Saturday, October 21, 2006

 

KUSD-AM

KUSD
When I attended college in the 1980's as a mass communications student, a good number of my classes were in the E.O. Lawrence Telecommunications Center on the campus of the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. From 1992 to 1995 (exactly 3 years as it turns out - probably about a year too long.....) I worked in the same building as a Broadcast Operations Technician (master control operator, no matter what the state called me, and a damn good one, my supervisor would even agree) for South Dakota Public Broadcasting.


lawrence
E.O. Lawrence as a student
(probably, the photo didn't say,
but he looks like a student).
The Building itself was pretty interesting as it was alternately known as the "New Armory." It was known as that because until the Dakota Dome was built, basketball games and other sporting events were held there, the site of theold football stadium was right out the back door of master control. Some of the doors were still original from its days as a gymnasium. One that always made me laugh was upstairs. Going into the radio area I had to pass through a door that said "Women's Locker Room." I've dreamt of passing through doors like that all my life, and I like most things I've longed for, it wasn't nearly as satisfying as I'd imagined it would be.

The building also housed the Army ROTC program for the univiersity so the name "New Armory" kind of stuck. But it was officially the E.O. Lawrence Telecomunications Center. It was named for former student Earnest Orlando Lawrence who later won a Nobel Prize in Physics and in addition to a building in a small town in South Dakota, also has a radioactive element named after him.

When E.O. Lawrence was a student at the University, he (with others, I'm sure) started what would later become KUSD-AM, the first radio station in South Dakota in 1919. Its first broadcast was in 1922 and it began regular broadcasts in 1924. KUSD started educational programming in 1931 marking the beginning of South Dakota Public Broadcasting. KUSD remained a part of the network until 1992.

Programming on AM continued until December of 1992 when one of the towers was toppled by a nighttime encounter with a Chevrolet Suburban being driven illegally across the golf course where the towers stood. The driver was caught and prosecuted, but the station was unable to collect a large enough settlement from his insurance carrier to re-erect the tower.

From Dakota Pathways


As a resident of Vermillion and an employee of South Dakota Public Broadcasting at the time let me explain a couple of things about the "Chevrolet Suburban driven illegally across the golf course." It was illegally driven for a number of reasons. First, it was illegal to drive on the golf course. Duh!

Second, the driver was over the legal limit, he was drunk. He had been at a fraternity party (I think I remember which one, but not being certain, I'm not going to post it here) and took of in the Suburban to take a little night time drive. He was already home, but made the decision to go out and cause some trouble by doing doughnuts on the golf course.

Third, it was not his Suburban. The Suburban belonged to the family of a Sorority girl who spent a lot of time at this particular Fraternity. So much time, in fact, that the Suburban was usually there. So much time that keys were readily available to anyone at the Fraternity who wanted to take them and drive the Suburban, on the golf course or anywhere else for that matter. Depending on your interpretation of the law, the Suburban was stolen.

None of that really matters, of course. One moment of stupidity (and don't blame the alcohol) and an entity that had existed since 1919, an entity that a Noble Prize winning alumnus had helped create, was no more.

KUSD
There was a trial, of course. The student was found guilty in a criminal trial and fined the largest amount possible. It wasn't enough to re-erect the tower, nor was it enough to demolish the tower. The Network made the absolutely stupid decision not to sue the student in a civil case. A network employee close to the case told me, "We didn't want to ruin the kid's life. He's paid enough already."

Paid enough? Not nearly. Without going into too much engineering detail, the KUSD-AM towers were a cluster of towers allowing the signal to be directional. With one tower destroyed, it could no long direct its signal and had to operate at greatly reduced power, which it did until 1994. It didn't cost the network any less in operations or upkeep to keep it going in the capacity. I was still required to look out the back door after dark and verify that the lights on the remaining towers were on, so at least some of my salary was for operation of KUSD-AM.

And in 1998 the whole useless array had to be demolished at more cost to the taxpayers in South Dakota. Gravity may bring a tower down, but human beings have to cart it away, and that's not cheap. You can sell the twisted metal for scrap, but that never offsets the cost of demolition.

So it's pretty clear that the thoughtless student didn't pay enough. I never did find out his name, if I knew it I would post it here. I'd like to compare the lives of this thoughtless student and Lawrence. I have no idea what this student has accomplished, but I still get the alumni magazine and I assure you that NO ONE who graduated after me from the University of South Dakota has led a life that can rival the importance of what Lawrence accomplished. Anything this little bastard accomplished in his life is because the State of South Dakota didn't sue his ass and make him pay to either reconstruct or demolish the tower that he destroyed. You think repaying those student loans is a bitch? Add on the cost of reconstructing a tower when you're 21 years old. Try to have a successful life after that.

I did not leave South Dakota Public Broadcasting with the best of feelings for the organization (you can blame Kevin Patten and Don Checots for that), but I hate it when justice isn't served. And while justice wasn't acheived, in part, because the network didn't have the balls to go after this scum, it is the scum himself that is the real problem here. Had he not been drunk, stolen a vehicle, and illegally driven on a golf course late one December night, I wouldn't be writing this right now.

BOJ

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