Dear Editor,

Two weeks ago at a meeting of the Executive Council and Department Heads of WMSR, I was confronted with a 17-page petition containing approximately 1400 names. The object of this petition was to get WMSR to broadcast Philadelphia Flyers Hockey Games over the campus radio station. A group of students also attended this meeting. Their spokesman presented the petition to the station and proceeded to tell us the details.

After a brief discussion, the Executive Council and Department Heads decided not to vote on a motion but to table it so that all angles of the broadcasting possibilities were looked into. It was postponed for one week and was brought for a vote at a special meeting on Oct. 31. The motion for broadcasting the Philadelphia Flyers games was voted down.

I would like to take this time to explain to all Flyers fans a few of the reasons why it did not pass. Our reasons for doing so are these:

1. WMSR is a college radio station whose purpose is to serve the students with campus events. By broadcasting Flyer Hockey we would be broadcasting out of collegiate sports and could later be faced with petitions for broadcasting of Philadelphia Phillies, Eagles, etc.
2. If WMSR broadcasted Flyer Hockey along with our own Millersville Sports, we would have an almost completely sports-oriented format. Four days out of the five-day week would be sports at prime time.
3. If WMSR broadcasted Flyer Hockey we would be faced with a disc jockey shortage worse than the one we are already faced with. During these broadcasts, a disc jockey would have to sit down in the studio and watch a needle go back and forth to keep the voice level normal. This disc jockey would therefore not get any broadcasting experience.
4. We would be faced with engineering problems, one of which would be changing our tuner before and after each game.
5. Finally, broadcasting such events is against the station philosophy of WMSR.

I hope all of the hockey fans understand our reasoning and the problems we would face if we attempted to broadcast Flyer Hockey over WMSR. If there are any further questions or arguments, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your interest in WMSR.

Jerry Beck
Station Manager, WMSR

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