The following column appeared in the 4/7/92 issue of _The Tech_:

TV36: A Channel of Untapped Potential
Column by Matthew H. Hersch
Opinion Editor
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   With all the brilliance in the MIT community, you would think that even
a handful of talented individuals could put together a pretty decent campus
TV station.  So why does TV36 programming look like it was produced by two
morons who swiped a video camera and can think of nothing better to do with
it than take pictures of their feet and play with the white balance?

   Not that the station's participants are inept -- quite the opposite.
With its innovative, dizzying graphics and often capable, witty hosting, it
is surprising that MIT Cable shows aren't better than they are.  But maybe
because these individuals subscribe to crude ideas of video, or maybe
because they just don't care, shows like _The Jean and Pablo Show_ and the
now defunct _Pet or Meat_ excuse cluelessness as spontaneity and crudity as
humor.

   I appreciate the effort MIT Cable people are investing in the community,
and I realize that they receive little for their sacrifices.  But given the
capabilities of MIT students, why hasn't the community taken greater
advantage of the resources television could provide?

   Televising classroom lectures, especially the boring early morning
ones, would be a great idea.  Many a cold winter morning I have lurched
from my slumber, driven half-mad by the realization that I must walk to
class.  It's not like I really would miss anything by watching 18.02 or
6.0001 on TV -- even when I attended these classes in person I was a mere
spectator in the back of the room, often snoozing.  It seems as though
lectures are much like concerts and Wimbledon tennis -- watching the TV
coverage is more interesting that getting bad seats at the live
performance.  Unlike the French-Canadian music video feed that usually
fills the TV36 signal track, some of these classes might even be in
English.

   Maybe _The Tech_ could sponsor a short community news program.  Or how
about this: a Kresge channel that would televise all the random flamage in
Kresge Auditorium, like the conventions and symposiums that happen under
the collective noses of the students, often with no more explanation than
those plastic signs on sticks pointing everywhere?  Or how about a public
service program, that would expose in _60 Minutes_ fashion the dangers
lurking in the MIT community, like the Registrar's Office or the kitchen at
Networks?

   Departments could run "infomercials" to coax freshman into signing up
for certain majors.  Campus Activities could run entertaining announcements
for upcoming activities.  In the tradition of courtroom TV, how about
televising Committee on Discipline proceedings?  We could even be
open-minded and let Chuck Vest and some of his administration buddies say
something once in a while.

   We could use Cable TV36 as a forum for independent filmmakers in the
community, as well as give Media Lab hackers a chance to show their stuff.
Students in film classes would certainly appreciate broadcasts of the films
in the syllabi, something TV36 used to do.  For those impoverished students
(such as myself) who don't have VCR's, such a service would really ease the
task of writing papers, and might even help (gasp!) our education.

   MIT is badly in need of a TV station, and Cable TV36 seems desperately
in need of a mission.  The two were made for each other.

   TV36 honestly needs some work, and not just in improving its
signal-to-noise ratio.  I like my _Musique Plus_ as much as anyone, but the
MIT community can easily come up with more than an hour of original
programming each week.