Former KBEACH Manager resigns after vote

I believe that there have been a few injustices made towards KBEACH that warrant attention. On April 28, three managing KBEACH staff members in addition to myself requested a meeting with the four student government executives, namely Toby Sexton, Sheryl Mauricio, Robert Garcia, and Rochelle Williams. Toby was the only executive that attended this meeting.

In this meeting we discussed the KBEACH proposal to separate from the A.S.I. We informed Toby of the benefits of this proposition for both the radio and for the A.S.I.  He confirmed that he would discuss the issue with Richard Haller and get back to us. The proposal has already been denied and we have yet to hear back from Toby.

In addition, I am deeply disturbed that the Board of Control decided to vote in Kane Diallo without the consent of the KBEACH radio staff. We had explicitly expressed how we wished to handle the situation. The Board of Control was told how the KBEACH staff was addressing the hiring of the new general manager, yet the board still decided to vote Kane into the position before our recommendation had been presented to them.

The radio staff has worked for the past two months to present a plan that would be beneficial to both the station and the A.S.I. In only one week, the student government dismissed a proposal that KBEACH staff feels is very important to them, without asking any of the students at the station their opinions on the matter.

A position as important as a general manager should be decided solely by the radio station to ensure an honest separation between media and government. It seems that our student government does not support this philosophy.

It is for these reasons that I am leaving KBEACH Radio and the Associated Students Inc. I will not be involved in any activities of KBEACH as long as the station is under the control of the A.S.I. I hope that our student government understands how their decisions will severely affect student, staff, and future alumni involvement with the station.

-- Mike Soultanian, former general manager, KBEACH radio