and equipment, DJ files, and the license to the station. Furthermore, because of its new location, student involvement in, awareness of, and support for the station has reached (reportedly) all-time lows.
6. The Wesleyan Broadcaster's Association (WBA), the student corporation which owned and operated the station, was determined as having gone officially defunct in 1990, meaning that WESU was operated illegally and irresponsibly for almost a decade and a half.
7. Despite WESU's position as Wesleyan University's largest student group, and despite desperate requests, WESU has never been granted a faculty advisor. Without any form of guidance or support, managing the day-to-day operation of the station and the multitude of members has become an increasingly unrealistic task for the student and community board. Furthermore, the lack of institutional knowledge that a yearly Board turnover prevents means that each incoming Board of Directors begins its tenure from scratch.
8. Over $1,500 worth of equipment, (including a computer, a new tape deck, and two new turntables), has been stolen from the station since May 2004.

Why Negotiate?
WESU's Board of Directors is negotiating with the Wesleyan administration because it has no other viable option. The license was turned over to the Wesleyan administration in 2002, at which point the University assumed all of the liability associated with the station's operation, and became the legal owner of both the facilities in which WESU is situated and its license for operation. With a heavy heart, the Board of Directors acknowledges the pragmatic realities of this new power structure, and is trying to adjust its position so as to demonstrate that the goals of the WESU community and those of the Wesleyan administration are not mutually exclusive.

WESU is not selling out… it was sold out long ago.
The association with WSHU is not, in fact, a means by which President Bennet is "getting his foot in the door." The fact is, he's already in the room, and it is now our responsibility to do what we can to keep the door from closing on us and the historical identity of WESU forever. Only by reaching an agreement that accommodates all parties involved can students, community members, and the administration forge a new operational dynamic that will ensure WESU's survival as an educational resource and a vehicle for creative expression. WESU is a local station, and it is the opinion of the Board of Directors, on behalf of the WESU community, that the station should maintain its ties with the community, with the students, and with its historical tradition as one of the premier independent, noncommercial college radio stations in the country.

We need your help and support in achieving a realistic level of independence, autonomy, and respect. We must ensure that our successes at the bargaining table are not slowly rolled back as student Board members graduate, allowing University administrators to exploit out lack of institutional memory. Make yourself heard! Send a testimonial to wesu@wesufm.org, and help keep WESU secure in its identity as a voice for the voiceless in the Middletown/Wesleyan community and beyond.