Lubbock Left

The Lubbock Juneteenth Committee is putting together an amazing event for Barack Obama’s Inauguration:

Inaugural Ball
January 20, 7-11 pm.
Lubbock Memorial Civic Center

Tickets are $25, or $40 for couples. People can call Lubbock County Democratic Party HQ at 749-8683 (749-VOTE) throughout this week and from January 5th onward to reserve tickets.

A detail-rich flyer for the event (pdf) is available.

Spread the word! Let’s make this a memorable evening.

My friend Jason started a most excellent Facebook group SAVE KTXT 88.1 FM which in 24 hours of existence already has approximately 2,000 members.

(design by the unstoppably great Dirk Fowler)

The facebook group is your one-stop shop for all the ideas and contact information you need to take action.

Of special urgency: please contact the Texas Tech Board of Regents, who continue their end-of-semester meeting tomorrow (Friday, December 12) at the Student Union Building. They need to hear the obvious public outcry over the shutdown and transfer of KTXT-FM. I think it’s even worth showing up to the public portion of their meeting to voice your protest.

Other than that: call in to Lubbock talk radio shows, write letters to the editor, write emails to elected officials in the region, and write letters to the relevant faculty at Texas Tech.

Terrible news today from Texas Tech Student Media:

Texas Tech University’s Student Media department is undergoing several changes. The most significant of those changes occurred today when KTXT-FM, the university’s student-run radio station, ceased its broadcasts on 88.1 FM and ktxt.net.

Control of the radio station’s FCC license, which is maintained by the university, is being shifted from the Student Media department to Texas Tech’s other educational radio station, KOHM-FM.

No firm plans regarding the future of the 88.1 FM frequency or the related Web site have been announced.

“We agonized over this decision and looked for ways to enhance KTXT-FM’s role within the Texas Tech community, but ultimately we had to face the fact that changes needed to be made,” said Susan Peterson, director for Student Media. “We recognize this is a huge loss to those who are loyal to KTXT-FM - its listeners and its staff - but the department must grow and change in order to best serve the entire student body.”

Changes in Student Media were planned following an extensive study of departmental operations. Student input, fiscal reviews and administrative and in-house assessments factored into the decision that Student Media’s continued support of KTXT-FM was no longer feasible.

I don’t know if the budget at Student Media is going to be cut severely (I would not be surprised at this given who our Chancellor is), or if a turf war is being fought within the University over who controls KTXT (also would not surprise me), or if some other, unknown factor is at work here.

Lubbock is at risk of losing one of it’s most valuable community resources if KTXT goes away. This radio station can be heard all over Lubbock County and well into the surrounding counties. It’s how I know I’m getting close to home when I come back from a road trip. It’s how I know what day of the week it is sometimes (based on their evening specialty shows). It’s how I find new music (especially local music) and learn about shows here in town. It was going to be an integral part of my business advertising for Awesome Books in 2009.

This situation stinks. Something is going on that is bigger than a broadcast frequency being reassigned to another department of the University. Someone or some group is making a cultural play.

And don’t buy the line about KTXT losing money for Student Media. College radio stations are not for making money. They are for students to learn how to be on the radio, and they are news and culture resources for the community.

Let’s get to the bottom of this and do something about it.

KTXT-FM on Wikipedia
ktxt.net

Wanted to pass on the info for this event at the UU Church:

HOPE RISES FROM THE ASHES OF MY LAI
Free Public Presentation and Video
Friday December 5, 2008
First Unitarian Universalist Church at 7:00PM

Who: Mike Boehm of the Madison Quakers, Inc

Where: The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Lubbock
2801 42nd Street                    806-799-1617

When: Friday December 5 at 7:00 PM

What: Presentation on the My Lai programs of the Madison Quakers followed by a showing of a thirty minute documentary video commemorating the anniversary of the My Lai incident.

First Unitarian Universalist Church will host a lecture and video presentation by Mike Boehm of the Madison Quakers, Inc. on Friday December 5, 2008 at 7:00 PM.  The presentation is free and open to the public.  Mike Boehm will explain the activities of the group which promotes reconciliation and the sharing of work on projects in various parts of Vietnam including the village of My Lai.  Besides starting a micro-credit loan program and helping the local citizens build medical clinics and schools, the program also promotes compassion houses for the victims of agent orange and people to people exchanges between American and Vietnamese children.  Mike will follow the presentation with a 30-minute video made by the Vietnamese to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the My Lai incident allowing time for the discussion following the program.  For more information call the church at 799-1617

Sounds interesting to me!

I know it’s two months away, but clear your calendars now!

The Juneteenth Committee is sponsoring a swanky awesome ball on Tuesday, January 20th: the evening of Barack Obama’s Inauguration. It will be held at the Civic Center Ballroom. The event will feature cocktails from 6-7, and dinner+dancing from 7-11. Four local bands will perform, including the TTU String Quartet, Element, and the jazz band that plays Thursday nights at Jazz (the restaurant).

Tickets are $25 or $40 for couples. All are welcome to attend.

I’ll get contact info for purchasing tickets up as soon as I know it.

For now, save the date, and I’ll see you there!

Local ABC affiliate KAMC-28 covers the story of a local business flying an American flag upside down. A poster at the LubbockOnline forums claims to have seen a second business on 82nd st flying an upside-down American flag as well.

These businesses have every right to fly a flag upside down if they wish. However, I think it’s an overreaction to do so when your candidate of choice loses.

Also, I have to speculate: what would happen if the situation were flipped? What if McCain won and a pro-Obama business flew an upside-down American flag? I doubt we would be discussing it calmly.

The theme of the political right these days seems to be overreaction and hyperbole. In the past two days I’ve heard everything from “we are doomed to socialism” to “Obama is the antichrist.”

I sincerely hope that reality will break through the layers of propaganda encasing people who say things like that.

As for me and my business, I think I will leave my Obama sign up for a little while longer.

The Lubbock County Elections Office has done something really cool this election — they are offering unofficial early voting totals, broken down by location and by precinct, to the public. Totals from each day of early voting will be available the following day on the website.

As usual, SW Lubbock is where most of the voting is happening. The numbers at North and East Lubbock locations and precincts are higher than usual, but still low by comparison.

We are already looking at 20,000+ voters after only 3 days of early voting. Any way you look at that, it’s an amazing turnout.

Wow, after a mere one hour of the polls being open, over one thousand people have cast their ballot at one of a dozen early voting locations here in Lubbock.

We are indeed headed for a record turnout in this election!

According to the Lubbock County Office of Elections, Lubbock County has approximately 164,000 registered voters for the November election.

Approximately 6,400 absentee ballots have been mailed so far. This means that roughly 4% of Lubbock County registered voters are voting absentee. This rate seems higher than normal, but I’m not sure.

I imagine that we are going to see record turnout in early voting and election day.

It’s that time again!

League of Women Voters: Meet the Candidates

Thursday, October 16
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Garden Room
St. John United Methodist Church
1501 University

Come on out to support our Democratic candidates and engage them directly.