Eastern Door Volume 4 Number 35

Volume 4 Number 35

October 6, 1995

K-103: On the Road to Recovery
By: Kenneth Deer

How do you take a community radio station that is tens of thousands of dollars in debt and turn it into a viable operation? This inevitable task belongs to Heather Bauersfeld, the new Station Manager at K-103.

First appointed temporarily by the Kahnawake Economic Development Authority (KEDA), who own the station, on July 24, Bauersfeld assumed her roll on a permanent basis effective Monday, September 25. She works under the supervision of the K-103 Board of Directors. Her mission is to give the station one last chance to get itself out of the hole or close its doors.

"The first thing we had to do was bring the finances under control and then improve programming," said Bauersfeld. She said everything is going to change except the music. Policies, operations and procedures will be improved.

The position of Assistant Program Director has been eliminated and responsibilities divided among the staff. 'Dr.' David Bush will still have his on air programs and the bookkeeper will also have to assume the duties of the receptionist.

KEDA had hired consultants from Telemedia, a company which owns 26 radio stations. On August 10, the president of the company and a station manager from a station in Ontario came to see first hand the operations of K-103. Among their recommendations was to replace some of the old equipment, improve its procedures and reduce the size of its administration. They also recommended to add another bingo date and to keep Bauersfeld as Station Manager. A new bingo date is not being contemplated but the recommendation to keep Bauersfeld was accepted.

The other source of suggestions to improve the radio station came from the community survey carried out by KEDA last winter. Preliminary results indicated that the most popular shows were the Upanatom Show, the noon talk program Partyline, Friday Night Bingo and Country Weekend. Bauersfeld feels the community is giving the radio station a message and the station should listen. In order to reflect the community's wishes in this survey, Bauersfeld has rehired Joe Delaronde as Program Manager effective Tuesday October 10.

"Joe was very highly rated in the survey and we can't ignore that," said Bauersfeld. Will Joe be back on the air? "Wait until next week for that answer," responded Bauersfeld.

Improvements in equipment will be difficult during a time of severs fiscal restraint, however Bauersfeld hopes that the station will be able to obtain a new transmitter to increase its output from 50 to 250 watts.

The size of K-103's deficit is so large and its revenues limited, that it will take at least two years to become financially soluble.

"We have to stop spending more than we bring in. Over the last two years bingo revenue has been steady and advertising revenue has gone up but our expenses outstripped our income," stated Bauersfeld.

"The goal of K-103 is to regain the trust and confidence of the community and by doing that we will get our listeners back," said Bauersfeld.

RETURN

Live on Stage Uncensored
Promoting Sexual awareness to Kahnawakero:non
By: E.J. Diabo

Everything you ever wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask are the words that come to mind after taking in a performance of Kevin Saylor's "Kahnawake Players" presenting Tom Slater's "Live on Stage Uncensored".

Produced by Mark J. Horne of Shakotiiataken'has Community Services and part of Safer Sex Awareness Week, the play aims to educate the youth and adults alike of the huge responsibilities, both emotionally and physically, when one becomes sexually active. Made up mainly of senior members of the drama club, the cast included Tracey Deer, veteran Wenetiio Diabo, ringer Mark Hauser, the experienced Glenna Jacobs, musician/actor Thomas Jocks, the multi-talented Jamie Rice, and Trisha Sky.

Dressed completely in black for the entire performance to remain non-descript, this small but talented cast of seven actors proceeded to tackle, quite capably, a play originally written with fifteen characters.

Geared mainly toward teens who are faced with the challenge of making difficult decisions regarding sexual activity for the first time, the characters in the play are placed in a variety of situations which are not uncommon in any adolescent's life.

The play does not sugar coat the realities that can result from a sexual relationship, such as sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy and emotional scarring. However, through communication and dialogue between friends, the characters recognize that they do not have to live up to a certain image for the sake of what their peers will think about them. The underlying message throughout the play is responsibility. Male or female, the individual has the power to decide what is best for them. It is made clear that abstinence is the only 100 per cent effective way to avoid disease or unwanted pregnancy. However, the reality is that many teens are sexually active and therefore must learn to take responsibility to talk with their partners about their feelings and discuss methods of contraception prior to engaging in sexual activity.

"Live on Stage Uncensored" had a four performance run at the Kahnawake United Church Hall from October 3-5, with three matinees presented for the student population of Kahnawake from grades five to eleven, and one evening performance for the general public. Following each performance, Director Kevin John Saylor and the cast gave a question and answer where students were given the opportunity to talk directly with the cast about what they had just seen.

Saylor said he was pleasantly surprised by the attention paid by the students during the performances but did notice one odd twist. "The grade five students asked a lot of questions while the survival students didn't want to talk about it", said Saylor referring to the question and answer periods.

Producer Mark J. Horne said the play was actually being considered for production last year but because of copyright and royalty laws, they were unable to pay for the rights in time to prepare for presentation during Safer Sex Awareness Week. Horne said the production of "Live on Stage Uncensored" was the highlight of the KSCS annual campaign and looks forward to another success next year.

RETURN

Information Task Force releases Draft law 14
By: Chuck Barnett

On October 6th, the Information Task Force on the Sale and Possession of Alcoholic Beverages will officially release their final recommendations which will create the first alcohol control law within Kahnawake Mohawk Territory. The groups made up of concerned community members, has been hearing input and recommendations on the sale of alcohol within Kahnawake.

On October 10th, the task force will officially request the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake to accept, in principal only, the proposed alcohol control law, in order that they might begin the process of establishing the draft as law. By accepting the draft on principal, the MCK. From October 11th to October 31st, the Information Task force will be seeking further input, and accepting final recommendations from the community, concerning what they would like to see added, or amended to the draft law. What this means is that the final form of the draft law depend on what else the community would like to see added to the document. In speaking with Mr. Donnie Martin on the matter, The Eastern Door was told that, rather than holding a single meeting on the matter to gather further response from the community, the Information Task Force requests that all concerned Kahnawakero:non please direct any suggestions or comments to the office of the Information Task Force on the Sale and Possession of Alcoholic Beverages.

On November 1st and 2nd, the Information task force will conduct workshops with the cooperation of the MCK to inform the council exactly what the community response was between October 11th to October 31st and to incorporate those responses into one final document.

On November 6th, the Information Task Force will then petition the MCK to ratify and enact the Alcohol Control Law on behalf of the people of Kahnawake. Mr. Martin reminds us that, if the community decides to support the principle of the draft law, then the Task Force will continue with the aforementioned petition. However, should the community over-whelming reject the draft document, then the Task Force will not pursue the issue to this level.

One recommendation in the draft, concerns the construction of framework, in which Kahnawake Alcohol Commission board will be established to regulate the sale and possession of alcohol in Kahnawake. This board will be made up of seven members, who will each be selected by the community in a formal election held before the community, to sit on the commission. However, one of the main conclusions drawn from the community consultation process up to this point has been that, no members of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake nor directors from Community Services will be eligible to sit on the board, as in order for the commission to be truly independent, it must be separate from these two local institutions of authority.

Additionally, the commission will be in developing the criteria by which an establishment may apply for an alcohol sales permit, as well as the issuing and the suspension of those permits, if need be.

Another area of involvement for the Information Task Force, will be in the secondary and tertiary (after care) education on the topic of alcohol abuse in Kahnawake.

Mr. Martin accredits the continuing success of the Task Force's progress in pursuing the draft law issue, to the fact that they have a "hands on" approach to consulting and respecting the wishes of the community. Mr. Martin goes further by citing the "bad track record" of the MCK in addressing the needs of the community, and is quick to point out that the Information Task Force are neither controlled, nor influenced in any way by the MCK in this matter.

The Information Task Force on the Sale and Possession of Alcoholic Beverages will be hearing further recommendations from the community from October 11th to the 31st.

RETURN

Editorial

The Sovereign Mohawk Coalition
By: Kenneth Deer

The Sovereign Mohawk Coalition has been active in speaking out against the policing agreement in Kahnawake. It has appointed speakers to address the press and it has sent out letters to the community expressing opposition to the policing agreement. Expressing a point of view over an issue is fine, however questions must be raised. Who is the Sovereign Mohawk Coalition? What is their mandate?

It makes sense that the organizers of the petition should select representatives to collect, explain, and present the petition to whomever they wish. Someone has to take certain initiatives to bring the petition to its intended target, in this case the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake. But now that the petition has been presented, is the mandate of the Coalition over?

The wording of the petition is quite clear in its opposition to the agreement. But nowhere does the petition mention the creation of the Sovereign Mohawk Coalition. It does not give a mandate, nor does the petition mention membership of any kind to a new organization. It seems that the Sovereign Mohawk Coalition has taken on a life of its own.

In its latest newsletter, titled 'Joe Norton's sell-out a violent act', the Coalition goes beyond just criticizing the policing agreement but makes a severe personal attack against Joe Norton. This is not unusual in a free society and this is not an attempt to defend Mr. Norton. What is at stake here is the credibility of the organization called the Sovereign Mohawk Coalition.

A spokesman for the Sovereign Mohawk Coalition has stated that the membership is composed of everyone who has signed the petition against the policing agreement. The people writing for the Coalition have assumed that everyone who signed the petition is in agreement with any form of attack on the policing agreement. The Coalition claims to speak for all 2000 names on the petition and is using them as their constituency or membership. There are many people who signed the petition and who not know that the Coalition is using their name in this way.

It appears that the Coalition has come to a contradiction with its own statements. In its criticism of the Mohawk Council as being undemocratic, the Coalition itself shows no democratic elements. While espousing traditional political postures and values, the Coalition has neither. The leaders of the coalition do not consult with the membership. They do not have a method of choosing leadership or have a structure of any kind. The signatories of the petition are being used by certain individuals as a power base and the signatories probably do not know it.

If the Sovereign Mohawk Coalition is serious about becoming a force in this community, it should stop assuming that it has unconditional support of everyone who signed the petition. It should begin to identify clearly its goals and objectives, its reason for being. It must identify who their membership is, or who they speak for.

Relying on names on a petition is not good enough. Abuse of the use of petitions will make our community members much more leery of putting their name on any future petition.

RETURN

Comics

RETURN