Students protest bus radio

• By MARSHA SILLS
• Advocate Acadiana bureau
• Published: Oct 30, 2008 - Page: 1BA - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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LAFAYETTE — The silencing of talk radio on University of Louisiana at Lafayette buses riled students into action Wednesday.

Students sat in the quadrangle and gathered student signatures for a petition against the administration’s decision last month that asked drivers to tune radio dials to music stations rather than talk radio programming.

The change stemmed from a complaint made by a student rider’s objection to comments aired on political conservative Rush Limbaugh’s talk show.

The complaint led the parking and transit department to ask students what they’d prefer to listen to and given the choice between talk shows or music, the students asked chose music.

The department’s reaction wasn’t rooted in any controversy, but rather to learn what students would prefer to listen to during their 8- to 10-minute ride to and from the main campus, said Edward Pratt, ULL vice president of student affairs.

“It was not a ban,” Pratt said. “It is a choice. Are you banning music to listen to talk radio?” 

While there’s no official policy, the request is being enforced on the buses, students said.

“The situation made me angry,” said Whitney Oliva, a nursing major who helped organize the petition and awareness campaign as part of a project for a sociology class.

“I don’t personally listen to Rush Limbaugh, but they’ve made this decision based on one person,” Oliva said. “We’re in college. We’re not supposed to close our minds here.”

The group appealed to students walking through the quad: “support your freedom of speech!”

Students staffing the table wore red T-shirts that read “Don’t turn down the volume on our rights.”

They hoped to collect at least 1,000 signatures. By early afternoon, they had collected about 450, Oliva said. The petitions will be turned into the administration.

“We don’t even know if it will make a change, but we hope it will,” Oliva said.