Regarding The Daily Free Press article and editorial concerning the charges imposed on our radio station by the RIAA (“WTBU to pay royalties to RIAA,” Oct. 16, pg. 1; “,” WTBU’s unpleasant choice,” Oct. 16, pg. 10):

Let me get this straight: we have agreed to pay a fee of $.0002 per song heard online, starting from Halloween 1999, right? Back charges to date rack up to about $2,200, and each year after we will have to pay a fee of at least $500. And this is supposed to break the back of our beloved radio station? Are you serious? I understand that the station is not designed to turn a profit and probably does not have much of a bank account right now, but seriously. If our university is going to let its own student run radio station crumble over chump change like this, then we really do have some serious problems.

I spend more than $500 a year on my cell phone — imagine how little this money means to BU. I bet we could scrounge the dough up just digging through some administrator’s couch cushions. If WTBU is really in any sort of jeopardy, it is going to be because our university does not care or want it to exist. And that, I think, is a much bigger problem than some $500 fee.