Education by Radio (1932)

that an annual operating budget ranging from twenty-five to fifty thousand dollars are justified, and that this expenditure will provide new and supplementary edu¬ cational facilities and services at a lower cost than others we are now rendering? Radio need not supersede other types of service. In numerous instances costs can be reduced by remote control arrange¬ ments connecting institutions located near each other. Oregon’s objective — Our aim in this state is an all-state station used jointly by the institutions of higher learning and the state offices and commissions located at the state capitol. Its program will then include daily, except Sunday, broadcasts from the campus of the University of Oregon at Eugene, by means of remote control facilities; daily, except Sunday, broadcasts from the state capitol at Salem, to be participated in by numerous state offices and commissions such as the governor, secretary of state, state treas¬ urer, state superintendent of public instruction, librarian, department of agri¬ culture, department of police [for edu¬ cational purposes only, not including apprehension of criminals] .highway com¬ mission, industrial accident commission, state forester, fire marshall, corporation commissioner, public service commis¬ sioner, department of vocational educa¬ tion; and participation by three state normal schools and, if desired, by Wil¬ lamette University, a privately endowed Methodist college located at Salem. The combined program resources of the educational institutions and public agencies enumerated above, including the leased wire connections with the market news service of the United States De¬ partment of Agriculture, will permit full compliance with the twelve-hour mini¬ mum program service required by the Federal Radio Commission, and provide the citizens of the state of Oregon with an educational and service program of inestimable value. $50,000 — The thirty-sixth legislative assembly of Oregon authorized the state board of higher education to extend the facilities of the station to other institu¬ tions of higher learning and to various state offices as outlined above. A reduc The great danger of the present moment lies in the fact that opinions are being formed, policies developed, and rights in the air deter¬ mined on the basis of meagerly financed educational broad¬ casting on the one hand, and abundantly financed commer¬ cial broadcasting on the other hand. tion in available funds precludes the immediate consummation of the expan¬ sion program. The remote control facili¬ ties mentioned, and appliances called for by a recent order of the Federal Radio Commission, will altogether entail addi¬ tional capital outlay approximating fifty thousand dollars. A like sum will be re¬ quired for annual maintenance and op¬ eration costs, exclusive of the payment for the time of faculty members and pub¬ lic officials appearing on the programs. Service record — KOAC is wholly dependent upon public funds or private donations for support. It was first estab¬ lished in 1922, when a fifty watt trans¬ mitter was built by the State College physics department. In the fall of 1925, a five hundred watt transmitter was placed in operation, and the program en¬ larged. In the summer of 1928 the pres¬ ent modern Western Electric equipment, with a thousand watt crystal-controlled transmitter was purchased and installed in the new physics building on the cam¬ pus. The station and studio equipment, exclusive of the building in which it is housed, represents an investment of ap¬ proximately $35,000. Twenty percent of Oregon’s radio au¬ dience is within a radius of fifty miles of KOAC ; 89 percent of the state’s radio audience is within a radius of seventyfive miles of the station, and 97 percent is within a hundred mile radius. This in¬ cludes the city of Portland, over the larger portion of which KOAC is well received. Excluding Portland from the consideration altogether, 47 percent of the state’s radio audience remains within the hundred mile radius from the station. Popularity — Reliable checks indicate that the daily farm broadcasts, the mar¬ ket news reports, the homemaker hour, the 4-H Club programs, the business re¬ views, the special lecture courses on vari¬ ous subjects, and other program features, are widely received and greatly appre¬ ciated by the people of the state. As the above statements indicate, the record of the station is one of progress. Notwithstanding large reductions in con¬ templated expenditures for other higher educational activities, a 50 percent in¬ crease is contemplated for the mainte¬ nance and operation of KOAC for the year beginning July 1, 1931. In view of the number of persons reached, educa¬ tion by radio is relatively inexpensive. Filling a need — The programs de¬ scribed will be of special interest and benefit to the citizens of Oregon. Their local application, which adds to their value, tends in fact to render them in appropriate for chain broadcasts cover ing groups of states. It is our experience and judgment that it is only by owning and operating its own broadcasting sta¬ tion that the state of Oregon can best be served with educational programs such as those contemplated in plans for ex¬ panding the scope of KOAC’s schedule Loss of any part of the time now assigned to the station, or any other circumstance preventing the final consummation of our objectives, will be distinctly against the public interest, convenience, and neces¬ sity which Congress, by its enactments, has sought to safeguard. Education by Radio is published weekly by the National Committee on Education by Radio at 1201 Sixteenth Street, Northwest, Washington, D. C. The members of this Committee and the national groups with which they are associated are as follows: Arthur G. Crane, president, the University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, National Association of State Universities. R. C. Higgy, director, radio station WEAO of Ohio State Univ., Columbus, O., Association of College and Univ. Broadcasting Stations. J. O. Keller, head of engineering extension, Pennsylvania State College, State College, Pa., National University Extension Association. Charles N. Lischka, 1312 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, D. C., National Catholic Educational Association. John Henry MacCracken, vicechairman, 744 Jackson Place, Washington, D. C., American Council on Education. James N. Rule, state superintendent of public instruction, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, National Council of State Superintendents. Thurber M. Smith, S. J., St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, The Jesuit Educational Association. H. Umberger, Kansas State College of Agriculture, Manhattan, Kansas. Association of Land-Grant Colleges and Universities. Joy Elmer Morgan, chairman, 1201 Sixteenth Street Northwest, Washington, D. C., National Education Association. Everyone who receives a copy of this bulletin is invited to send in suggestions and comments. Save the bulletins for reference or pass them on to your local library or to a friend. Education by radio is a pioneering movement. These bulletins are, therefore, valuable. Earlier numbers will be supplied free on request while the supply lasts. Radio is an extension of the home. Let’s keep it clean and free.