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Editorial
Board should keep KMHD
The number one priority at any educational institution should always be the students. Providing first-rate academic instruction, coupled with top-of-the-line practical training, is especially important at community colleges. Mt. Hood Community College built its reputation on precisely this combination of offerings.
KMHD was created by MHCC in the 1970s as a remarkable opportunity for its students and the jazz format was chosen because it would best match the image, and programs, of the college. The music department here was good before KMHD came on campus — but with KMHD it became even better.
With the current economic situation, the MHCC District board obviously has some hard choices to make. The board is facing difficult times and difficult challenges. But moving KMHD off-campus and delivering operational responsibilities to Oregon Public Broadcasting is not the solution to the problem.
The partnership between KMHD and OPB may appear to President John Sygielski and to district board members to be a good short-term solution as they struggle to make ends meet for 2009-2010 and beyond. But when you look at the long-term consequences, it is not desirable.
OPB is not giving the college any financial compensation for the radio station, and the college will have pick up the cost of employing the current KMHD staff. It is likely the college will lose a built-in promotional tool that it has been afforded through regular public service announcements on the radio station. And if MHCC loses KMHD (regardless of whether it’s called a “partnership” or something else), then the college has lost an asset that has helped set it apart from its sister community colleges in the state.
Instead of letting KMHD slip away, the college should polish our jazz gem right here on campus by taking the following steps:
• Hire a general manager! JoAnn Zahn, who is currently in charge of the station, is not a radio person. Despite her many skills, she is not an expert at running any radio station, and not KMHD. After talking to interns and a handful of volunteers, it came to our attention that she hasn’t even met many of the people who work for KMHD. The station has not had a true general manager for more than 10 months. That’s a long time to be rudderless. The college should find someone who can run a radio station and who understands how to operate a radio station within a college framework.
• Train the current staff on advanced fundraising techniques. If money is the main concern, then why can’t KMHD do what OPB says it will do? We should be able to raise our own funds and with the right training, and using all the strategies available, the station can overcome the budget gap Sygielski is predicting.
• Let’s work out the personnel issues. The tension between staff, volunteers and students should be resolved. Bring in someone who can get deal with the various interest groups. Most of the staff are willing to compromise, most of the volunteers should be willing to compromise and all of the students are willing to learn. If worse comes to worse, let’s get rid of the bad apples, wherever they may be, and continue without them. The conflicts that exist at KMHD are not unprecedented and are not insurmountable. A general manager who knows how to manage people can make this happen.
KMHD has been on campus for more than 20 years. It has not only worked its way into the hearts of the students, staff and volunteers who work there, but also into the soul of a broad community — more than 100,000 strong — that has supported it for all these years.
Sygielski and the board, in dealing with the college-wide budget dilemma, have stressed the point that the college should focus on “generating revenue.” If KMHD would pay rent for the space they use on campus, this would be just that. There is no reason to get rid of a radio station that has been self-sustaining for 12 years, because we might have to pay for it in the future. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. KMHD isn’t broke, it is still sustaining itself, so don’t fix it.