Archive for category Branding Iron 1997
New radio deal good for UW
Posted by Adam in Branding Iron 1997, Newspaper Columns on November 18, 1997
By Adam Lederer
BI Columnist
Intercollegiate athletics are driven by money. No doubt about it, UW athletics director Lee Moon has been extremely aggressive in repositioning Cowboy athletics within Wyoming in order to increase revenues.
Take for example the new radio contract Moon has set up.
In the recent past the radio contract was held by Casper’s KTWO radio. The same contract also gave control of television broadcasts to the radio network.
Starting next year, the contract, without provisions for television, will be held by Cheyenne’s KFBC-AM. However, the station will not have the same power that KTWO radio had.
Moon has shifted control of the “major decisions” to the university.
In other words, the university will select the radio announcers, not the radio station. UW will also sell network advertising and produce the broadcasts.
Currently the network has 25 affiliates and Director of Sports Information Kevin McKinney does not expect to lose any with the transition next year.
McKinney told me that radio broadcasts of Cowboy athletics makes money, unlike television broadcasts.
Consequently, the television contract has been separated from the radio contract and will be going up for bid this spring.
McKinney said television broadcasts cost at least $12,000 to produce, and lose several thousand dollars each time.
However, the picture does not look bright for getting much on the air. Wyoming has only two in-state television bidders: Casper’s KTWO and the combination of Cheyenne’s and Casper’s CBS affiliates, KGWN and KGWC.
Neither potential bidder has the capability to produce the television broadcasts in-house and would be forced to hire an outside “truck” capable of putting together the broadcasts.
There is one other possible bidder: FOX Sports Rocky Mountain, the cable television network.
FOX Sports would be an ideal bidder, McKinney admitted. They have the necessary equipment to produce the broadcasts on their own and would be able to do everything while leaving only a check in Wyoming’s hands.
Any way you slice it, television broadcasts are going to be a trick for Moon to perfect. If he goes with the Wyoming television stations, UW will have to help the stations with equipment rental. But if he goes with FOX Sports, he’ll have to deal with the fact that FOX Sports does not reach nearly as many homes in the state.
In any case, Moon does have a winner with the new coaches’ shows on KTWO this year.
Produced in-house with an extremely low budget, the shows are breaking even.
The Larry Shyatt Show is at 10:30 p.m. Sundays and follows the Dana Dimel Show format.
I have to give kudos to athletics — the show is extremely well done.
–part edited out here–
Adam Lederer is a graduate student in political science minoring in environment and natural resources. He earned his bachelor’s from UW in 1996.
Time to take a stand on nudity
Posted by Adam in Branding Iron 1997, Newspaper Columns on November 14, 1997
By Adam Lederer
BI Columnist
It’s time to put a stop to all “vacation sneaks.”
The vacation sneak is a tool often used by authorities to pass legislation or change the rules while the affected constituencies are not in town.
In other words, the Laramie City Council could pass the nudity ordinance in late December or early January while students are conveniently out of town on vacation.
This is not the only time the vacation sneak has been used to change the rules around this town; but is the most current possible exercise of this tool.
The last major use of this tool came during the summer when College of Business Dean Forester decided to stop students from cutting through the business parking lot by building a fence.
If he had proposed the fence during the school year, there would have been such an uproar that any physical plant employee approaching the area with a shovel would have been shoved away by a large body of angry students.
Summer has traditionally been the time to put new and improved stupid policies in place.
It’s even happened to faculty members on occasion. They go out of town for the summer to do research and relax, only to return and discover that they too have been victims of the surprise vacation sneak.
However, the winter vacation is not used nearly as often, although it appears to be looming here in Laramie.
When city council sits down at its next meeting on Tuesday, it will decide the date for the public hearing over the nudity ordinance.
If the council picks a date after the first of January, beware, a vacation sneak may be occurring. The council members who vote for that date are only trying to ignore the students.
If it chooses a date before Thanksgiving, the council will be leaving the process open for many who would otherwise be excluded.
Additionally, ASUW needs to get involved in stopping vacation sneaks.
ASUW has not yet said a word about the nudity ordinance. The senate sits around its table on Tuesday nights deciding whether or not the Campus Toe Fungus club should get funding to attend a conference in Hawai’i.
What would be really inspiring is if ASUW got off its rocker and canceled one of its pointless meetings and went down to meet Laramie’s City Council.
In this town, the city council plays a far larger role in affecting the lives of students than ASUW could ever hope to play.
Additionally, ASUW should appoint an effective speaker to represent ASUW members’ opinions at Laramie City Council each meeting, whether school is in session or not. That would be an effective use of some student dollars.
It should be noted, vacation sneaks will always occur, even with the most effective student voices possible.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to minimize the effects.
Adam Lederer is a graduate student in political science minoring in environment and natural resources. He earned his bachelor’s from UW in 1996.
A Collection of UW Problems
Posted by Adam in Branding Iron 1997, Newspaper Columns on October 23, 1997
Note: I don’t have a publication date for this column, but from the context it’s in late October or early November 1997, Published in the UW Branding Iron.
By Adam Lederer
BI Columnist
Like every semester, there are many stupid things about UW that could use some improvement.
Perhaps the one that stands out the most in my mind in my mind is the sound system in the Arena-Auditorium (for the uninitiated, the basketball arena).
I’ve been in the A-A twice this semester and both times I have been unable to understand a word uttered by those speaking.
The first occasion was for President Philip Dubois’ installation ceremony held Oct. 4 prior to the Montana football game.
The ceremony was not memorable since I could only hear a few phrases here and there throughout the speech.
Even worse was Gov. Jim Geringer’s welcoming talk. From my seat, Geringer’s talk sounded like a subway car coming into a station, but lasted 10 times as long.
I also suffered through another poor sound experience in the A-A during Midnight Madness Oct. 17.
It was fascinating watching the ‘Pokes take the floor for their first practice. Whether it was the excitement of watching sophomore guard Andy Young or Wyoming hometown hero Gregg Sawyer, it was fun.
But, again, I couldn’t hear more than a few words at a time over the sound system. The only thing I could hear clearly was Denny Dent’s awesome painting performance.
Perhaps it had something to do with the fact they brought in a separate sound system for him.
We need an upgrade for the A-A’s sound system – preferably before the basketball season gets started Nov. 16.
Another really stupid thing about campus is the new and nearly impossible to use top web page.
In this wired world, the home page for any university is an important front door for many prospective students and other visitors.
The folks in charge of the page need to think about ease of use, not try to incorporate every neat new technological twist that is developed for the web.
Frames are one of those neat technological twists that some twisted person developed for the web. It also is one of the big problems with the new top web page.
In the right hand frame, there’s a collection of blocks that link to different parts of the university.
Too bad they don’t always link to what you expect. The image of a UW wrestler links to a collection of “UW Sports Action Shots,” not to Athletics, as I first guessed.
To add insult to injury, the collection of pictures doesn’t even have a link to the athletics department.
That’s not the only example of poor web page design.
If you actually want to connect to athletics (or research, a key component of the university), you have to go to the left hand frame and search down a long list of what appear to be randomly sorted links.
That’s almost enough to turn any cybervisitor away from the university.
Maybe it has.
Adam Lederer is a graduate student in political science minoring in environment and natural resources. He earned his bachelor’s from UW in 1996.
Grading UW’s athletic staff
Posted by Adam in Branding Iron 1997, Newspaper Columns on October 5, 1997
By Adam Lederer
BI Columnist
I have to admit, when it comes to intercollegiate athletics, I’m not even close to being the world’s biggest expert.
But I have to speak my mind about the current state of athletics here at UW.
While I could spend time telling you who I thought should have been named director of intercollegiate athletics, it would be pointless. Lee Moon is our Athletic Director and we have to deal with reality.
After 14 months, it’s not too late for a preliminary evaluation of Moon’s accomplishments both on and off the field.
Moon has done an incredible job at a time of tremendous change at UW both in athletics and the rest of campus. I’ll give him an A-.
Moon has been incredibly aggressive both on and off the field.
On the field, Moon took the football team to the first Eddie Robinson Football Classic against Ohio State, a game that proved to be a big pay off both in terms of finances and respect.
Off the field Moon brought Bull Riders Only to campus — helping to create excitement around the football team.
About his only misstep came in tangoing with the fraternities here on campus — he, and the administration, caved and moved homecoming to Nov. 1 against San Diego State instead of having homecoming in September.
I’m not sure what point the frats were trying to make, but the risk of a cold and snowy homecoming is a lot higher in November than in September. By caving, Moon and Co. have risked alienating a group of people important to athletics — the alumni.
But it’s also time to evaluate some of the coaches Moon has hired.
After a shaky start, football coach Dana Dimel has shown tremendous personal growth both on and off the field.
Dimel, for being a first-year coach who initially showed a bit of temper, has managed to pull together a team garnering national respect. I can honestly say that I’m proud of my football team and its showing against Ohio State University, as well as our other foes.
About my only objection comes from his interviews on television and radio. I watched the Dana Dimel show on K2 Television Sunday evening and got nothing out of it.
His comments basically fall into two different categories. The first category suggests that “we have to win home games because we spend half of the time at home.” His second category of quotes can be summarized: “Road games are important because we play seven of them.”
Maybe he’s already media savvy. If so, I feel sorry for my colleagues on the sports pages.
Overall grade: B+
Moon’s selection of Larry Shyatt to be head basketball coach was a great choice. Shyatt managed to get a respectable class of recruits with extremely short notice, demonstrating why Moon has such high confidence in the man.
Shyatt was a wee bit nervous stepping into the Bull Riders Only ring with a loose bull. Who can blame him?
He has been working wonders on other fronts, Shyatt and Co. have already made plans for Midnight Madness this fall after the Colorado State football game Oct. 18.
Last year, Midnight Madness never happened.
Shyatt earns an A for his early efforts.
Adam Lederer is a graduate student in political science minoring in environment and natural resources. He earned his bachelor’s from UW in 1996.
Libraries Share and Share Alike
Posted by Adam in Branding Iron 1997, Newspaper Columns on September 18, 1997
By Adam Lederer
BI Columnist
Like many people, I watched the flooding down in Ft. Collins with horror.
Cars floated down the street and a trailer home complex was totally obliterated. A total of five lives were lost in the murky waters that covered the city.
At the same time, water was doing a number on nearly 480,000 books located in the basement of Colorado State University’s library.
There are many lessons for UW to learn from the flooding. There are also questions students should be asking.
The most obvious question concerns our own libraries: Are we prepared to cope with any unexpected natural disaster?
The answer surprised me, yes.
Bruce Hooper, director of risk management, has said federal documents located in the basement of Coe Library are replaceable.
However, Hooper overlooked the existence of the microfiche, microfilms, and student theses and dissertations. Those include a priceless collection of Wyoming newspapers that I’ve used in much of my research.
I’d also like to see Hooper replace “Wildlife Review February 1938-October 1939,” one of those “replaceable” federal documents.
However, the picture is not complete until you consult with Library Director Keith Cottam. UW’s libraries have Wyoming’s library disaster recovery coordinator on staff, Cottam assured me.
The library has three underground facilities including: the basement of Coe Library, the Science Library, and storage space for the Geology Library.
Additionally, the library has dealt with floods in the recent past.
On July 28, 1994, the Science Library suffered from a flash flood on campus.
Water poured through the roof of the library on the east end, which damaged 1,270 books. Quick action by library staff and friends minimized the damage from inbound water.
The water got into the library roof, the plaza like area between the Biological and Physical Sciences buildings, while it was being reconstructed.
There were two other minor floods in the UW libraries that same year.
It is clear, however, that the libraries are well positioned and equipped to handle any floods, or other disasters, which threaten our stacks.
What is sad, however, is that some people on campus are opposed to UW libraries granting the same borrowing privileges to CSU faculty and students that UW faculty and students enjoy here.
Those opposed to sharing information must not understand the mission of universities or have never needed material that’s not located in our libraries.
I have spent many hours in CSU’s library and I can tell you the flood will hurt my research efforts. It stored much of the information I needed in its basement.
I can also tell you I’ve checked out books from its library and carry one of its library cards around with me.
More importantly, if I’ve ever needed a book that either UW or CSU does not have, I’ve relied on interlibrary loan to get me the books.
Libraries and universities are about sharing knowledge. UW’s libraries are doing the right thing by sharing our books. I am sure CSU would do the same if the situation was reversed.
Adam Lederer is a graduate student in political science minoring in environment and natural resources. He earned his bachelor’s from UW in 1996.