Westling tunes out

President Jon Westling denied a request to provide cable access and better television reception in all campus dorms. Union Residence Life Committee Chair Jaron Friedman wrote a letter to the president on behalf of the thousands of Boston University students who get three just television channels in their dorms — PAX, WB, and UPN. Whether students are entitled to quality reception and cable TV in their dorms is irrelevant. Westling’s reasoning for not providing this luxury to students undermined his entire argument.

First of all, in refusing to consider this proposal, Westling attacked broadcast news programming and alienated Boston University students majoring in television and broadcast journalism. In a letter to Friedman, Westling criticizes how some television news organizations covered the 2000 presidential election and singles out this lapse in ethical judgement to justify not equipping campus dorms with cable. He even went so far as to note the brevity of CBS News’ first report about the Florida ballot controversy.

If Westling has such a huge problem with the way that broadcast journalists report news events, then why does BU even have a broadcast journalism major?

Westling used poor judgement in attacking television news organizations rather than just stating the real reasons behind his decision. While cable television should not be made a bigger priority than more critical issues such as campus safety or the quality of professors, Westling could have provided a less superficial explanation. Simply stating that cable television is not a priority or saying that the cost of cable access is too great would have been sufficient.

On the other hand, Friedman should be commended for presenting this issue to the president. It is nice to see a representative who cares about student concerns and who is willing to fight for them.