HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CABLE-1990-10-01 COMMUNITY ACCESS ADVISORY BOARD (CAAB) MEETING
October 1 , 1990
Present : Mary Jo Dudley , Chair ; Frances McKenzie , Floyd Johnson,
John Efroymson , Louis Mezgar
Ex officio : Peter Hess , Lauren Stefanelli and
ACC general manager , Barbara L. Lukens
Mary Jo Dudley., Chair , called the meeting to order at 7 : 05 pm and
reported on the letters sent to legislators concerning access .
Peter Hess reported on the September Cable Commission meeting .
(Please see attached report . )
Barbara Lukens stated that the political endorsement issue (on
access Ch 13 ) is not clear as state officials expressed different
contradictory opinions .
Lauren Stefanelli reported on her visit to Syracuse Cable TV' s
Access facility and to Cortland High School ' s access .
Syracuse cable will accept tapes from Ithaca . There is an open
position on CAAB for a City of Ithaca resident which will be
publicized in the October 31st , 1990, newsletter .
Barbara Lukens reported on the meeting with BOCES , IC , TCPL on
the proposed combined educational and governmental channel .
There will be more interested parties invited to the upcoming
October 18th 3 pm meeting . The ACC survey on public access is
not yet complete .
John Efroymson — People ' s thinking about access is very limited.
They do not realize that bulletin board channel can be access .
Barbara Lukens — If there is enough programming for 9 access
channels that would be OK. ACC position is that all equipment
costs must come out of the 2% of total subscription revenues , and
this includes (head end) hub costs .
John Efroymson — The cable commission is to check the franchise
and ask for legal opinion on hub costs .
Barbara Lukens —By the end of November access equipment
expenditures will be authorized. The additional channel will
cost $9 , 000-13 ,000 depending on the specific configuration .
Mary Jo Dudley expressed serious concerns about the lack of
adequate production space .
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Lauren Stefanelli stated that large chunks of studio time are
being used up by Cornell students doing video art . At the
present there are no limitations on studio times , but other
facilities set a limit on studio use .
Floxd Johnson — The shape and size of the stuio limits creative
production .
Barbara Lukens — The lease for the other part of the building
where the studio is located will expire in 1993 and until then
not much can be done to expand the studio . The INET situation
will be referred to the cable commission , but INET is totally
separate from public access .
Marx Jo Dudlex expressed concern over the inadequate compensation
of access staff , which may cause the high turnover of personnel .
General discussion by all present started on the question of
excessive student use of the studio by college (Cornell )
students .
Next meeting is set for 7 pm November 5th at the Tompkins County
Public Library .
This meeting to deal with equipment , results of the October 18th
educational access meeting , and rules for studio use .
Last meeting of the year is set for December 3rd .
Meeting ended at 8 : 55 pm.
KI201,—"fr'
•-' Louis Mezgar
Recorder
To:CAAB
From: Pete Hess
Date: 10/1/90
Report of September Cable Commission meeting.
The Cable commission did indeed meet last month,in the persons of its three remaining members.
Mayor Nichols has the names of a number of potential candidates for the commission and we hope
to fill the two vacancies on the commission shortly.
Tom Terrizzi agreed to serve as chairperson of the commission until the end of the year and was
elected unanimously.
On the recommendation of the CAAB the chair was authorized to draft a letter in support of the
NFLCP suggestions for cable re-regulation to be addressed to congressional representatives.
We confirmed that I-net installation was complete. Barbara did not have the names of those she
had informed about it,but agreed to provide them. The commission will continue to pursue the
suggestions from our last meeting to promote use of the I-net.
Barbara Lukens said that the ACC position on campaign endorsements on access continues to be
that they are not permitted by the franchise. It was her understanding that the franchise was written
this way to comply with state policy or regulations. She indicated that ACC was willing to change
its policy based on a written statement from the state cable commission that endorsements are not in
violation of state requirements.
Tom Agreed to take on responsibility for getting a written opinion from the State Cable
Commission about campaign endorsements.