Love it! Thanks watchdog. The real problem is why Rice University was in open dialogue with the students about the proposed sale of the station.

"but that the sale had generated considerable media coverage and, by implication, public interest." As a Rice alum and supporter of evolution in the music industry, I am saddened to see the KTRU staff and students, squandering this opportunity to gain many supporters for their online operation. The headline seems to be "KTRU is sold" From my understanding it's only the antenna. They couldn't BUY this kind of advertising if they tried. Rice is full of innovators... where are they now? Are they still clinging to their 8-tracks and preaching the "evils" of digital? There's a reason Blip.FM, Pandora, Podcasting, Last.FM among others are being so successful. Supply and demand! Come on KTRU! Adapt... evolve!

@Heidi B. Rice WASN'T in open dialogue with the students. That's why they're pissed. Administration kept them in the dark, didn't even tell the KTRU staff. The public speeches now are trying to save face.

@Chris- Shit. Sorry that wasn't obvious to you as a typo.

Just for the sake of argument, classes at Rice don't start until Monday - most students can't be on campus until this Saturday. Hopefully there will be more of an uproar next week when more innovators can be there.

It's great to see such careful reporting on this issue. As both a UH and Rice alum, I am disappointed by both my alma matters - Rice for trying to hide this from their students, and UH for playing along with such a clearly shady agenda. Whatever happened to the academic ideals of openness and honesty?

I am appalled by how little the Rice Administration thinks of its students, alumni, and community that supports the institution. I am also upset that the University of Houston allowed itself to be duped by Rice into this mess. I am a UH alum. I am proud of my time at UH. I would go there again; it is a great institution. BUT! I don't want UH's image forever tarnished by this mess. UH, to rehabilitate itself now, in my eyes, should cancel the deal with Rice. It is all very appalling indeed. KTRU is a fine student run radio station and it should remain on the public airwavies. I wonder whatever other rules Rice has violated, such as FCC rules and regulations, for instance? I hope the FCC and the Texas Attorney General fully investigate this fiasco.

@Digi Guy - As a supporter of evolution in the music industry, I see KTRU and Last.FM/Pandora as polar opposites. Last.FM/Pandora guide you to new music, yes, but based on *your* listening history, likes/dislikes, and the same for other people who have similar likes/dislikes. The point of KTRU is that it introduces you to completely new, unrelated music. The other important point is that KTRU-FM is an FM broadcast (they actually already livestream as it is). That makes it accessible to everyone who has a car built since 1940s or any home radio. Yes, people could go out, find KTRU Blip.FM DJs or podcasts, download them, put them on their iPod, plug it into their car (some cars are surprisingly difficult to do this in, requiring paying even more money for small transmitters), and then get going. Or, as it stands now, they can hit the "scan" button. It's a matter of accessibility, and while I think podcasts would be a great thing for them to add (assuming licensing doesn't cause problems...), the accessibility factor just isn't comparable.

This is part of a nationwide strategy to destroy independent media. KTRU was a reflection of the interested motivated Rice student community. That is pretty local and pretty grassroots. KUHF and NPR are pretty corporate. They are governed by wealthy connected boardmembers with their own agendas. KUHF is almost commercial. I think this is bad for Houston and bad for democracy. There is almost no independent grass roots media left. There is KPFT and KTSU, but Rice made a rich and interesting contribution to Houston. Commercial Radio literally makes me nauseous. I spend all my time at the far left on the FM dial. I generally like KUHF but not at the expense of losing KTRU. I hope this gets reversed.

This type of behavior is typical of UH Board of Regents. When they hired Dr. Renu Khator, they announced her candidature for public comments to follow State laws in form but not in intent. In fact, she was the "SOLE finalist" and, as a result, faculty, staff, students and public at large had no say in her selection.

To add insult to injury, they went on immediately to change UH nepotism rules which prevented the hiring of the spouse of the president. After this change, the spouse of the president has been hired even though he did not have sufficient qualifications to hold the position of professor at UH.

It did not stop there! The next thing was the appointment of the spouse, not just as a faculty member, but as ASSOCIATE DEAN at a salary and compensation way out of line.

The current rules of nepotism reads:

"Relatives of other System employees shall not be employed by the System in positions where the employee has the official authority to hire or recommend or approve the hiring, salary or promotions of the relative. Relatives shall not be employed in the supervisory-subordinate relationship even if it results from marriage after the employment relationship was formed. The supervisor-subordinate relationship shall be interpreted to include all levels of line administrative supervisors, from the lowest to the highest, not just the immediate supervisor."

As associate dean, the spouse is in the administrative chain...

There is a high level of unease with this appointment. The impression around campus is that the spouse is constantly using his wife's authority for personal gain.