More than 100 people attended a meeting of KUAC's Community Task Force last Wednesday to voice their opinions about the station, including the controversial program changes that were enacted in the summer.

The forum was held in the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly chambers, which were filled to capacity.

KUAC fell short of its initial goals in its annual fund drive, and has been heavily criticized in the letters section of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, but the station has maintained that it had received calls of support from listeners as well. Those listeners did not appear on Wednesday, however, and the station came under heavy criticism. Of the 73 who spoke to the Task Force, all were critical of the program changes and of the management of the station in general. The most commonly expressed comments included requests that the news program "CounterSpin" be replaced and that members of KUAC's proposed Community Advisory Board be democratically elected rather than appointed by the station.

Many speakers called for UAF to take a more active involvement in the station. Birch Pavelsky said that most stations have an elected board that hears issues and provides oversight but that at KUAC the charter is held by the Board of Regents, who have been reluctant to intervene.

Abel Bult-Ito, an associate professor of wildlife biology at UAF, also called for university guidance. "Withholding public information and employing secret committees is not what this university stands for," Bult-Ito said. "Inaction by the chancellor condones this activity."

Dan Hawkins elicited a burst of applause from the room with his call for a return of local programs like UAF Professor Walter Benesch's philosophy segment, which he called "a local gem." That statement was echoed by Don Pendergrast, who lamented the loss of the Alaskan program "Encounters," and called the reason for its removal a "mystery."

Several speakers mentioned the coverage of the invasion of Iraq, and the mainstream media's reluctance to investigate use of faulty and manufactured intelligence to convince Congress to authorize the war, a story that was covered vigorously by "CounterSpin." "The decision to go to war in Iraq could possibly be the biggest decision of our lifetimes," Ed Davis said.

Andy Keller said that the changes had detracted from the diversity of opinions on KUAC, and spoke of the diversity of foreign media in comparison with our own. Keller said that the lives and money lost in Iraq might have been saved if more Americans had been provided with in-depth analysis of the lead-up to the war.

Pam Bradley was one of many who expressed a dislike for the program "MarketPlace," which runs every weekday and has replaced many of the removed programs. Bradley, who holds an accounting degree, said that she enjoys business news, but gets no useful information from "MarketPlace." "It's boring," Bradley said, of KUAC's programming lineup. "In 31 years it's never been boring, and it's boring."

Lynn DiFilippo said that "MarketPlace" doesn't meet the standard of quality she' s come to expect from KUAC. She said that she once heard the program from the next room and thought that she'd left the television on.

Kathy Dietrich said that the KUAC slogan, which says that the station tells stories that would otherwise go untold, is "like slap in the face" every time she hears it. "They need to change it," she said.

Dietrich took issue with calls by the station to be supportive of the station despite disagreements. "The only people who get my unconditional support are my kids," she said.

Heather Koponen said that she felt the programming changes were designed to bring money to the station, and that the station's hunt for money had trumped the interests of the community and of journalistic independence.

The forum was almost certainly a disappointment for station manager Greg Petrowich, who could not be reached for this article.

The tone of the speakers was generally calm and conversational, but several speakers expressed anger and indignity at KUAC management's actions. One speaker, who was visibly angry, lambasted Petrowich's leadership of the station. "He needs to be gone," said the man, who failed to identify himself. "The vocal minority is that guy."

Petrowich had called those opposed to the changes "a vocal minority."

Dan O'Neill, who sits on the taskforce as well as on the steering committee of the KUAC Listeners Alliance, said that the station management was trying to downplay the significance of the forum by saying that the people who came were encouraged to do so by the Listeners Alliance. O'Neill said that many of the speakers were not from the Listeners Alliance, but in fact represented the broad concern of the community. O'Neill said that the question could be easily resolved with a poll, but that the station has resisted the idea.

O'Neill agreed with those who sought more university oversight. "Where is Jake Poole, where is Steve Jones?" he asked.

O'Neill, who is a journalist, said that he understands concerns about UAF interference with KUAC programming decisions."It wouldn't be appropriate for the Board of Regents to say what should and shouldn't be broadcast on the station," he said. "But it is their job to ensure public confidence in the management of the station."

KUAC has announced that a recording of Wednesday's forum will be available for listeners on their website, kuac.org.