Slashdot Mirror
Refugee Radio Station Blocked by Red Tape
Zathrus writes "According to a Wired story, a volunteer organized low power FM radio station is being blocked by local administration and red tape. They've already won the classically big battles -- securing FCC licenses, obtaining the broadcast equipment and radios, getting the manpower, and having some big name backing -- only to be blocked at the last minute by some lower level administrators who don't think information is a worthwhile resource." From the article: "According to KAMP, Royal claimed the Astrodome was not able to provide power to KAMP's low-power FM transmitter. When KAMP offered to bring in enough batteries to power the equipment off the Astrodome's grid, they were still denied. Obey, speaking to Wired News, explained that the JIC couldn't see a use for the radio station when they had the ability to communicate via the loudspeaker system and newsletters. "
I'm wondering whether this has something to do with the fact that loudspeaker announcements and newsletters can be controlled by the officials in charge of the Astrodome, wheras a volunteer-run radio station can't.
I understand the need for the Red Cross and other shelter organizers to promote a good atmosphere (well, as good as possible), but sheesh, I fail to see the harm done by a microtransmitter.
I am of the opinion that, overall, the American Red Cross is well organized and operated (I'm speaking with over six years of experience with EMS, SAR and Disaster Relief here). However, I have to sigh at the bureaucracy and lack of "out-of-the-box" thinking that sometimes crops up when I'm volunteering with them.
You know, it looks like the entire disaster operation is being run on the premise that it's very, very important that minor officials be allowed to be officious.
What I say does not represent the views of my employers, my friends, my cats, or myself.
it is really sad when people organize and work hard to help their fellow man, just to be stopped by bureaucracy. Obey should be helping the cause and not trying to put the kabosh on it. Maybe this why you don't see more people going out on a limb, because they think it will just get shot down?
I eat Karma for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That's why I don't have any.
C'mon these guys make NPR look like Fox News. How about a little balance?
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
This is absurd, what year is this again? Newsletters and loudspeakers to distribute safety information but no radio? Need to inform thousands of people of imminent danger, please wait while we print newsletters and distribute them one at a time to inform people of the matter. Failure to use technology to properly distribute information is one of the many reasons this disaster occured in the first place. Lets just repeat that mistake again.
The first priority of damage control for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is not to save lives. It's to mask blame. Not that there isn't blame to go around - but the talking points going around are built to make all blame seem equal. To make it seem like any one of the politicians involved in this disaster had the same ability to help save people, and Republican politicians who did not help did nothing wrong compared to everyone else.
Having a radio stations where people affected could speak their minds openly, or even potentially openly would hurt this damage control.
Ryan Fenton
Communists used to ban BBC in our country that way :) I guess the history is repeating itself in different context :)
sex is better than war!
volunteers say they plan to begin distributing them anyway in hopes they can set up some kind of station in the Astrodome parking lot, or else partner with KPFT to provide news for hurricane survivors.
That seems to be the right idea in this case- if you can't broadcast from inside the astrodome, then get the FCC to increase the power of your license and broadcast from *outside* the astrodome.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
They might question why their federal government failed them so badly in so many different ways.
Let's not forget the apalling incompetence of the state and local governments while we're at it. 500 busses, fueled and under water. No food or water stockpiled, no medical supplies, or doctors at the superdome. Way to go, Mr. Mayor.
I do hope that the people in the Astrodome are free to leave. They are in great danger of being turned into some bureaucrat's meal ticket for years to come.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Why do they have to be stationed in the Astrodome? I'm sure the authorities in charge don't want to be responsible for the cable runs out to their tower.
They can just put their equipment into a van and broadcast from the parking lot like regular pirate radio. They can still do interviews within the dome using portable radios and cell phones.
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
There's the basis of your racist bullshit from FEMA, right there. Someone got their whole family drowned, has been starved, dehydrated, literally dragged through shit, kept in a stable under the conditions of a hog farm feed-lot... Listening to Kurupt is gonna' put 'em over the edge.
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
If you lose control over information, you could lose control over the mass of people. I'm sure what they're worried about is the radio station broadcasting anything that's no in line with the message that the officials want heard. It's sad to imagine that our government has become more like China in this whole matter, caring more about saving face, and keeping the serfs in line than actually providing assistance.
AccountKiller
As someone directly involved with this effort (as a member of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service), I can assure my fellow slashdotters that this is simply not an issue, much less worthy of a slashdot story. Although this sounds like a great idea on the surface, I can understand where the JIC or for that matter the Incident Commander would chose to deny this request.
What is not apparent to anyone outside Reliant City (as the astrodomain is now being called) is that it is utter CHAOS in there. It's not that the guests are anything but orderly, that the volunteers are anything but helpful, or that the involved agencies dont care, but there just isnt time for the responsible parties to even think very hard about it. Keep in mind that this is a gargantuan effort on the part of almost everybody involved - every agency I've come in contact with has expressed amazement at the vastness of the task and the speed with which it is being accomplished. And by now they are all pretty much exhausted. Sunday there were 25,000 guests on the ground - today it's far less than half of that. Meeting immediate needs is pretty much all that they can do. I alone have worked over 40 hours on this event since last wednesday, in addition to my regular full-time job.
It would certainly be wonderful if the guests were being entertained, or even efficiently informed. And when I first heard about this effort I thought it was a great idea. But providing a communications channel without professional guidance as to content and application could just as easily cause more harm then good. After the event there will be a great deal of effort to review procedures and decide what went right and what went wrong, and I really hope that this specific option is included in future plans. I think it is awesome that the organizers of this effort did so much, this option has a great deal of potential. But please dont assume that some "lower-level official" just decided to be mean or felt power-hungry - it is just as likley that they thought it was a good idea, but just didnt have the time to give it a chance or make sure it was done right.
Wayne Barker AD8A
Amateur Radio Emergency Service
Emergency Coordinator, SouthWest Harris County, Houston, TX
Why does this statement make my blood run cold?
So FEMA was constructed and put in place using the Presidency, the Congress, and under the watchful eye of the Judiciary.
They will be the final arbiters of what can and cannot happen in the dome. If you do not like it, you need to elect representatives who can change the system.
A rag-tag group of washed up hippies cannot be alowed to over-ride federal control or military control.
I'm sorry, but this is the harsh reality of life.
Everything is not about your pleasure.
It is about a chain of command.
"They wanted unlimited access to the buildings, which we could not give to anyone in the media," said Gloria Roemer, a spokesperson for Harris County, which has jurisdiction over the Astrodome complex. Currently reporters are allowed in only on 15-minute guided tours.
Now this makes perfect sense... If you're a refugee forced to live in a room with 10,000 other people do you really want reporters taking pictures and invading what little privacy you have?
If there are important things to say that the refugees need to hear over the radio, why not get one of the dozens of existing radio stations in the area to broadcast it. If your message is really that crucial, it shouldn't be a problem finding someone to play it.
I think you're missing the point of a micro broadcast radio station. Is a local station that serves the needs of the entire Houston area going to broadcast a message like "lunch of the day for the astrodome is cheeseburgers" If you really think that, you're just naive. This isn't about broadcasting ultra-important messages to everyone, it's about keeping people informed about the resources available to them, giving them something to do, etc.
This is just a bunch of geeks that got told, "No, your idea won't actually help anyone", so they went and complained to
Very true, but that doesn't diminish the fact that it WILL help people. This isn't some wild crazy techno geek idea of giving out free Wi-Fi internet access to people that don't have laptops or computers in the first place. Radios are dirt cheap, and anyone that has a few dollars can buy a portable one. They're cheap enough that someone could buy a thousand of them and distribute them to everyone in the Astrodome.
AccountKiller
Now this makes perfect sense... If you're a refugee forced to live in a room with 10,000 other people do you really want reporters taking pictures and invading what little privacy you have?
Yes, so the world can know about the conditions you are living in, and can press the authorities about it.