Hot News!
• Tea Party leader gets grilled by NAACP membership
On today's date in The Beacon archives, we published:
•Smitherman still saying the issue is about a “streetcar” (2009)•More on Amy Goodman’s Arrest and the Struggle for a Free Media (2008)
•Journalist Amy Goodman Unlawfully Arrested At RNC (2008)
•Seizing Illegal Guns—Thinking About 2% (2007)
•Information or Advertisements? (2007)
•Nick Lachey: “I have never supported George W. Bush.” (2007)
Contact Us
v mail: (513) 685-0678
e mail: click here
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Bearcast Radio DJ tags buses for “creeps and weirdos”
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
In this week’s UC Bearcast radio broadcast of Explore Cincinnati, college student DJ Travis Estell tags public transportation like buses as a place for “creeps and weirdos,” while characterizing streetcars as transit options appropriate for first dates and job interviews. This is the latest effort on behalf of these college students to stigmatize buses further—part of an ongoing campaign to bolster the social standing of their preferred and expensive choo-choo train.
In a post signed by sometime collaborator on Explore Cincinnati, Jake Mecklenberg, this theme was echoed. “[A] lot of people in the professional world do not consider bus riding to be professional. Meanwhile, countless high paid professionals in New York, Washington, and elsewhere ride their city’s subways without that stigma. And for a lot less money, commuters ride Portland’s streetcar without that stigma.”
Another streetcar advocate, Chris Wiedeman, had similar comments about bus riding. “[P]eople associate bus riding with ‘having to ride the bus because you have no other option,’” said Wiedeman.
But the award goes to Estell for the most off-the-chain remark, as referenced at the top of this story. He said, “There are negative connotations regarding buses in this country. If you tell a potential employer you’ll be riding the bus to work, they’ll likely look down upon you when comparing you to an applicant with a car. Our popular culture has depicted buses as a place for creeps and weirdos.”
Apparently, his comment references this ad for a Chevrolet Cavalier. By not providing any direct explanation for his statement, however, Estell promulgates this kind of thinking.
Either he purposefully wants to characterize bus riders as poor people who employers look down upon, who women don’t want to date, and who are best described as “creeps and weirdos,” or he is so out of touch with his own language that he doesn’t even know what he is saying.
At this point, neither option would surprise me.
• Share This Article! | Listen to this article |
|  |
Register
Anonymous comments are allowed, but you can create an account above to stamp your name and to avoid typing the anti-spam code.
If you are not familiar with our rules for leaving comments, click here! The Cincinnati Beacon is not responsible for the contents of any comments. Comments do not represent the views of the moderators of The Cincinnati Beacon.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
21 Feb 2009 at 03:13 pm | #
Find the comment on the radio program at approximate time stamp 13:19.
21 Feb 2009 at 04:21 pm | #
Well at least we know of one creepy weirdo who doesn’t ride the bus.
21 Feb 2009 at 04:23 pm | #
BTW, the DJ said he wished there was another proposal so he could look side-by-side. Perhaps Travis needs to learn how to research.
http://winburnreport.com/Winburn Downtown Trolleys.pdf
21 Feb 2009 at 04:29 pm | #
About whom are you talking? Jake Mecklenberg or Travis Estell?
21 Feb 2009 at 04:30 pm | #
Thanks for publishing this article. I don’t think I’ve laughed out loud that hard in a long time! Is this the best you can do?
My exact quote was “OUR POP CULTURE has portrayed busses as a place for creeps and weirdos.” You proved my point by linking to that ad. I was actually quoting that exact advertisement.
At 14:35, I say, “I wish that we didn’t have this problem.”
Yet again, “The Dean” has totally missed the point. I don’t view busses that way. You don’t view busses that way. John Schneider doesn’t view busses that way. But, the reality is that a lot of people do view busses that way!
Will a trolleybus system be exempt from these preconceived notions? If so, how?
21 Feb 2009 at 04:32 pm | #
The streetcar advocates keep accusing us of deleting critical comments. I just posted this in a strand at their Urban Ohio forums, and they deleted it:
21 Feb 2009 at 04:34 pm | #
I also provided a link to the Winburn plan, which was deleted.
http://winburnreport.com/Winburn Downtown Trolleys.pdf
21 Feb 2009 at 04:41 pm | #
I’m not talking about a five-page proposal. I’m taking about something that rivals the hundreds of pages that have been written about the feasibility, economic impact, and ridership of the Streetcar.
21 Feb 2009 at 04:41 pm | #
You said buses were not professional, could cause someone to lose a job, then you tagged them as for “creeps and weirdos.” Sure, you said “our pop culture,” and your angle demonstrates not only your tacit endorsement of that view, but also the contempt you have for poor people—who you fear sitting near on your way to work.
21 Feb 2009 at 04:46 pm | #
Dean, I’ve lived in Corryville the last 2 years and have the 911 calls on tape to prove it. I lived in Avondale near the zoo before that. Quit making assumptions about people.
21 Feb 2009 at 04:49 pm | #
At 14:35, I say, “I wish that we didn’t have this problem.”
At 14:08, I say, “There are people like myself, John Schneider, and apparently Mr. Haap, who will ride the bus.” I don’t have any fear or contempt regarding “poor people.”
I’m looking at your comments right now on Urban Ohio.
21 Feb 2009 at 04:53 pm | #
Dean #7,
Your link and comments were not deleted. They were merged into the existing discussion about the streetcar plan (see http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,9.msg370804.html#msg370804). Take a couple seconds to read before you shoot your mouth off.
If you want to be taken seriously I would suggest conducting yourself with some professionalism. Purposefully misquoting people, accusing others of “yelling” at you who weren’t even there (at the debate), making assumptions about the affiliations of others, all are not the things to do in order to get respect.
Provide sources, legitimate content and respectful debate and you’ll do just fine. I debate economic and social issues with others that have polar opposite views as me. We disagree but remain respectful - just how it should be. Can we do the same with the streetcar debate and actually have a substantive discussion about the issues, or is this going to remain personal chuck full with mudslinging and false accusations? It’s up to you.
21 Feb 2009 at 05:49 pm | #
I completely agree with Randy. Also dean you say you drive everyday, so how would you know what it’s like on a bus?
21 Feb 2009 at 05:57 pm | #
Rampant re-contextualization is the end of the road for respectable debate. After that point lies inanity, and hilarity.
Explore Cincinnati rose to your challenge, met your terms, and you’re continuing the feud by picking nits and resorting to vilification. Kudos to you for providing an amusing tailspin for us to follow.
21 Feb 2009 at 06:22 pm | #
Nice to know that the three people that stand in front of my house with suits and overcoats on taking the bus downtown are creeps, weirdo’s and freaks! They live in VERY nice houses, have great jobs- one is a bank VP- and again- the BearCAST jocks are making assumptions again.
Plus- there are a large number of Walnut Hills kids, Elder boys, also SCPA kids that ride the bus! Nice research KIDS!
21 Feb 2009 at 06:24 pm | #
My comment above (#11) was modified. I did not say “Mr. My Main Man.” I referred to “The Dean” by his real last name, which he apparently does not like.
21 Feb 2009 at 07:08 pm | #
The site does that automatically.
21 Feb 2009 at 07:16 pm | #
I was perfectly respectful at the forum. Some dude yelled at me for not living in enough other cities. Explore Cincinnati called me “ridiculous” and told me I did not prepare. Nameless comment writers on this board and others have attacked me endlessly.
On what front did I not research? Are you doubting the massive subsidies to Portland business development? Schneider needs to do more research. Doubt how bio-diesel trolleys have worked elsewhere? Research Cleveland’s Downtown Trolley. Look at the Winburn plan.
Care about the environment? Look at carbon output for electricity v. bio-diesel.
Still think the streetcar is about letting people in OTR go to work without cars. There are currently less than 10,000 people living on OTR—including all the scores who are not working downtown.
Nearly 80,000 people work downtown. What percentage of these 80,000 are going to sell their homes to move to OTR just because there is a streetcar? On what do you base this conclusion? Portland? What downtown Portland neighborhood is similar to Cincinnati in terms of race, socioeconomics, diversity, or any other subgroup you can think? Does that mean anything?
Look at population density by parts of town relative to the streetcar route. Draw logical parallels between the two cities. Examine population densities in that focused way. If you don’t already know the outcome, why didn’t you do your research?
21 Feb 2009 at 07:28 pm | #
Did you read any of my responses to these points?
Nameless comment writers on this board and others have attacked me endlessly as well.
How do you respond to my answer of Question #6 (9:15)?
21 Feb 2009 at 07:52 pm | #
Why is the Cincinnati Beacon’s website set up to automatically edit reader’s comments?
21 Feb 2009 at 07:55 pm | #
We did not always moderate comments here. Unmoderated comments, for a spell, got pretty vicious. I saw no reason to have my own name defamed on my own website. I couldn’t keep up with the malicious spammers.
Besides, it does not edit your content.
21 Feb 2009 at 08:15 pm | #
RE: Question at 9:15 on radio podcast.
Your answer sounds good, but it doesn’t work out in reality.
Firstly, given the will of politics on the national scale, what is the energy of the future? Clean coal? Nuclear? I don’t call those solutions.
Unfortunately, in a region like our own, wind and solar are not likely options, either. The space necessary to have a substantive wind farm, in a place with enough wind to make it worthwhile—well, it is my understanding that we just don’t have the weather patterns and landscape for that to happen long term and large scale.
We’re going to be coal burners for the foreseeable future in this region. We need to look to more geothermal heating and cooling systems to cut energy usage. CFL bulbs everywhere possible help, too. Homeowners should do what is necessary to cut energy costs wherever possible, and new construction or renovated jobs should be required to meet as green as energy standards as possible.
Having said that, long term, we need to cut our electric consumption, and not add to it.
Just consider this program:
http://www.greenmadesimple.com/incentives/details/duke-energy-ohio-power-manager-rebate-program
Duke sends rebates for the ability to power down, remotely, air conditioning usage during peak usage times. Why are they doing this? Stress to the grid? Makes me think we need to find as many ways to cut consumption, and not add to it.
Bio-fuel technologies are growing, improving, and can come from plenty of sources, too. As that technology improves, diesel engines will all be able to run the improved fuels—similar to your argument about electricity from any source working with the streetcar.
So when you say things like “How much of our electricity will come from coal in 15 years, or in 30 years?”—what you are really saying is “I don’t know how much will come from coal in 15 years.” If I had said that, you’d belittle me for not doing my research.
Doubling a small amount, as Obama said, is not meaningful. Do you have research which indicates that mandate from Obama will change how we make electricity?
You claim that any bio-diesel refinery will be powered by electricity. Is that for certain? Did you do your research?
http://www.energyinvestmentstrategies.com/2008/01/18/algal-biodiesel-refinery-to-be-built-with-30-mgy-capacity/
So your claim on that front is not necessarily true.
Obama’s energy provisions:
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/obama-signs-stimulus-packed-with-clean-energy-provisions/
Even the League of Women Voters are opposing the “clean coal” myth:
http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/blog-483-clean-coal-myth.html
So I guess what I’m saying is that I am not impressed by your answer to the question at time stamp 9:15. It gives answers that *seem* common sense, but they don’t stand up to close scrutiny.
As I said in my story at the beginning of my debate—the part you hate so much—I think it is important to know “how things work.” I think we need to ask questions, and be open to the places where those questions lead us. We need to base our conclusions on what makes sense - given how things work and the logical answers to our questions. We cannot choose a conclusion, and then try to make our ideas fit.
I did not start out against the streetcar. I came to that conclusion. You are for the streetcar, seemingly despite the facts.
21 Feb 2009 at 08:49 pm | #
You want me to vote this as best blog and you as best journalist? Are you serious? All I have read here is you trashing Bearcast DJ’s and denying you’re wrong when they provide evidence to back themselves up. Even if they are wrong every now and then, they are in college and are learning, so cut them some slack.
I do have to admit that following this so called debate is hilarious, so thank you for that. But I feel that I have better things to do with my time than reading an attack on a college radio station.
21 Feb 2009 at 09:31 pm | #
Stress to the grid is a real problem. But let me repeat that the Streetcar will use less energy than something like a large warehouse.
Duke is working to bring smart grid technology to Cincinnati. A smart grid makes it easier for small sources of renewable energy to hook into the grid, including that small amount of wind, solar, and hydroelectric power that we could generate in Cincinnati. But it also allows us to more efficiently transfer power over long distances, so we can import renewable energy from places where it can be generated more efficiently. I’m not talking about buying carbon offsets like you suggest, but purchasing the actual amount of electricity that the Streetcar uses from renewable sources.
I ask this question rhetorically because no one has the answer. It will depend on the actions of not only our current politicians and business owners, but our future politicians and business owners for years to come. I mention that we are headed in the direction of more renewable energy in the future, not less.
Biodiesel can not be produced without some additional source of power, be it nonrenewable or renewable electricity, more biodiesel, methane from landfills, etc. My point was that if a refinery produces X gallons of biodiesel, you must attribute 1/X of the emissions caused by the refinery to each gallon of biodiesel. Did the numbers you cited for emissions include the emissions that are created by the refinery or its power source?
Clean coal is a misleading term. I stated that we should be moving away from coal altogether. I only said one thing about clan coal relating to your arguments: You admit that Streetcars are more efficient than biodiesel buses, but you oppose them because coal emissions are higher than diesel emissions. My question was, if we solved the problems relating to the emissions from coal (as clean coal is attempting to do), would your environmental concerns about the project be eased? Or would you still oppose it due to issues like mountaintop coal removal? If so, what do you think about oil sand extraction, offshore drilling, or opening ANWR for drilling?
21 Feb 2009 at 09:52 pm | #
What direction seems emphasized by them now, with talk of “clean coal”? You must place more trust in politicians and corporations to make the right decisions than I do. They don’t exactly have a great track record.
Is there a plan that would replace the Streetcar with a warehouse? What are you talking about?
Of course not. And my citation of pollution from coal does not include the machines that haul the coal from the mountains of Appalachia to the region’s coal burning plants.
I also have not accounted for, say, all the steel that needs to be produced—for building either the biofuel refineries or the coal plants. I have not examined the country of origins of this steel. I have not computed the carbon imprint of the trains and/or ships that would bring this steel to the country to assemble these plants. And I have not computed the carbon imprint for making these ships or vehicles. In the case of trains to haul steel across the country, I have not figured if it would be better for the trains to be powered by coal or biofuel. I do not know how large sea-faring freight ships are powered. I don’t know that carbon imprint.
And neither do you. But I am well aware of how these things work, and from where things come. And if you want to take things this far, things quickly get absurd.
So on what front do you really want to engage? In a serious way. This does not seem serious.
I don’t really feel like engaging a debate about all these energy sources (and all the energy that goes into constructing the things that make possible these energy sources). If you were able to adequately address the “ecological sustainability” of the energy source and carbon output of a streetcar, that would still leave my concerns about economic and social sustainability.
Care to dabble in those for a spell?
21 Feb 2009 at 10:17 pm | #
The Students of BearCAST have gotten themselves in a debate that is over your head.
If we all stand around a campfire and sign would that make you happy? Hell no- you would still find something to argue about. You are in a learning setting- but yet you refuse to LEARN.
Nothing is edited on this website. I have written some really nasty things to people- Hey CincySuz has gotten my bite- as have a lot of others- but it is a blog-and I too have gone after the Joey Deters people as well. AND NOTHING HAS BEEN EDITED. That is what makes this a damn good blog. And yet- when we have to pull together, we all do! We have earthquakes when Suz and I agree! And we laugh about it!
As for your stories- you are presenting a one sided debate, you still are here fighting for something you won’t ever learn from. Calling out someone is less than Professional and WILL GET YOU FIRED when you get out of school.
All I know is that the professors that were at CCM from 1968-1984 NEVER wouls be tolerating your bs. You would have been yanked from the air for your insane comments left here. Any Dr. Owens isn’t that great of an advisor either- he hasn’t chimed in on this to save you this time! If you yell at someone- you don’t become a journalist- you become part of the story! Get it right. Come on Dr. Owens-you lost when the old alumni were nailing you when you said you had all the history of WFIB!
Stop the BS-go back sticking to debates on campus- like why did they chose to put Stan Chesley back on the board while is he named in a major Phen Phen lawsuit? What about the affair with one board member’s wife and a former basketball coach- tht was well documented by several people in town, And what are the plans for the bombed-out blitzkrig Calhoun Avenue since your beloved President ran out of money. Or talk about how National Endowments are falling thru out the country and what is upper education going to do when they run out? There are plenty of good stories out there for you to cover. Now Move ON!
Get off Justin and Jason- they don’t deserve your diatribe. It is now past boring.
21 Feb 2009 at 10:23 pm | #
Kole and the rest of the DJ’s need to get back to the business of running their station- and the reason why NO OTHER MEDIA was there- it looked like a classroom lecture- and who sent out the press releases to the Enquirer, and the rest of the Media- AH..the truth comes out- this was your own little gig!
Oh please just stop this insane debate. When will the younger ones learn that City Hall doesn what City Hall wants too in this town!
21 Feb 2009 at 10:44 pm | #
Clean coal is a distraction. If we are going to rely on coal for our energy for years to come, as you say, then we need to investigate clean coal for our existing coal power plants. But there is plenty of desire to move forward with actual renewable energy sources and the smart grid technology I mentioned.
Also, keep talking about your distrust in politicians as a distraction to the actual issues.
You keep talking about the Streetcar like it will use a huge amount of energy. It won’t. It is a tiny percentage of the city’s power usage. It certainly won’t be a burden to our city’s electrical system as you are suggesting when you bring up the Duke Power Manager program.
Follow me for a minute.
For both coal and fossil fuels, there is power required for extraction and transport. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that those are about equal for coal and petroleum. (For biodiesel, you have to use energy to get some input to the refinery as well.)
Then you have to build a refinery to produce the diesel or biodiesel, or a power plant to produce electricity from the coal. Both take energy, steel, and other resources. For the sake of argument, let’s say these are about equal as well.
From here, how do you get to actually powering a vehicle? For electricity, you burn the coal, generate electricity and transmit it. For biodiesel, you refine it, transport it, and actually use it to power the vehicle. Some power is lost during electricity transmission, and some power is used to physically transport the biodiesel, so let’s leave those out for now as well.
What does that leave us in regards to emissions? For electricity, all of the emissions are generated at the power plant. You can divide the total emissions by the total output to get emissions per kWh. For biodiesel, some of the emissions are created by the vehicle and some of the emissions are created by the refinery. You can’t just look at the emissions from the vehicle and ignore the emissions from the refinery. If you do, you aren’t accounting for a large chunk of the emissions that biodiesel buses cause.
If your environmental arguments are proven wrong, that gives you one less argument to use against the Streetcar. It totally changes the debate, because then you have to weigh the importance of all 3 of your arguments in relation to eachother. (ie, “If the streetcar is better environmentally, and the bus is better economically, which is the better option?”)
22 Feb 2009 at 08:12 am | #
That is an interesting point, but for now you are just speculating about emissions from the creation of biodiesel. Got any research? I suspect it is not what you think.
Remember, for example, that not all biofuels are created equally. If we wanted to promote, say, biofuels made with switchgrass, then we would need to compute how much CO2 switchgrass takes out of the air while growing prior to the refining process. This process has caused some to call switchgrass biofuel carbon neutral.
In Savannah, a small biofuel industry emerged to power some of their transit needs.
http://refuelsavannah.com/biodiesel.html
With UC’s research department nearby, Cincinnati could be a perfect place to promote this kind of thing, too. Two of the people behind that project are actually from Cincinnati. Now we’re talking new jobs in the area, too.
Then there is the whole natural gas issue. It has half the carbon output of coal. Some have asked about powering electricity that way, and some about powering vehicles. In the grid, you’d lose energy that would go directly toward powering the vehicle with a natural gas engine.
So, I’m interested to see your data on biofuel processing plant emissions.
The numbers I said at the debate were VERY generous towards electric streetcars. For example, I just went with the BTUs of coal, without acknowledging how much energy is lost in the grid that would never be delivered. And I used gasoline, which is worse than biofuel. Even with all that to “help” the cause of electricity’s carbon output, it still was twice as bad. And believe me, I did not know the result ahead of time when I started crunching numbers.
I’d curious to see what you come up with.
22 Feb 2009 at 01:22 pm | #
Both sides of the aisle are guilty of this. And both sides need to stop this energy debate. Rail supporters don’t know if alternative energy will be part of the grid in cincy anytime soon and rubber supporters can’t say that more efficient biodiesel will be used anytime soon. From the sound of it both sides can make their case depending on how it’s measured, which means that it’s probably basically a wash. Neither side is a clear winner.
Many people have a predisposed disdain for buses. I ride the bus and there are some business people, some students, and some YPs on it, but that doesn’t change this fact. Most transit advocates probably agree that this it’s stupid and unfounded but it’s a fact that has shown no signs of making a significant change anytime soon.
While there is some development along the proposed route, it is neither the fully developed community or the ride through the vacant crack houses that some would have you believe. Even the redevelopment in OTR that the Dean has mentioned(much of which is not directly on the proposed line)is focused between 12th and 14th leaving lots of under developed areas, and if you look downtown there is plenty of room for improved development.
The streetcar is a calculated risk. Maybe it won’t work, but there is reason to believe it will, which has been documented. The rubber tire trolley may work, but there has been far less shown to indicate that it would be the same type of economic engine as a streetcar potentially will be.
I would rather a full light rail system than a streetcar, but it does seem like a step in the right direction. I’m pretty sure the MetroMoves plan that the Dean supported in 2002 included a downtown streetcar system like the one being proposed now. Seems like a good time to start moving forward.
22 Feb 2009 at 09:19 pm | #
Wow. So when my car broke down and I rode Metro to school for two weeks while it was being repaired - that made me a creepo/ weirdo?
The people who park & ride from the suburbs - people of all ages and races who save time money and negotiating rush hour traffic - these people are creepos and weirdos?
What kind of sad, narrow minded world do some people live in that simply using public transportation (and no matter how you slice it, that’s exactly what a streetcar system would be) makes one a creepo or weirdo?
Seems to me that anyone who thinks using the streetcar puts them a step above others in this city is actually a weirdo. But stigmatizing those who don’t or use the bus instead- that is truly a creepo attitude.
22 Feb 2009 at 09:34 pm | #
ThatDeborahGirl, I couldn’t agree more. And these are the same people that try to pretend that we’re anti-transit. We’re just anti-snob and anti-boondoggle. Their arguments are so weak that they have to resort to personally attacking people that oppose their ideology.
22 Feb 2009 at 09:42 pm | #
Metro already uses biodiesel and the buses run much cleaner than they used to. People are running their cars on vegetable oil and used grease all across the country. In Savannah they are running a Streetcar on grease because the alternative is dirty coal and radioactive Nuclear.
I don’t see how a Streetcar really is a step towards Light Rail. Why isn’t there any leadership pushing for a real Light Rail system? We’ve seen gas go to $4 a gallon now and they are throwing money around for all kinds of things in DC now. Where’s the leadership from the county on this? I support Light Rail and so does the NAACP.
22 Feb 2009 at 09:55 pm | #
Justin,
I know buses are running on biodiesel, if you look at the larger discussion between here and UO the point had been made about the problems associated with common types of biodiesel being used today. Dean has brought up use of switch grass which is a better alternative, just not one that is commonly being used, that was my point.
I can see streetcars as a step towards light rail since they function as part of a complete transportation network and as I said were part of MetroMoves. Were you opposed to that section of MetroMoves or are you for streetcars only if they are implemented at the same time of a regional rail system?
Like I said, it’s not ideal but I do believe it is a step in the right direction. Guess we just see it differently.
22 Feb 2009 at 10:15 pm | #
Vegetable oil is incresingly being used for buses, cars and Streetcars. We know its clean and it is doable. Soy is also much better. Rudolph Deisel was using peanut oil in 1900 and Henry Ford was using hemp seed oil in the 30’s. They are all better than Corn Ethanol which I still think is better than coal.
I wouln’t trash a Light Rail system just because it has a little Streetcar line in it, but it certainly isn’t necessary. Nobody in a leadership position is talking about Light Rail. All they say is there’s no political will. This is the time when they should be pushing for it.
It is only the Streetcar advocates that pretend this will get us Light Rail because people will supposedly fall in love with the rails. I think this could actually hurt our chances for Light Rail because it will cost more than people think it will.
22 Feb 2009 at 10:16 pm | #
I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone.
Did anyone actually read my response in comment #5?
How about actually looking at what’s being said before you create an “echo chamber” for The Dean’s misquote?
23 Feb 2009 at 02:33 am | #
I’m assuming that you refer to me by name in this post because I used my full, real name to add my 2 cents. Anonymity has its place on the internet, but not in this context. If you don’t want to attach your name to what you have to say about other people, then you should probably re-think your need to say it. I’m somewhat shocked at the amount of people posting anonymously, as though it absolves them of accountability for their words and actions.
As for “Give up, because things don’t change! You can’t fight city hall, you whippersnappers!”, that attitude is poisonous, and I get the feeling that you don’t understand how activism, journalism, and criticism work.
And as for “getting back to the business of running the station,” I am posting here because I wholeheartedly believe in Bearcast, take great pride in the organization, and want to stand by a friend whose beliefs I share. I’m compelled to respond because what I’m witnessing is a rousing game of Calvinball. I take issue with your telling me to “get a life” because Bearcast is very much a part of my life. If discouraging “kids,” by telling them that they shouldn’t try to affect the world they live in, is part of your life, then I feel sorry for you.
23 Feb 2009 at 11:19 am | #
You can try to insinuate that this was not a legitimate debate if you want, but don’t come up with a conspiracy theory that this event was “staged” by Bearcast or my show. The fact is that I was informed about it 2-3 days before the event, and still managed to get four volunteers together to film, photograph, and record audio from the debate. Up until I was informed of the debate, I was not familiar with anything SUE had done. If I managed to throw that together in my spare time, I’m sure our media could have found out about the event and sent someone to cover it—if they actually cared about covering this issue.
23 Feb 2009 at 12:29 pm | #
The reason why people haven’t put their names to the post- is that they are working in the market at the moment and we are all on eggshells w/ the ecomony. Which you obvious don’t realize HOW many people read here- and it doesn’t take a lot to get fired.
The only discouragement you have gotten is because of your behavior in this folly. You are acting like a bunch of spoiled brats! Seriously- and your advisor hasn’t stepped up in this post to “save” you since he has realized your behavior was out of line. He did earlier before he realized you were out of line.
Look-keep up the Fab job- stay focused on campus events- there was a great list someone gave you to dig up- and then learn to research. It is obvious from your post that you are still dishing opinion. Please drop it! Move on. Give it a rest.
And don’t feel sorry for us- we are either working in the business, have worked in the industry and have our own past live and better yet- future lives- you need to do the same.
Stop the banter. The Dean- and Justin and others have shut you down-read the post. Game Over!
23 Feb 2009 at 04:27 pm | #
Quite the contrary. Every faculty member I have spoken to has been very supportive of my show and the rights of DJs to editorialize on their own programs. You still haven’t specified exactly why anything we did was “out of line.” Are you still claiming that we edited the audio recording of the debate to be in our favor? Or that editorializing is somehow inappropriate, despite The Beacon doing it as well? Or do you just criticize the station because it’s changed since you were in college?
The Dean has called me out by name, and intentionally misquoted me. If he wasn’t ashamed of his actions, he wouldn’t be censoring those who want to call him by his real name. The same goes for you anonymous radio alumni.
23 Feb 2009 at 05:00 pm | #
>I wouln’t trash a Light Rail system just because it has a little Streetcar line in it, but it certainly isn’t necessary. Nobody in a leadership position is talking about Light Rail. All they say is there’s no political will. This is the time when they should be pushing for it.
The problem with light rail isn’t the technology—it’s the politics. Any system which requires county funding will be expected to serve all corners of the county. This has been a been a major problem for MARTA and other transit agencies since lines are inevitably built to thinly populated suburbs just for the sake of having lines radiate in all directions. For example I-74 light rail to the west side of Hamilton County would be very expensive but accomplish very little. Money for an I-74 line could be better spent on tunneling, an additional line within city limits, or more service in the more densely populated I-75 and I-71 corridors, but county politics would never allow it. MARTA has been a relative disaster because they were forced to build due north, east, south, and west for political reasons instead of population centers or new TOD’s. Here in Cincinnati the 275 loop and I-471 served little practical purpose but were built for political reasons. They have since developed because the tax structure and the popular culture encourages and even dictates suburban lifestyles.
Modern streetcar avoids county politics because it’s cheap enough for cities to build & operate and affords most of the benefits of higher capacity light rail (the primary disadvantage is a lack of additional riders from suburban neighborhoods). Additionally, modern streetcar lines and light rail *can* operate on the same track IF light rail vehicles are chosen that do not pose crash hazards to the Skoda streetcars. Portland built light rail first and although its streetcars technically can run on the same tracks and use the same overhead wire & voltage, the FTA does not allow it because the Skoda vehicles would not survive a serious collision. Cincinnati could in the future run light rail and Skoda streetcars on the same track IF light rail vehicles are purchased which meet the FTA crash requirements (and yes these types of vehicles do exist but none are yet in operation in the US). When Portland built its first light rail line in the 1980’s, the modern streetcar was not part of the plan and so was not planned for. In Seattle light rail was approved and designed in the late 1990’s before planning for the SLUT. Consequently they have the exact same problem, although incidentally the SLUT opened before their light rail line, which will open later this year. This is testament to how simple construction of modern streetcar lines is, although that’s not entirely fair in the case of Seattle since they bored one major tunnel and converted the downtown bus tunnel to mixed bus & light rail operation.
The Skoda vehicles in Portland and Seattle are double-articulated but Skoda also manufactures a much longer triple-articulated vehicle which can operate on the exact same light track (track that does not require a base deep enough to necessitate utility rerouting) because the axle weight is the same. These are in operation in Paris and Barcelona. These vehicles obviously have higher rider capacities so a transit agency saves operating costs since they still require only one driver.
>It is only the Streetcar advocates that pretend this will get us Light Rail because people will supposedly fall in love with the rails. I think this could actually hurt our chances for Light Rail because it will cost more than people think it will.
Commuter rail and light rail are inevitable in all US cities because cheap oil will be exhausted in the next 10-20 years. It will be unaffordable to commute with gasoline automobiles and the manufacture of electric cars will still require a lot of fossil fuels. Obama will never openly state this because it’s the UAW that got him & his cronies in office. The Democratic party is paradoxically the environmental party and the UAW party—that’s why we’ll never see serious changes until economics catch up with us.
23 Feb 2009 at 07:48 pm | #
The people you got there to film were students- so Why don’t you just face the facts that you didn’t have any of the mainstream media there!
As for your comments-it is yelling out when you are a reporter- is not professional, showing only one side-in your show- was so Rush like- and yell all you want- the rep of the program isn’t what it was in the 60-70’s- so just get ahold of yourself and face the real facts.
Please get off of this topic and try a few of the other ones people gave you!
02 Mar 2009 at 01:31 am | #
Two things:
1) If your full name is automatically edited in the comment section to not appear as such, then you should refrain from using other people’s full names in your posts and comments. Only seems fair.
2) Your comments about Travis’ opinion have been refuted by not only Travis himself, but the raw audio and direct quotes from the show. As a responsible and respectful person, you should go back and edit this post to reflect this information that was/is incorrectly stated in your post. Once again, it only seems fair.