HomeMy WebLinkAboutAOC Minutes 2008-01-011
Karen Billings
From:E Wayles Browne [ewb2@cornell.edu]
Sent:Friday, February 22, 2008 9:18 PM
To:Karen Billings; mjneff@cayuga-heights.ny.us; Cayuga Heights Clerk; Cayuga Heights Mayor;
Julie Holcomb; council@cityofithaca.org; Doheny, Thomas; Stefanelli, Lauren
Cc:Jennifer Dotson; Wies van Leuken; Wies van Leuken; Will Burbank; Trish O'Rourke; Wayles
Browne
Subject:Cable TV Access Oversight Committee, approved minutes of Jan. 15 '08 meeting;
please circulate as appropriate
Cable Access Oversight Committee minutes (draft, comments welcome)
The Committee (AOC) met at Ithaca Town Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008, at
5 pm.
Present: AOC members Will Burbank, Wayles Browne, Jennifer Dotson, Wies van Leuken; studio
manager Lauren Stefanelli.
0. Notes by W. Browne as AOC secretary.
1. Election of Officers. Will Burbank was re-elected as chair for one year; we agreed that
thereafter the chair should be a person from the City of Ithaca.
Jennifer Dotson was elected as vice-chair.
Wayles Browne was re-elected as secretary.
2. Schedule of meetings in 2008: the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Tentative
time: 4:30 pm.
3. The minutes of the Dec. 11, 2007 meeting were approved without change.
4. Reports by members.
W. van Leuken: The City Clerk was going to research city--cable co.
relations in other cities that have public/educational/government access
(PEG) studios; not final yet.
J. Dotson: Asst. City Attorney Patricia Dunn and I met with Ithaca Time Warner Cable (TWC)
manager Thomas Doheny and received some financial figures from him concerning the PEG
studio. We also discussed the size of the access fees that are paid by TV program
producers who use the studio yet are not from one of the municipalities (City of Ithaca,
Town of Ithaca, Village of Cayuga Heights) that support it; the benefits that public
access offers the community; the use of the studio manager's time, and the possibilities
for keeping the PEG studio open longer hours. T.
Doheny suggested we meet with studio manager Stefanelli directly and observe how she uses
her time.
Also discussed between Dunn and Doheny: the ca. $133,000 remaining from the pre-2003
franchise. City staff has several proposals for using part of these funds:
1) a point-to-point video system for Fire Department training, scrambled for
confidentiality; perhaps could be extended even beyond the city's i-net cable range, for
use in emergencies.
2) a studio at GIAC for TV-program production, or a library of portable equipment housed
at GIAC, so that GIAC could produce some shows of its own.
3) upgrading City Hall's connection to the i-net, so as to use the new fiber optic lines
rather than the old coax cable.
4) a DVR (digital video recorder) system for City Hall, to record meetings in digital form
for archiving.
Mayor Peterson, Dotson, Dunn, probably the Comptroller, and city IT person Duane Twardokus
will meet once again Jan. 18 with Ithaca TWC manager Doheny and Syracuse TWC division
manager Mary Cotter.
5. Burbank asks about grants of equipment to schools for TV production.
Stefanelli: We asked for requests from schools last year. At present no school seems to
have an urgent need. At many schools not much video work is being done at present, due to
retirements and less-experienced teachers coming in. We helped Cornell Cooperative
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Extension with equipment in 2007 (rather than waiting for 2008). I will now ask schools to
give us requests for the year 2009; we'll need replies by the March 2008 meeting.
Van Leuken suggests inviting school teachers to attend the March meeting; Stefanelli
agrees.
Burbank: can we encourage teachers in other ways too?
Stefanelli recalls that Ithaca College has supplied interns to help schools with video,
particularly to Boynton Middle School. There is a new video teacher at IC who may not be
familiar with previous practice; she will suggest this use of interns to him.
Jeff Spence, who taught English and video production at Ithaca High School, used to give
popular summer trainings for students and teachers; but he is now retired.
IC holds an "ed-tech" (educational technology) fair in mid-March and invites suppliers of
equipment and prospective employers; maybe we could be represented at the fair and hold a
meeting of Ithaca-area teachers to encourage their interest in video production.
6. Studio Manager's report: Stefanelli will send the text (attached below). In brief: the
call-in phone line and various other equipment including a linear editor have been
repaired; the new computers running Premiere editing software are now able to make DVDs as
they should. The producer whose "adult" programming required late-night studio hours is
now taking a hiatus from programming, so that the studio can now be open the same hours
every day from Monday through Thursday, 5:30 to 9:30.
7. Dotson asks about the possibility of using some of the "old" money for webcasting.
Stefanelli: Webcasting (storing programs so they are available on demand) requires a lot
of server space; this is not considered a capital investment.
Dotson distributed the figures provided by TWC on revenues.
8. Next meeting: Feb. 12, 4:30 (to be confirmed).
9. Adjourned about 6:30 pm.
Access Coordinator Report to AOC
January 2008
• Equipment
All production areas are in operation. Some very good progress has been made on equipment
problems noted last month:
Our call-in line has been replaced and is now back on line.
A Time Base Corrector has been repaired and reinstalled, bringing our second linear editor
back on line.
A computer engineer from Syracuse repaired a drive assignment problem that now enables DVD
recording on all 3 Premiere computers.
The 2 DVD recorders arrived and have been installed. It is now possible for studio
producers to record in the studio to DVD as well as DV, SVHS and VHS. The other DVD
recorder has been installed in a dub system that allows dubbing from DVD, SVHS or VHS, and
PEG channels to DVD, and DVD or PEG channels to SVHS/VHS.
• Facility:
A PEGASYS orientation is scheduled for January 23, a studio class for January 30th, and a
portable class is scheduled to start February 7.
Hours to the public this season are 5:30-9:30pm Monday – Thursday.
The 2008 PEGASYS Awards have been announced. Entry deadline is Jan. 25.
. A producer, Michael Angley, reported being attacked in our parking
lot on January 7th at about 9pm, after loading a camcorder into the back of his vehicle.
The police are investigating, and I have been warning all producers to take extra
precautions at night.
• Notable Public Access Productions
John Coleman videotaped the event celebrating the life of former mayor Ben Nichols.
Don Bazley produced musician Mary Lorson’s performance at the State Theater.
Jurden Alexander’s “Homemade Jams” features headliners for the upcoming “Light in Winter”
festival.
Enrique Caicedo produced a 3 hour program featuring an all-star local fundraiser.
New producer Natasha Tall, did a program of readings of her original stories.
Tony Ingraham produced a double edition of “Nature Nearby” featuring the history and
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cultural legacy of the brand new Tutelo Park in the Town of Ithaca.
Alison Rawlins produced a 30-minute documentary on recycling efforts in Ithaca.
Dan Burgevin produced “Rubba Wrongway” delivering a political weather report.
Barbara Smith and Ben Curtis produced 2 episodes of “Finger Lakes Forum”
featuring a “lost boy,” a former child soldier from the Sudan describing his experience.
Institutional Access
• School Board:
ICSD school board has purchased and installed a 4th camera, and bi-weekly meetings have
been cablecast regularly.
• City:
I met with Duane Twardokus [info. Tech] and Julie Holcomb [clerk] on 1/14 to help
brainstorm how the City could use PEG and INET resources more fully. Channel webcasting,
personnel training and emergency communications were priorities.
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Karen Billings
From:E Wayles Browne [ewb2@cornell.edu]
Sent:Sunday, April 06, 2008 9:15 PM
To:Karen Billings; mjneff@cayuga-heights.ny.us; Cayuga Heights Clerk; Cayuga Heights Mayor;
Julie Holcomb; council@cityofithaca.org; Doheny, Thomas; Stefanelli, Lauren
Cc:Jennifer Dotson; Wies van Leuken; Wies van Leuken; Will Burbank; Trish O'Rourke; Wayles
Browne
Subject:Cable TV Access Oversight Committee, approved minutes of Feb. 12 '08 meeting;
please circulate as appropriate (correct version of title)
Cable Access Oversight Committee minutes (as approved Mar. 11, 2008)
The Committee (AOC) met at the PEG Studio on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008, at 4:30 pm.
Present: AOC members Will Burbank, Wayles Browne, Jennifer Dotson, Wies van Leuken; studio
manager Lauren Stefanelli.
0. Notes by W. Browne as AOC secretary.
1. The minutes of the Jan. 15, 2008 meeting were approved with 1 change.
2. No comments from the public.
3. Reports by members:
W. Browne sent a letter to the editor of the Tompkins Weekly, describing public access and
the AOC's work. It was published in the Jan. 28 issue under the title "For More Local News
Watch Public Access TV." The editor did not react to a call to print PEG channel schedules
in his paper.
4. Update on Ithaca City Council (Common Council, CC). Jennifer Dotson will make a report
to the new CC committee tomorrow, the Community and Organizational Issues Committee
(chair: J. R. Clairborne). In her report she will refer to the ca. $133,000 remaining from
the previous Time Warner-City of Ithaca franchise. A group of City staff are working on a
"wish list" of items it could be used for. Duane Twardokus, the city's IT person, is
planning well for future goals and has a good understanding with Thomas Doheny, Time
Warner Cable's Ithaca manager. Items include:
- City Hall connection to new fiber-optic i-net.
- A digital video recorder (DVR) for digitally recording broadcasts of City Hall meetings.
It records in the same format that the PEG studio uses for broadcast, and gives a choice
of video qualities (higher quality = larger-sized file).
- Firefighter training over net.
- Capability to originate TV programs at City Hall and at GIAC.
Dotson will also report on the problem of PEG studio opening hours.
Van Leuken: on the last point, the public needs as many studio hours as the budget will
allow. On the old franchise money: it came from TV subscribers, so its use should benefit
them as much as possible. Could some be used for studio needs?
Dotson is interested in getting multi-use equipment as far as possible.
V. Leuken: There should be someone on City staff who can operate equipment. Could the
money be used to train 1 or 2 or 3 people to use it?
W. Browne: Does training count as a capital expenditure?
L. Stefanelli: Only when buying new equipment and training someone to use it. But the
videographers that the City hires now are not very costly per hour.
5. Studio Manager's report: L. Stefanelli has sent letters to schools, asking them to
submit requests for equipment to be put into the 2009 budget; she gave them a deadline of
the end of March. No replies yet. The Alternative Community School has taken over some
computers that were over
7 years old (and so could be written off) and has upgraded them. Other schools have some
TWC equipment that is very old and not worth taking back from them.
An advantage that schools have is that computers in school libraries can do editing (using
iMovie, for example). But human resources to help students with this are scarce in
schools.
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Stefanelli will send the text of her written report (attached below). She handed out TWC's
report on monthly capital fund collections covering Jan.
2004 to Dec. 2007.
Discussion of nationwide dangers to public access TV: there is a trend towards unfavorable
bills in many state legislatures. Rates would go up; funding for access centers would go
down because of franchises being statewide (rather than local). There is a possibility of
cable providers shifting access TV over to formats difficult for viewers to access.
In Ithaca, it should be possible to include PEG channels in the Preview Guide (on some
remotes: info button brings Preview Guide on the screen).
There is a company that compiles Preview Guide on a day-by-day basis, and puts in whatever
programming it is informed of.
8. Next meeting: Mar. 11, 2008, 4:30. AOC should get a report on TWC's capital purchases,
and should prepare a report to the city. We should discuss ways to get publicity for PEG
channels.
9. Adjourned about 6:05 pm.
Access Coordinator Report to AOC
February 2008
• Equipment
All production areas are in operation.
Producers are starting to learn to make DVDs from studio programs and for archive
purposes. One producer uses our laptop exclusively for his editing and DVD burning. This
is a model I am interested in seeing more people try.
Converting video material from various digital formats on the market is a continuing
challenge, as people bring in new media and seek to incorporate it into their shows. We’ve
wired Mark Finkelstein’s laptop and Mike Brutvan’s iPod through our control room so they
can play clips on their live studio shows. We’ve rearranged equipment to incorporate DVDs,
mini-DVD-camcorders, MPG files from the Internet or hard drive camcorders into our digital
editors. I expect the process will continue to challenge us, but we have had quite a bit
of success – and education – from these requests so far.
• Facility:
A PEGASYS orientation is scheduled for February 21 and a portable class is in progress.
Our January studio class had 5 students, and helped create programs for the Ithaca
Toastmasters and a local author.
33 programs were entered into the 2008 PEGASYS Awards. 3 judges worked for about 10 hours
this week to review the entries. The awards ceremony will be held on Friday, February 29,
with a reception at 7pm and a ceremony, cablecast live from our studio, starting at 8pm.
AOC members are cordially invited to attend.
We have been discussing liability issues in the facility, and considering ways of
communicating indemnification information for guests. A sign-in sheet and a posted notice
are being considered.
.
• Notable Public Access Productions
The Family Reading Partnership did a taping of its musical duo, “Simon and
Calfunkle,” better known as John Simon and Cal Walker.
The two reprised the songs from a recent CD they produced for local children.
Irene Stein called us the day of (!) a debate by the Democratic Committee [before
the primary]. A PEGASYS producer actually answered her call and volunteered to tape the
event for her, Cablecasting it numerous times in the weekend before the vote.
Institutional Access
• School Board:
ICSD school board has doubled the number of meetings they wish to cablecast. They wish to
record meetings weekly for the next couple months.
• TC3:
I met with Chrissy Guest, the new video instructor, who promised to resume submitting
programs from the college. Considering that a single series, High School Challenge, has
been the sole output of TC3’s video program for many years, I was excited to hear that she
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is also taping all sporting events, as well as news and cooking shows. 3 short subjects
produced by her students for Cooperative Extension are already running on channel 15.
Access Coordinator Report to AOC
February 2008
Addendum: Letter sent by email on
January 18, 2008
To:
Tompkins County
City of Ithaca
Ithaca City School District School Board Ithaca High School Lehman Alternative Community
School Cooperative Extension
Greetings, school and government access producers!
I am writing to try to renew contact with you all as we go into a new year. All of you
have produced programming for a PEG channel, and all of you have received long-term loans
of PEGASYS equipment to facilitate access program production. We do have an annual budget
for capital, and replacement and improvement of your equipment is possible through
PEGASYS, provided demonstrable programming goals are achieved.
Requests for additional equipment support can be submitted to me at any time, but I wanted
to share our purchasing planning timeline to help guide your submissions.
January through March 2008
• accepting written equipment requests for 2009. No specific form is
needed, just a specific written request that relates directly to the production of
programming for a PEG channel. Email submission is fine.
March through April 2008
• invitation to present your organization's needs to the Access
Oversight
Committee in person. AOC meetings are usually held on the second Tuesday of the month at
4:30pm. Please check with the chair, Will Burbank, about specific dates/times:
willburbank@twcny.rr.com. This step is not an absolute requirement, but particularly in
cases where program production has lapsed or has not started, acquainting the AOC [and me]
with your ideas will increase your chance of receiving funding.
April through May 2008
• I submit a budget for the next year to the AOC.
June 2008
• The AOC approves, with any additions or deletions it deems
necessary, a
2009 budget.
January 2009
• Funds approved in 2008 become available for spending. Actual
purchases
may be made at any time during the year, depending on need. Usually, March would be the
earliest equipment would arrive, given the various steps in the purchasing process.
In addition, I have attached a copy of the entry form for the 2008 PEGASYS Awards. I hope
you will consider entering something produced and cablecast by your institution in 2007.
The entry deadline is 1/25 and our awards ceremony will be on 2/29.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions ro need more information.
Cordially,
Lauren Stefanelli
Access Coordinator
PEGASYS TV Center
Time Warner Cable
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Ithaca, NY
PEGASYS TV Center
a service of Time Warner Cable
Channels: 13 (Public), 15 (Government) and 16 (Education) Hours of Operation:
M -Th: 5:30-9:30pm
Tel: 607-272-7272
Web: www.pegasysaccess.org
Tape drop-off outside PEGASYS hours
at Time Warner office, 519 W. State St.
Cable Access Oversight Committee minutes (as approved May 13, 2008))
The Committee (AOC) met at the PEG Studio on Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2008, at
4:30 pm.
Present: AOC members Will Burbank, Wayles Browne, Jennifer Dotson, Trish
O'Rourke, Wies van Leuken; studio manager Lauren Stefanelli.
0. Notes by W. Browne as AOC secretary.
1. The minutes of the Feb. 12, 2008 meeting were approved.
2. No comments from the public.
3. Studio Manager's report (written; attached below).
L. Stefanelli: Time Warner Cable (TWC) has its own generator, so the cable service was
not affected by the power outage in parts of Ithaca. But NEXUS doesn't restart until
someone comes and restarts it. TWC will call in an engineer if a number of viewers
(three?) phone 272-3456 to complain that a given channel is not working.
L. Stefanelli hopes to have a capital budget with prices of items ready for the April
meeting. Other items to rethink at that time: a request to upgrade the mobile studio -- a
new item for $5000 seemed good but has problems because it uses fragile mini-firewire
cable, so we may need to try to find a better solution.
4. Reports by members:
J. Dotson from City of Ithaca Common Council (CC):
1) T. O'Rourke and W. Burbank have been officially appointed as AOC members and
need to be sworn in.
2) The City hasn't yet met with TWC representatives as had been planned.
She talked with city IT person Duane Twardokus today.
The City will connect to the new fiber-optic i-net.
Intended uses of money from the "old" (pre-2003) franchise: to get video conference
equipment for City Hall and to outfit a studio for GIAC. Twardokus has one system that
can do both.
AOC will invite him to a meeting. He believes in solutions that help the most people for
the longest time.
The City hopes to meet with T. Doheny and M. Cotter from TWC in early April.
Dotson hasn't followed up on the question of PEG studio opening hours yet.
To a question by W. van Leuken about D. Twardokus's plans: yes, they would
include remote origination of programs.
L. Stefanelli: Some small cheap video cameras use .mp4 format for Internet usage. This
is not very good quality (not high resolution) for TV usage, but is usable for simple
programs. A camera holds about 2 hours of material, and can be plugged directly into a
computer for editing, or be combined with better-quality video.
5. Next meeting: Tuesday, April 15, at 4:30 at the PEG studio.
6. L. Stefanelli: still waiting for the invoices she needs in order to prepare the capital-
purchase report for the year 2007.
7. Members viewed short samples of programs entered in the PEG awards competition
and viewed at the awards ceremony Feb. 29. These were very varied and aroused much
interest.
8. Mike Levy of the Lehman Alternative Community School came in. He showed some
samples of work done by 6th, 7th, and 8th graders at the school:
"Exploring American Myths--the Myth of Paul Revere"
"Myth or Real" (the story about George Washington and the cherry tree)
Levy hopes to get individual cameras into children's hands, and external hard drives [?].
He will work with Studio Manager Stefanelli on a proposal for the present year's and next
year's budgets.
L. Stefanelli: Chris Sperry also has plans for a studio at LACS, but construction at the
building makes dates uncertain.
M. Levy also teaches music--another prospective source of content for broadcast.
L. Stefanelli: Schools used to publicize broadcasts within their own circle of interested
people. PEG could show schools' productions during the school day, for all students to
watch.
9. Meeting adjourned about 6 pm.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Access Coordinator Report to AOC
March 2008
- Equipment
All production areas are in operation.
We had a 2-hour power outage on 3/8 (from about 5 to 7 pm), which took out playback
for a short while. Although we have a fairly powerful surge suppressor, 2 hours was more
than it could outlast. Unfortunately, when our NEXUS digital controller loses power, it
does not automatically reboot. And because all playback from PEGASYS, on both
channels 13 and 16, is routed through it, loss of power to NEXUS kills all PEGASYS-
originated programming until NEXUS is manually rebooted. I reprogrammed delayed
starts for those programs that were affected. I am discussing ideas with our engineers
about heading off a problem like this in the future.
- Facility
A PEGASYS orientation is scheduled for March 20.
The 2008 PEGASYS Awards was held on Friday, February 29. About 3 dozen people
attended. Awards were given out in 12 categories. We will be sending the 4 best
programs on, at Time Warner's expense, to the national Hometown Awards competition.
We received a number of positive comments from people about both the event and the
telecast.
We are also planning to be a judging site for the Hometown Awards in April. The
Hometown Awards does its judging by sending entries all over the country to many
access centers, each of whom field one or 2 judging panels. I am still looking for
volunteer judges for this.
- Notable Public Access Productions
Starlight Presents did a particularly interesting episode in the aftermath of the recent
college shooting, about the stigma such events attach to mental health care recipients and
the dangers of sudden withdrawal from psychotropic medications.
Several producers have done programs in memorial to former Ithaca mayor Ben Nichols.
Institutional Access
- LACS
Mike Levy has responded with a request for equipment support. He will be attending this
meeting in person to present more information about his program. His request:
"Needs for the LACS video program include:
4 digital camcorders (three have broken beyond repair this one[year??],
and a fourth is malfunctioning)
1 external hard drive for backup of projects (preferably the LaCie Rugged
All-Terrain Hard Disk, which does not require external power)
6 sets of headphones (for use at computers during editing)
Other than that, my main needs are functioning computers, which I realize
is probably outside of the scope of your budget.
I want to state again that it is my intention to get a more regular stream
of content to you in the near future. In the fall, I tried to get students
to take ownership over this, but as a new faculty member, I had trouble
swaying enough students to make it a viable option. Thanks so much for
being patient as I work to re-energize the LACS video program."
Mike Levy, LACS
(Received Feb. 23, 2008)
- ICSD (Ithaca City School District)
Mike Pliss has inquired about capital equipment support to upgrade the
I-Net to the school district to fiber [-optic]. His request:
"Hello Lauren!
I trust you have been well :) As you can see below I am interested in
planning for the expense in 2008-09 for upgrading the school district's
video connection to the head-end. My budget projections are due very soon
of course!
If/when the I-net goes away the district will need to rapidly implement
another way to connect. Can you help me with this or point me in the
correct direction for the help I need? Thanks
-Mike"
Cable Access Oversight Committee minutes (as approved June 24, 2008)
The Committee (AOC) met at the PEG Studio on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, at
4:30 pm. (postponed from Apr. 15).
Present: AOC members Will Burbank (chair), Wayles Browne, Jennifer Dotson,
Trish O'Rourke, Wies van Leuken; studio manager Lauren Stefanelli.
0. Notes by W. Browne as AOC secretary.
1. The minutes of the Mar. 11, 2008 meeting were approved with small changes.
2. No comments from the public.
3. W. Burbank will e-mail Time Warner Cable manager Thomas Doheny to
request invoices for purchases made in the 2007 budget year.
4. Member reports.
Wies van Leuken:
a) President Skorton of Cornell University wants to get CU community
members' ideas out into the media. Let's suggest cable TV to him.
b) AOC needs to send an agenda to the Ithaca City Clerk before all
meetings. Van Leuken will distribute a generic agenda.
c) Secretary should send minutes also to Sarah Myers in the City Clerk's
office.
d) Secretary should attach documents such as decisions of municipalities
to minutes of relevant AOC meetings, for better record-keeping and
preservation.
e) In minutes: the Secretary should give titles to items as far as possible.
5. Discussion of budget for 2009.
W. Burbank: We need to put forward a budget proposal for 2009, so that the
three municipalities (City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, Village of Cayuga
Heights) can approve it at their June meetings.
L. Stefanelli: We haven't yet spent the $40K 2008 budget, but have talked
about some changes:
- The Ithaca City School District (ICSD) has bought its own microphones
and mixer, so we don't need to spend $14K on this.
- Cooperative Extension has bought 2 camcorders from the 2007 budget, so
we don't need to spend $2K for these.
- Chris Sperry of the Alternative Community School (LACS) already has some
salvaged equipment for a portable studio, though this is not much used. We
need not spend money for new equipment. It would be better to provide
equipment to video teacher Mike Levy at the same school (in 2008 or 2009),
while Chris's requests should wait till the LACS new building is ready.
The money for this in the 2008 budget was $3400.
- In the '08 budget we planned to get a portable production digital
field switcher. Explanation: in making field recordings with digital
camcorders, one gets better quality recordings by using digital cables
rather than analog cables. So producers asked for a digital switcher.
(Note that present camcorders can output in either digital or analog
format.) But the digital outputs on the camcorders, and cables
to handle them (= Firewire) have now begun to fail, apparently because
they are too fragile--failing even when one merely attaches a camera to
a home computer. In a digital field production setting, the cables will be
stressed and moved much more than they are when capturing from a camera
to a computer, and I am concerned that the camera Firewire connectors,
the Firewire cables and the production switcher Firewire connectors will
all be sources of failure and frustration for producers. Conclusion: a
digital switcher for field use may cause many more problems than create
improvements, and we should study this more before purchasing one.
Stefanelli suggests: drop the above listed items for 2008. Instead, grant
Mike Levy's requests for LACS in '08 or '09. This would encourage students
to sign up for his classes.
Van Leuken: Let's agree to Levy's request on condition that he broadcasts
it on a regular cycle--one or more programs per quarter, and that LACS
publicizes the programming that he puts on.
Stefanelli further suggests: for 2009 she'd like to replace camcorders
with a dockable type that would record on a hard drive. The card needed
for doing this now costs $1800, but it will probably come down and be
within our reach soon. The camcorder itself will be $4000-5000.
An additional proposal: the studio now has 2 sets of equipment for linear
editing, but we only need 1. (Linear editing = the opposite of nonlinear
editing / of computer editing / of Premiere editing.) On the other hand,
we need more studio time. Therefore we should have a "one-person" or
"express" studio built into Edit Suite 1, so a person could sit before a
wall-mounted camera and do his/her own show. This wouldn't cost much,
because we already have some cabling and equipment. However, it would
require taking the existing editing rack out, just to provide space.
AOC decides: - Stefanelli should cost-out the one-person studio.
- We agree to the proposal to replace the broken water cooler (ca. $750).
In the 2009 budget, we propose $5000 to refit the "express" studio and
$5000 for replacement of equipment.
Stefanelli is asked to write up a 2009 budget proposal totaling $20,000
and Email it to the AOC members so that it can be taken with the AOC
resolution to City, Town and Village bodies in time for
their June meetings.
Van Leuken will find the text of last year's Common Council resolution
and forward it to Jennifer Dotson as a model for this year's resolution for Common
Council.
Moved by van Leuken, seconded by Burbank:
*Resolution
**Approval of FY09 Budget *
*WHEREAS,* Section 15.12 of the Franchise Agreement between the City of
Ithaca and Time Warner Entertainment-Advance/Newhouse Partnership (TWC)
of January 2003 requires the participating municipalities (City of
Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, Village of Cayuga Heights) to provide TWC with
an annual budget for public, educational and governmental access
operations by June 30 of each calendar year; and
*WHEREAS,* the City of Ithaca's Ordinance #2003-17, Par 18-4-G, requires
the Access Oversight Committee (AOC) to provide the participating
municipalities with a recommended annual budget by May 31 of each
calendar year; now be it
*RESOLVED*, that the AOC accepted the attached capital budget for Fiscal
Year 2009 in the amount of $20,000 at their regular meeting of May 13,
2008; and
*BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED*, that the AOC forwards their recommendations
for approval by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca, the Supervisor
of the Town of Ithaca and the Mayor of Cayuga Heights so that they may
meet their obligation to provide TWC with an annual budget for public,
educational and governmental access operation, which budget is due June
30 of each calendar year.
Approved unanimously.
6. Next meeting: June 17, 4:30 in the PEG Studio.
7. Adjourned 6:00.
Access Coordinator Report to AOC
May 2008
• Facility:
A PEGASYS orientation is scheduled for May 15.
We will help judge the Hometown Awards. Judging will take place later this week.
.
• Notable Educational Access Productions
The ICSD School Board Candidates Debate will be cablecast starting this week
Both Cornell and IC will hold their commencement exercises live this month.
Cornell will also cablecast its convocation speech by Maya Angelou live.
Cornell has started a monthly series, “East Hill Notes,” to bring issues of interest to the
community.
LACS cablecast 2 new programs this month: its 5 hour “Mid-East Debates” and
the school’s “Spaghetti Dinner” performances.
ICTV did something they’ve never done before to wrap up their cablecasting year
– a full weekend 48 hour marathon of the best programming from 2007-08.
• Notable Public Access Productions
“Truth and Truthiness” is a new weekly left-wing political talk show commenting
on national news premiering this month.
A number of interesting events were covered this month by volunteer producers:
an environmental symposium held at the TC Library, a barrista competition held at the
state Theatre, and the ICSD School Board Candidates Debate held at the high school.
• Reports
Facility Usage Reports for 2007 are attached. They show marked reductions in
facility usage across the board. Compared to 2007, there is about a 10% drop in the
number of new programs produced [889 in 2007 vs. 985 in 2006]; about a 10% drop in
studio usage, about a 25% reduction in camcorder sign-outs. Editing usage dropped in
half in terms of number of uses but actually increased in terms of hours, due to the lap-
top computer being able to be taken home for several days at a time.
There are more positive notes to report as well. The report shows that all
programs have received significantly more replays than in the past, bringing the total
amount of hours cablecast on channel 13 up 10% compared to last year [3324 hrs in 2007
compared to 3100 hours in 2006]. Scheduling replays using mpg playback by the
NEXUS system is responsible for this. The majority of producers now have access to a
camcorder or computer editing, or both, at home, and use these to some extent for their
productions. Numerous producers also report putting clips from their programs regularly
on U-Tube or other web-based services. I think that it would be worthwhile at this point
to do a formal survey of producers to find out what production equipment they use and
what they would find helpful for us to provide.
• Capital
A capital budget proposal is attached.
Cable Access Oversight Committee minutes as approved Aug. 12, 2008
The Cable Access Oversight Committee (AOC) met at the PEG Studio on Tuesday, June
24, 2008, at 4:30 pm. (postponed from June 17).
Present: AOC members Will Burbank (chair), Wayles Browne, Jennifer Dotson, Wies
van Leuken; studio manager Lauren Stefanelli.
0. Notes by W. Browne as AOC secretary.
1. The minutes of the May 13, 2008 meeting were approved with small changes.
2. No comments from the public.
3. Member reports.
Wies van Leuken: We wish to encourage J. Dotson to continue meetings between the
City of Ithaca and Time Warner Cable.
W. Burbank: the 2009 PEG budget resolution has passed in the Town of Ithaca board.
Van Leuken: not yet passed in the Village of Cayuga Heights. A special meeting will be
held June 25 and the resolution will be on the agenda. She is frustrated with the slowness
of the AOC timeline this year. In general, AOC should start the budget process earlier in
the year: get TWC's recommended budget in April, and send it to the 3 bodies (City of
Ithaca Common Council, Town of Ithaca Board, Village of Cayuga Heights Board) in
May so that they can approve it in June.
Van Leuken asked for, and studio manager Stefanelli provided, an overview of previous
years' budgets and expenditures beginning with 2004 (which was the first full year under
the present franchise, adopted 2003).
Burbank: The Town financial officer wondered why the Town was spending money on
PEG, a service used only by a small number of town-dwellers. I explained it was money
from cable-TV ratepayers, not money from tax payments to the Town. We need to
"educate" new members of Town/City/Village bodies about the distinction.
Van Leuken will work on a spreadsheet of PEG's revenues.
Burbank provided a sheet of town revenues for this purpose.
Burbank: The Town's meetings are not presently being broadcast on the Government
channel.
L. Stefanelli has now received almost all invoices from TWC for purchases in 2007,
thanks to the letter from Burbank. They total $19,487.73 (plus about $300 when all come
in) which was spent in fall 2007. A final version will be forthcoming.
The Lansing Board of Education has purchased its own camera, and now brings in tapes
of their meetings for broadcast. Stefanelli has suggested that they add a title line "Lansing
Board of Education" on the screen throughout the broadcast. In fact the NEXUS
automatic playback system in the PEG studio allows overlays.
Stefanelli provided a report of user fees collected in the first half of 2008 (from users
outside the city/town/village): total $340. She will send an electronic version of the
report.
Van Leuken: Are these funds being used as per the previous AOC resolution (June
2006)? We should revisit the question, now that studio hours seemingly balance the
available money in TWC's view.
Agreed: we ask TWC manager Thomas Doheny how the user-fee money is being used.
We never got a formal response to our previous resolution on this topic. Van Leuken will
draft a letter of inquiry for Burbank's and Browne's review.
4. Studio manager's report: For the Ithaca Festival this June, her studio class all went to
the attempt to form the World's Largest Peace Sign, and shot pictures of it for PEG and
for You-Tube. She herself created a PSA (public-service announcement) for the Ithaca
Festival, and it went out on all Time Warner Cable channels, the first time this had been
done in some years. We can now have such "cross-channel" PSAs shown for local non-
profit organizations, and this can also be done with announcements for PEG itself.
Stefanelli can create PSAs on request, and also helps organizations do it. She recently
made one for the Ithaca Festival, has lent a hand to senior citizens, and is seeking help for
the History Center. Marjorie Olds is interested in hosting a show that would showcase
nonprofit organizations, and Stefanelli will help. This is good both for training the studio
production class and for the nonprofit organizations.
5. Members' reports continued.
J. Dotson: the 2009 Budget Resolution is still pending in the City of Ithaca. It will go to
the City Administration Committee tomorrow (June 25, 7 pm), and to Common Council
July 2. Council member Maria Coles is concerned about money from city TV subscribers
going for equipment for schools.
L. Stefanelli: We should note that the Ithaca City School District matches equipment
AOC provides with what it puts in from ICSD's own funds. [W. Browne and W. van
Leuken attended the June 25 meeting and spoke briefly, stressing that the franchise
agreement between the City and TWC explicitly provides for support of educational
programming including programs originating from schools. Mrs. Coles called for a vote
on supporting the resolution and it was unanimously in favor. At the July 2 meeting, the
City adopted the budget resolution by a vote of 7 to 1. Member Eric Rosario stated his
'no' vote was not because he opposed PEG but because he had not received an answer to a
question he had written to AOC, namely whether the prices in the budget were the result
of comparison shopping to get the lowest price.]
W. van Leuken: for the next AOC meeting we should consider how to publicize both
PEG and individual shows, and find out what producers need.
J. Dotson: there have been no recent meetings between the City and TWC.
6. Next meeting: Tuesday, Aug. 12, 4:30 in the PEG Studio.
7. Adjourned 5:45.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Contact information for AOC members:
Will Burbank, chair <willburbank@twcny.rr.com>
Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>
Jennifer Dotson, Common Council liaison <jdotson@cityofithaca.org>
Trish O'Rourke <trish@ithacalaw.com>
Wies van Leuken <pmv4@cornell.edu> and <WIESVL@cityofithaca.org>
Web site for the PEGASYS studio, with program schedules:
http://www.pegasysaccess.org/
studio location:
612 West Green Street
Ithaca, New York
mailing address:
519 West State Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
phone (607) 272-7272
fax (607) 277-5404
PEGASYS staff:
Lauren Stefanelli
lauren.stefanelli@twcable.com
Cable Access Oversight Committee minutes as approved Sept. 23, 2008
The Cable Access Oversight Committee (AOC) met at the PEG Studio on Tuesday, Aug.
12, 2008, at 4:30 pm.
Present: AOC members Will Burbank (chair), Wayles Browne, Jennifer Dotson, Trish
O'Rourke, Wies van Leuken; studio manager Lauren Stefanelli.
0. Notes by W. Browne as AOC secretary.
1. The minutes of the June 24, 2008 meeting were approved with some changes.
2. No comments from the public.
3. Member reports.
a) Procurement question. City of Ithaca Common Council member Eric Rosario had
expressed concern because AOC had not confirmed to him that procurement of capital
items for the PEG studio was done by asking for multiple bids.
Studio manager L. Stefanelli spoke to this question: I can't ask for parallel quotes; I look
at vendors' catalogs and propose items to be bought, and then Time Warner Cable's
Syracuse office buys the items by getting two or more quotes from vendors, often at a
lower price because prices for equipment steadily go down. We also save on shipping
because TWC manager Doheny or others can bring equipment with them from Syracuse
to Ithaca. I in fact responded to E. Rosario, but perhaps he found this answer insufficient.
Wies van Leuken: can we have a copy of the TWC procurement policy on paper, perhaps
a 1-page document, in case the question comes up again?
Stefanelli will ask for this.
b) Schedule of AOC actions. Van Leuken will e-mail the month-by-month schedule for
attachment to this meeting's minutes. We need to follow it more accurately in 2009.
c) On public comment period.
Van Leuken: do producers know about the opportunity for public comment at AOC
meetings?
Stefanelli: I can inform some producers by e-mail (they don't all use it), also post a notice
on the PEGASYS web site and on the bulletin board in the studio.
d) Fact Sheet. Van Leuken has drafted a list of definitions and acronyms and explanations
of streams of funding for PEG access, and will send it to members for comments.
4. Studio manager's (Access Coordinator's) report: submitted in writing, see below.
Discussion: Sept. 1-9 she will be on vacation, and the studio will be closed for equipment
upgrading. The upgrade affects channel 13. The government channel (15) and Ithaca
College programming on channel 16 will still be able to run Sept. 1-9. We can have a text
message on channel 13 in this interval to explain why there is no programming on it.
Dotson: can we place an announcement on PEG channels a week in advance, saying
channel 13 will be down? Stefanelli: yes.
The mention "Studio B" refers to the proposed small studio for one-person shows; about
half the time of the existing large studio is used for one-person shows, and so having such
a small studio available would free up a lot of time slots in the large studio.
A second vacation will be Nov. 26 to Dec. 11. To the question why programs intended
for broadcast during this period would have to be submitted at least three weeks in
advance, Stefanelli said: It takes ½ hour to turn a ½-hour show into .mpeg format for later
playback on NEXUS. If many producers were to submit shows immediately before the
beginning of the period, it would be physically impossible to prepare them for broadcast.
I will be willing to work with producers re this deadline. I can easily have NEXUS replay
shows from the previous week's schedule during the time I am away, and for some
producers this is satisfactory.
AOC expressed concern about the fact that NEXUS doesn't come back on after power
outages.
Stefanelli: TWC's engineer will try to get a better surge protector to avoid outages in
NEXUS functioning. NEXUS is the only part of the playback system that is vulnerable to
power outages, i.e. won't come back automatically after an outage but needs manual
restarting. There should be someone whose job it is to restart NEXUS. I'm working on
this with the engineer and hope to give AOC a written policy before November.
Van Leuken understood that 2 pieces of new equipment from the 2007 budget arrived in
nonfunctional condition, and TWC Syracuse didn't replace them immediately.
Stefanelli: One is being replaced in September. The other was a wrong connector on a
cable, and its replacement is in process.
Van Leuken: PEG needs visibility in the community. We should work on how to achieve
this.
Dotson: have a subcommittee including some producers to work on visibility?
Stefanelli: I have suggested to some producers that they find a way to publicize broadcast
schedules, for instance, someone could go to the monthly meeting between the Ithaca
Journal and its readers, and say we want the PEG schedule printed! But no one went.
Stefanelli: last month there was a meeting with the City of Ithaca: herself, City
Information Tech. manager Duane Twardokus, and two interns. The City has a fiber-
optic network from building to building. It would like to be able to originate TV
programming from any point and connect to the Government channel live. They tried to
demonstrate this. It should be workable and connectible to channel 13 too.
Cornell does this with a portable device called a V-brick. Cornell attaches one V-brick to
its fiber net, and another V-brick is at the PEG studio, which permits broadcasting live
from the Cornell event.
Twardokus is interested in "PEG 2.0", meaning using different modes of distribution to
suit different audiences' preferences: TV, Internet, mobile phones. In fact the present City
Hall studio can be used for multiple platforms. Stefanelli suggests talking to Ithaca
College, which is doing simultaneous webcasting of all their various broadcast series;
information and previous episodes are available on computer or handheld devices. She
also suggests that the City place DVDs of all its meetings in the County Library across
the street from City Hall.
Many present public-access devotees see the Internet as a threat to PEG services, but
really it's an extra platform to use.
5. Items for the next meeting's agenda: quarterly statement of franchise fees, maintenance
report.
Dotson will get reports from the city comptroller.
6. Next meeting: Tuesday, Sept. 23, 4:30 in the PEG Studio.
7. Adjourned 6:05.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Access Coordinator Report to AOC
August 2008
• Facility:
A PEGASYS picnic is scheduled for August 16.
PEGASYS will be closed for playback reconfiguration and upgrade Sept 1-9. Our
engineer also plans to run cabling from our old linear edit room to playback, so that we
can try out the idea of using the room for a studio B.
.
• Notable Educational Access Productions
Cornell is doing a monthly series entitled “East Hill Notes.” They are now
running on channel 16, and cross-promoted in articles in the Ithaca Journal and Cornell
Chronicle.
• Notable Public Access Productions
The July Grassroots Festival saw all 6 of our field cameras being used by 3
different groups of producers.
A new producer has completed a PSA for the History Center, which will start
running on 13 this month to promote their new exhibit.
• Repair
One camcorder is out with a damaged pinch roller.
Problems in our control room turned out to be fans for our special effects
generator and Inscriber computer, both of which [the fans] have been replaced.
• Outreach
Tours were done this month for 2 groups of special needs kids. Between them,
they completed 4 short programs.
I will meet with reps from Light in Winter this month to discuss ways in which
PEGASYS can help promote and cover events at this winter festival.
• Capital
An outstanding item from the 2007 capital budget, a Knox switcher which will tie our
VCRs into the NEXUS, was refitted with different cables and received. It will be
installed during our break at the start of September.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
(Pegasys) Access Oversight Committee (AOC) *
* Mandated by Franchise Agreement of January 2003, between City of Ithaca and Time Warner
Entertainment-Advance/Newhouse Partnership (TWC)
* Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca 11-5-03 by Ord. No. 2003-17
SCHEDULE
(8/08)
GENERAL
- Mail approved minutes of each meeting to City of Ithaca's Mayor, Common
Council and Clerk, Town of Ithaca's Clerk and Village of Cayuga Heights' Mayor
and Clerk at:
<council@cityofithaca.org>
Julie Holcomb <julieh@cityofithaca.org>
Sarah Myers <sarahm@cityofithaca.org>
"Cindie Day" <cday@cityofithaca.org>
"Ithaca Town Clerk Karen Billings" <KBillings@town.ithaca.ny.us>
"Cayuga Heights Clerk" <nmanning@cayuga-heights.ny.us>
"Cayuga Heights Deputy Clerk Mary Jane Neff" <mjneff@cayuga -heights.ny.us>
"Cayuga Heights Mayor Jim Gilmore" <jgilmore@cayuga-heights.ny.us>
- Post agenda on City's bulletin board by Emailing with 48 hours notice to:
julieh@cityofithaca.org
sarahm@cityofithaca.org
cday@cityofithaca.org
(respectively Julie Holcomb, Sarah Myers, and Cindie Day).
JANUARY
AOC
- Elections City's Ordinance 2003-17, Par 18-3-B
At First Meeting of the Year, elect Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and
Secretary
- Meeting time Par 18-3-B
At First Meeting of the Year adopt a meeting time.
BUDGET Franchise Agreement Sections 15.3-2 & 15.12
- Budget Line Item "Schools"
Draft notification to area schools re:
(1) Request for Proposals and
(2) Review of their use of equipment and program production
REPORTS
- TWC Quarterly Report Usage Fees Section 15.6-4; Par 18-4-D; AOC Resolution
6/13/06
Report with account ledger showing receipts & uses of Usages Fees through
December of previous year
FEBRUARY
BUDGET Sections 15.3-2 & 15.12
- Schools
Distribute Draft prepared in January to Schools and do PR w/TC Media
REPORTS
- Quarterly Franchise Fee Report from City, Town and Village Sections 15.7 &
15.8
Report on gross revenues collected during Fourth Quarter of previous year to
calculate .5% franchise fee earmarked for staff salaries
- Quarterly Subscriber Fee Report from TWC Sections 15.3-2
Receive Fourth Quarter Report from previous year that shows monthly receipts
of $.15 Subscriber "PEG" Fee to calculate actual revenues for Capital
Expenditures
("$ 0.15/subscriber/mo revenues")
- TWC's Maintenance and Repair Report Section 15.3-3
MARCH
BUDGET Sections 15.3-2 & 15.12
- Budget Line Item "Schools"
Review and award funding to schools; Forward decision to TWC staff to be
included in TWC's Budget Recommendations for next year to be made at April
Meeting
REPORTS
- Capital Purchase Report from TWC Sections 15.12; Par 18-4-E
TWC's Annual Report on the Previous Year's provision of equipment, facilities
and the funds provided by participating municipalities.
(See also "Capital Purchase Report" per Section 15.8 )
- AOC's Capital Purchase Report to City from TWC Par 18-4-E
AOC to provide City with report based on TWC's "Capital Purchase Report"
APRIL
BUDGET Sections 15.3-2 & 15.12
- TWC's recommendations for next year's Budget Section 15.12
REPORTS
- TWC Quarterly Report Usage Fees Section 15.6-4; Par 18-4-D; AOC Resolution
6/13/06
Report with account ledger showing receipts & uses of Usage Fees through
March of
current year
MAY
BUDGET Sections 15.3-2 & 15.12; Par 18-4-F & 18-4-G
- AOC drafts next year's Budget
- AOC forwards budget recommendations for equipment and facilities for
next year, by May 31, to Common Council of the City of Ithaca, the Supervisor
of the Town of Ithaca and the Mayor of Cayuga Heights to be put at their June
Agendas, to be in time for their budget submittals to TWC for PEG access
operations due June 30th
REPORTS
- Quarterly Franchise Fee Report from City, Town and Village Sections 15.8 &
15.7
Report on gross revenues collected during First Quarter of this year to calculate
.5% franchise fee earmarked for staff salaries
- Quarterly Subscriber Fee Report from TWC Sections 15.3-2
Receive First Quarter Report from this year that shows monthly receipts of $.15
Subscriber "PEG" Fee to calculate actual revenues for Capital Expenditures
- TWC's Maintenance and Repair Report Section 15.3-3
JUNE
BUDGET Sections 15.3-2 & 15.12
- Participating municipalities (City, Town & Village) to adopt resolutions on and
submit budget to TWC by 6/30.
OPERATIONS
- Review impact Business Hours Par 18-4-F
- Review impact Usage Fees Section 15.6-4; Par 18-4-F
JULY No meeting scheduled
TWC Quarterly Report Usage Fees Section 15.6-4; Par 18-4-D; AOC Resolution
6/13/06
Report with account ledger showing receipts & uses of Usage Fees through
June of
current year to be distributed at next AOC meeting
AUGUST No meeting scheduled
SEPTEMBER
REPORTS
- Quarterly Franchise Fee Report from City, Town and Village Sections 15.8 &
15.7
Report on gross revenues collected during Second Quarter of this year to
calculate .5% franchise fee earmarked for staff salaries
- Quarterly Subscriber Fee Report from TWC Sections 15.3-2
Receive Second Quarter Report from this year that shows monthly receipts of
$.15 Subscriber "PEG" Fee to calculate actual revenues for Capital
Expenditures
- TWC's Maintenance and Repair Report Section 15.3-3
OCTOBER
REPORTS
- TWC Quarterly Report Usage Fees Section 15.6-4; Par 18-4-D; AOC Resolution
6/13/06
Report with account ledger showing receipts & uses of Usage Fees through
September of current year
OPERATIONS
- Business Hours Sections 15.4 & 15.12; Par 18-4-C & 18-4-F
Annual Review of this year's studio hours available to access Usages
Review TWC's recommendations for next fiscal year
Adopt studio's business hours for next fiscal year, consistent with staff &
available
funding
- Usage Fees Section 15.12; Par 18-4-D
Annual Review of impact of this year's Usage Fees
Optional: Review TWC's recommendations for next fiscal year
Review collection and use of fees
Set Fees for next year
Determine Use of Collected Fees
- Staffing Levels Par 18-4-F
Review of this year's staffing
Review TWC's recommendations for next fiscal year
Recommendations for next year
- PEGASYS' Access Rules Par 18-4-B & Par 18-4-F
Review, monitor and make recommendations for next year on access rules and
policies as provided in the Producer's Handbook, such as who can use the
access equipment, procedures for signing up for studio space and equipment,
and how are schedules for cablecasting established - to assure availability of
studio & portable equipment on a nondiscriminatory basis.
NOVEMBER
REPORTS
- Quarterly Franchise Fee Report from City, Town and Village Sections 15.8 &
15.7
Report on gross revenues collected during Third Quarter of this year to
calculate .5% franchise fee earmarked for staff salaries
- Quarterly Subscriber Fee Report from TWC Sections 15.3-2
Receive Third Quarter Report from this year that shows monthly receipts of
$.15 Subscriber "PEG" Fee to calculate actual revenues for Capital
Expenditures
- TWC's Maintenance and Repair Report Section 15.3-3
DECEMBER
AOC
- Terms Board Members Par 18-3-A
Certain Terms expire each December
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Contact information for AOC members:
Will Burbank, chair <willburbank@twcny.rr.com>
Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>
Jennifer Dotson, Common Council liaison <jdotson@cityofithaca.org>
Trish O'Rourke <trish@ithacalaw.com>
Wies van Leuken <pmv4@cornell.edu> and <WIESVL@cityofithaca.org>
Web site for the PEGASYS studio, with program schedules:
http://www.pegasysaccess.org/
studio location:
612 West Green Street
Ithaca, New York
mailing address:
519 West State Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
phone (607) 272-7272
fax (607) 277-5404
PEGASYS staff:
Lauren Stefanelli
lauren.stefanelli@twcable.com
Cable Access Oversight Committee minutes (draft--comments welcome)
The Cable Access Oversight Committee (AOC) met at the PEG Studio on Tuesday, Nov.
11, 2008 (postponed from Nov. 4), at 5:00 pm.
Present: AOC members Will Burbank (chair), Wayles Browne, Wies van Leuken,
Jennifer Dotson; studio manager Lauren Stefanelli; Time Warner manager Thomas
Doheny (for item 3).
0. Notes by W. Browne as AOC secretary.
1. The minutes of the Sept. 23, 2008 meeting were approved with no changes.
2. No comments from the public.
3. We discussed chairman Burbank's letter to Thomas Doheny written per our decision of
Sept. 23. It concerned using money from Usage Fees paid by those TV producers who
live outside the 3 Participating Municipalities (i.e. outside the City of Ithaca, Town of
Ithaca, and Village of Cayuga Heights). The AOC decided by resolution dated June 13,
2006 that this money should be used for hiring persons to keep the PEG studio open
during periods when the Studio Manager is on vacation. The money has been
accumulating and no vacation replacements have ever been hired by TWC.
T. Doheny responds to the letter: Studio manager Stefanelli will develop a plan showing
what we can do. A temporary employee would cost $16/hour through an agency, and
would need training, so it would not be easy to cover Stefanelli's 5 weeks of vacation
time. In Doheny's view, PEG access continues to be underfunded. The original franchise
agreement between the City of Ithaca and Time Warner Cable [TWC] foresaw many
more municipalities joining than actually happened. TWC absorbs tens of thousands
every year. My [Doheny's] feeling is that the approx. $2000 usage fee money should be
put into the general pool for Stefanelli's salary. There are 4 years left till the end of the
present franchise [2003 through 2012]. If we don't make a change, we won't have PEG. I
implore you to raise usage fees. They are at $20 per 6 months for users outside the
participating municipalities whereas my original suggestion was ca. $35 a month. Please
consider this again and support a much higher fee, perhaps rising every year.
I'm glad to figure out what the cost is and give you a look. I don't agree that a high fee
would hurt free speech; anyone can bring in a tape, but the facilities cost money.
Stefanelli has some vacation in December, but we can plan for replacements for her in
2009.
Burbank: Raising prices can make users look for alternatives. My reading is that the
number of producers who could afford a higher fee would be nearly zero. Most people
who have time to make programs don't have that kind of money.
Dotson: What you're proposing would not create more money.
Doheny: I'm looking to influence more municipalities to contribute.
Dotson: There seems not to be much possibility that producers can pay more nor that they
could get municipalities to join.
Doheny: When the franchise expires, TWC's position will be that PEG must be run from
franchise fees. Producers from outside are taking resources away from the present
participating municipalities.
Dotson: are there other ways to gain revenue?
Burbank: When negotiating a new franchise, maybe there will be new conditions or a
new structure--a non-profit? This year and next year in New York State are particularly
bad for finances of municipalities.
Doheny: It's not helpful to the issue to charge an inequitable fee under the current
structure.
Van Leuken: We all wish that all municipalities would cooperate, but realistically
speaking, they won't want to.
Dotson: If, for instance, a producer from Trumansburg tells his village that TWC insisted
on raising the usage fees, that won't make a good impression about TWC.
Burbank: would you support spinning PEG off to a nonprofit?
Doheny: Yes.
Dotson: Would the equipment go to the nonprofit?
Doheny: Hard to put the cart before the horse. It would need $41,000 per year.
Burbank: Producers donate their time and make value for the community and for TWC.
Doheny: We understand that there's value but we can't go on forever when we've been
doing much more than would be equitable. Quality is high, but this is designed by the
federal government to be a partnership. Your 3 municipalities are contributing about $35
per month per producer.
4. At this point T. Doheny departed and the meeting took up other business.
Meeting schedule for the future: the 2nd Monday of each month, except that in December
it will have to be the 3rd Monday, Dec. 15 at 4:30, because Lauren Stefanelli will be
away the first two weeks. [Time later changed to 5:15.]
Van Leuken: Remember that we need to have the agenda posted in advance in City Hall.
Every agency in the city does that. We can post a generic agenda. Burbank should send it
to City Clerk Julie Holcomb and to Sarah Myers a week in advance.
Burbank: will do.
Van Leuken is developing an e-mail list for producers and interested people.
Scheduled items for October and November according to our yearly calendar: reports on
usage fees, staffing levels, maintenance report.
5. Studio manager's report: submitted in written form (see Appendix 1).
She added: The more we make the channel look good to viewers, the more they will view
it. The Ithaca Journal invites pictures from its readers; TWC now similarly invites
viewers to send photos for its slide-show on channels above 500, shown for free, with
music in the background. Can PEG do something similar? There is now a slide saying
'Have a cute pet? Send....' Sending a photo is easier than making a whole TV show, so
this might attract new people, for instance someone who has a PowerPoint presentation to
share.
The AOC agreed with Stefanelli's updates to the budget (including accessories for the
Lehman Alternative Community School, now that LACS itself has bought new
computers for use in editing). The total is less than previously.
Nexus has IR ports = Infrared lights that act on a deck the way a remote control does,
hence item 3), allowing 4 DVD players instead of the present 2.
Item 18): Time Base Correctors: the old ones need replacing so that each PEG channel
(13, 15, 16) will have its own.
6. The AOC returned to discussion of the views expressed by T. Doheny earlier in the
meeting. Will the larger evolution of technology make PEG TV no longer needed, by the
time the franchise comes up for renewal/renegotiation in 2013? Upholders of PEG access
around the U.S. feel TV will continue to exist, even after the change to high definition
(HD), so it's not reasonable to drop PEG as part of TV.
Conditions in 2013 are unpredictable. They might be more favorable to public access, or
less favorable.
7. Publicity in the local community for PEG services.
Van Leuken: when newspapers mention an event or program which is (to be) shown on
Channel 13, we should ask them to mention Channel 13 explicitly and by name. [One
such request was later formulated as a letter to Gary Stewart (Community Relations,
Cornell) regarding a series of articles he has been doing in the Ithaca Journal--see
Appendix 2.]
8. Meeting adjourned at 6:20.
Appendix 1.
Access Coordinator Report to AOC
November 2008
• Facility:
Cablecast playback on channel 13 and 16 has continued to improve, thanks to the
upgraded playback equipment:
1. Because INET sources are now wired through NEXUS, I can eliminate 2/3 of the
weekend data entry for switching INET sources on a separate matrix switcher. I
can now switch directly on NEXUS. This is more accurate and faster.
2. I can superimpose “overlays” on mpgs, which means that I can now overlay titles
for meetings that are done without titles. The Lansing School Board is delighted.
3. I have added a program guide for the non-IC programming on channel 16. There
has never been an on-screen guide for this programming before. Again, it is drag
and drop with the new NEXUS.
4. I have invited non-profit organizations to submit event announcements to run on
channel 13. Our previous system required about an hour per day of staff time to
produce, given the high volume of paper submissions. At current staff levels, this
was impossible to continue. However, the new system allows announcements to
be produced and run with much less effort. Submissions are accepted
electronically. Some can be used as is. Those with text can be dragged and
dropped onto slides, then dragged to NEXUS and activated.
5. Locally-produced PSAs have been getting extensive exposure. 3 new ones in
October/November, from the History Center and the Family Reading Partnership,
ran over 50 times each on the channel.
• Capital
The 2008 Capital Plan was revised to include the various changes in our needs
that have arisen since it was approved in 2007, and submitted to for purchasing to our
office in Syracuse in October. As in the 2007 plan, I moved things from the 2009 budget
forward to 2008 when possible to replace several projects that were cancelled.
Vender quotes: B&H, Markertek, Staples, Amazon, MacMall, Radio Shack, RKG
Plumbing
Item # Description Unit Price Quantity Total Price
1 Building Water Fountain Replacement $750.00
Description: Water fountain is broken and has been determined to be uneconomic to
repair.
Price quote attached from RKG Plumbing and Heating
2 Tascam DV-D01U DVD Players $570.00 2 $1,140.00
Description: These are RS232-controllable machines which are compatible with the
NEXUS playback server.
Replace 2 Tascam DV-6500 DVD Players that failed and are uneconomic to repair.
Price quote available from B&H:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=search&A=search&Q=&shs=tascam+dvd
+player&ci=0
3 Magnavox DP100MW8B Compact DVD Player $29.95 2 $59.90
Note - any DVD player without auto turnoff feature. It is for auto playback use.
This is the same brand you got last time, but without the tuner.
4 Pyro A/V Link w/o Elements Model # API-558-EFS $149.95 2 $299.90
Price quote
available from B&H:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=search&A=search&Q=&shs=pyro+a+v+l
ink+component+api-558-efs&ci=0
5 Samson XLR-M to XLR-F Cables 18' 3-pak $29.99 3 $89.97
Price Quote at www.markertek.com
http://www.markertek.com/Product.asp?baseItem=SAM%2DMC18&cat=CABLESCON
N&subcat=AUDIOCAB&prodClass=AXLRXLR&mfg=&search=0&off=
6 SVHS Cable M-M 25' Model # SV4-SV4-25 $26.69 5 $133.45
Price Quote at www.markertek.com
http://www.markertek.com/SearchProduct.asp?item=SV4%2DSV4%2D3&off=7&sort=p
rod&skuonly=0&search=svhs+cables&pagesize=10000
7 SVHS Cable M-F 25' Model # SV4-SV4F-25 $26.69 5 $133.45
Price Quote at www.markertek.com
http://www.markertek.com/SearchProduct.asp?item=SV4%2DSV4F%2D3&off=0&sort=
prod&skuonly=0&search=svhs+cables&pagesize=10000
8 ASK Proxima C350 XGA Projector $1,249.95 1 $1,249.95
9 InFocus SP-LAMP-034 Replacement Lamp [B&H# INLIN38 ] $389.95 1 $389.95
Price quote B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/521941-
REG/ASK_Proxima_C350_C350_XGA_Projector.html#accessories
10 Sennheiser MZW66 Foam Windscreen for ME66 mic $42.95 1 $42.95
Price quote B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/73116-
REG/Sennheiser_MZW66_MZW66_Foam_Windscreen.html
11 Sony UWP-V1 Wireless Lavalier ENG Microphone Package $499.95 4 $1,999.80
12 B&H Photo Lavalier Accessory Kit B&H# BHCSLBUKM B&H Kit $13.45 2 $26.90
Price quote B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/553681-
REG/Sony_UWPV1_3032_UWP_V1_Wireless_Lavalier_ENG.html#features
13 WindTech BG-1 Windscreen $27.95 2 $55.90
Price Quote B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/298966-
REG/WindTech_BG_1_BG_1_Windscreen.html
14 Petrol PDRB-6 Dr. Petrol Bag - for DV or HD Camcorders and Accessories $294.95
6 $1,769.70
Price Quote B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/531230-
REG/Petrol_PDRB_6_PDRB_6_Dr_Petrol_Bag.html#specifications
15 Bescor KLK-623DK On Camera Light Kit $84.99 6 $509.94
Price Quote B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/504561-
REG/Bescor__KLK_623DK_On_Camera_Light.html#features
16 Logitech Elite 825B Stereo Headphones $14.95 10 $149.50
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/533308-
REG/Logitech_980424_0403_Elite_825B_Stereo_Headphones.html
17 Sony NP-QM91D Info-Lithium Battery Pack $102.95 4 $411.80
Price Quote B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/275105-
REG/Sony_NPQM91D_NP_QM91D_Info_Lithium_Battery_Pack.html
18 Hotronic AP-41 TBC / Frame Synchronizer $974.95 3 $2,924.85
Description: Replace TBCs for channels 13, 15, 16
Price Quote B&H: Price Quote B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/22612-
REG/Hotronic_AP41_AP_41_TBC_Frame.html#features
19 In-House Labor [hourly rate - please adjust correct out-of-house rate] $60.00 32
$1,920.00
for installation of Knox Switcher and Studio II A/V cabling
20 Staff Computer package -estimated cost $1,500.00
Dell Computer, DVD player/CD Burner, flat-screen monitor
Note:
This computer is used extensively for peg administration and playback.
Educational Access: LACS
Description: 3 digital camcorders and accessories for their computer editing system.
The school has purchased a new fleet of editing computers for the class.
21 Panasonic PV-GS90 Mini-DV camcorders $500.00 3 $1,500.00
22 4GB Secure HD Memory Cards $14.50 3 $43.50
23 Impact CGA-DU21 Lith-Ion Batteries $49.95 3 $149.85
Price quote available from B&H for above items:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/477103-
REG/Panasonic_PVGS320_PV_GS320_3_CCD_Mini.html
24 Universal AC/DC Charger for Pan. CGA-DU21A Battery $9.68 3 $29.04
Price quote available from Amazon.com for above items:
http://www.amazon.com/Hi-Quality-Universal-PANASONIC-CGA-DU14A-CGA-
DU21A/dp/B0009V21TS/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1225254262&sr=11-1
25 Logitech Elite 825B Stereo Headphones $14.95 6 $89.70
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/533308-
REG/Logitech_980424_0403_Elite_825B_Stereo_Headphones.html
26 Firewire cable 6pin – 4 pin, 14 feet, $24.95 1 $24.95
27 Firewire cable 6pin – 4 pin, 6 feet, $13.95 2 $27.90
Price quote available from B&H for above items:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?ci=0&shs=
Firewire+cable&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=jsp%2FRootPage.jsp&A
=search&Q=*&bhs=t&Go.x=18&Go.y=11
28 Monster® MusicShare MINI-Y ST-2F Audio Splitter $10.99 5 $54.95
Price quote available from Radio Shack for above items:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2123235&cp=
29 Western Digital 500 GB My Book External Hard Drive $89.99 1 $89.99
Price quote available from Staples for above item:
www.staples.com/office/supplies/StaplesSearch?searchkey=Western+digital+external+ha
rd+drive&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&fromUrl=home
30 LaCie 20x d2 DVD±RW with LightScribe FireWire, Double Layer and Toast 8 Titanium
for Mac 301196U $114.99 1 $114.99
Price quote available from MacMall for above item:
http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?Redir=1&description=
LaCie%2D20x+d2+DVD%B1RW+with+LightScribe+FireWire%2C+Double+Layer+an
d+Toast+8+Titanium+for+Mac%2DDVD+Drives&dpno=7497768
31 External Hard Drive 160 GB $80.00 6 $480.00
32 SanDisc USB 2.0 Flash Drive 8 GB $59.99 1 $59.99
Price quote available from Staples for above item:
http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/StaplesSearch?searchkey=sandisk+flash+drive&s
toreId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&fromUrl=home
Subtotal $18,222.77
10% Tax / Freight $1,822.28
Total $20,045.05
• Notable Educational Access News
Ithaca College is now the default signal for channel 16.
• Repair
The camcorder with a damaged pinch roller has been returned to service.
The playback DVD player sent out for repair was given a quote of several
hundred dollars [they don’t fix things, they just replace the entire internal mechanism],
making replacement preferable. Meanwhile, the second DVD player started to have the
same problems, so 2 replacement DVD players were added to the capital budget.
• Outreach
A third feature article on PEGASYS producer Mike Brutvan appeared in Tompkins
Weekly [Sept 29, p.10]. http://www.tompkinsweekly.com/.
Appendix 2.
TO: Gary Stewart, Deputy Director
Office of Community Relations
Cornell University
114 Day Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853
FROM: Will Burbank, Chair
Access Oversight Committee
and Representative of the Town of Ithaca
132 Glenside Road, Ithaca NY, 14850
DATE: November 22, 2008
RE: Access Oversight Committee
We have been reading with interest your articles in the Ithaca Journal about events taking place at
Cornell University. We are also delighted that you are showing East Hill Notes TV on Channel 16. In
your articles, you refer to the channel as "Time Warner Channel 16." We would like to make a
suggestion connected with that.
Time Warner Cable makes three TV channels available to county residents for public access. It has to do
so, as a condition of the Franchise Agreement for the operation of a Cable System. The Access
Oversight Committee oversees the public access portion of the Agreement. We have found that Ithacans
and county residents at large are often unfamiliar with the programs shown on the access channels or
unaware that the programs they are watching are on an access channel and produced by local
volunteers. This lack of awareness makes it difficult to generate the public support necessary to keep this
public asset working well and serving the community.
To increase awareness of this wonderful public resource, we hope that you will mention explicitly in your
publicity that your TV program is cablecast on "Educational Access TV Channel 16."
Please contact me at <willburbank@twcny.rr.com> or 607-272-7555 if you have questions about this
request or about public access TV in general. Thank you.
Cc. Members of the AOC (E-mail) Access Oversight Committee
Will Burbank <willburbank@twcny.rr.com>
Wayles Browne <ewb2@cornell.edu>
Jennifer Dotson <jdotson@cityofithaca.org>
Trish O'Rourke <trish@ithacalaw.com>
Wies van Leuken <pmv4@cornell.edu>
Cable Access Oversight Committee minutes (as approved Nov. 11, 2008)
The Cable Access Oversight Committee (AOC) met at the PEG Studio on Tuesday, Sept.
23, 2008, at 4:45 pm.
Present: AOC members Will Burbank (chair), Wayles Browne, Wies van Leuken; studio
manager Lauren Stefanelli.
0. Notes by W. Browne as AOC secretary.
1. The minutes of the Aug. 12, 2008 meeting were approved with no changes.
2. No comments from the public.
3. Member reports.
We discussed a letter which W. Burbank will send to TWC manager T. Doheny with
respect to using money from Usage Fees paid by those TV producers who live outside the
3 Participating Municipalities (i.e. outside the City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, and Village
of Cayuga Heights). The AOC decided by resolution dated June 13, 2006 that this money
should be used for hiring persons to keep the PEG studio open during periods when the
Studio Manager is on vacation. The money has been accumulating and no vacation
replacements have ever been hired by TWC.
4. Studio Manager's report was submitted in writing (see appendix).
Members noted with sorrow that NYN (New York State educational programming),
which as of Sept. 30 will no longer be provided from Albany to cable systems (till now it
has been carried on Channel 16). W. Browne was requested to send a letter-to-the-editor
to newspapers regretting the loss of NYN. [Not yet done; he sent a letter on a different
matter to the Ithaca Journal, which has a one letter per month policy.]
The Studio Manager informed members about the Sept. 17 hearings of the House
Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, which
considered public, educational and government access TV channels and heard cable
operators and service users. At these hearings, members of congress stood up for
continuation of PEG service nationwide, and most of the members of the Subcommittee,
including local Congressman M. Hinchey, wrote a letter to the Federal Communications
Commission calling for observance of the Cable Act which requires equal treatment of
PEG channels with others. W. Browne subsequently wrote a letter to Mr. Hinchey in the
name of the AOC commending his stand (see second Appendix).
5. New Business:
Wies van Leuken has drafted a Fact Sheet about the AOC and its work. Members are
invited to comment and improve it.
We discussed ways to make the public more aware of the availability of community
access TV programming. There have already been newspaper features about individual
producers. We would like to see listings of PEG TV programs in newspapers, but the
papers have shown no interest. Programs could also be listed on the 24-hour TV channel
for Listings. The Studio Manager has sometimes been given to understand that doing so
would cost several hundred dollars a month, but this is not certain. She observes that the
local sports channel (26) is included in the daily Listings.
Members suggest:
- put a web counter on the PEG web site http://www.pegasysaccess.org to see how many
hits it gets.
- make a poster "Watch PEGASYS" citing the channels and the web link.
- ask the Ithaca Journal once again to include program listings. Studio Manager: I have
previously asked producers to go to the Ithaca Journal's "Monday lunch with the
Publisher" and ask for this, but none of them have yet gone. At present, the Journal seems
not to cover PEGASYS Awards made every February, and only rarely runs
announcements of our classes for new producers. Even when an event in the community
is to be telecast, the Journal does not mention this in reporting on the event.
- Craigs List www.craigslist.com not only offers free classified ads all over the world, but
also carries community information; can we place a TV listing on it?
- Can we webcast the programs themselves? Studio Manager: That requires a site to host
the audio and video files, and, unfortunately, hosting files costs money. The new NEXUS
program scheduler is compatible with webcasting. Webcasting normally uses files scaled
down in size (.mp4 format) rather than the higher-quality but full-size (i.e. larger) .mp2
files, and NEXUS can use either one.
6. Next meeting: Tues. Nov. 4 at the PEG studio.
7. Adjourned 5:40.
-=-=-=-=-
Access Coordinator Report to AOC
September 2008
• Facility:
Our engineer completed a playback reconfiguration and upgrade Sept 1-9. The
last two old Mini-T VCR controllers, which have performed VCR playback for us for
over 10 years, were taken off line. The new 16x16 Knox switcher has been installed, the
NEXUS playback server has had its software upgraded and programming reconfigured to
incorporate the new switcher. What are the benefits to the Knox switcher:
More flexibility with fewer VCRs. The new switcher allowed us to reduce the
number of VCRs in use from 19 to 8, with equivalent playback capacity.
Previously, we programmed, separately, NEXUS to switch to a Mini-T and then
the 2 Mini-Ts to program 2 groups of VCRs to start and switch. Now we only need to
program NEXUS. This is both less work and more accurate.
Increased timing accuracy – everything follows one NEXUS clock, and Mini-T
clocks drifting away from NEXUS time constantly is no longer a problem.
The former linear edit room has been connected as “Studio B” to NEXUS.
Although we have not reconfigured the room yet, getting the cabling to playback is the
first step towards creating the mini-studio idea.
. The remote INET sites have been wired into NEXUS, so that I can preview them
easily off-air [instead of doing signal testing on-air, as we did before] and even record
them to MPEG while a live meeting is in progress.
Our engineer wired WEOS radio as a sound source to accompany the station
identification/ program lineup screens.
The NEXUS software upgrade has also had some immediate benefits:
We can now cablecast onto all three PEG channels from NEXUS.
We can now digitize DVDs directly rather than record mpgs during playback.
It is possible to make clips from any mpg, give them a name and save them in a
“library.” This is a big deal for 2 reasons. First, it means that I can scan through an mpg
easily, whereas before I could only play it in real time from the beginning. This means I
will catch DVD playback or mpg recording errors more easily. Second, it means that I
can run PSAs. Previously, it was much too time-consuming to figure out how to program
PSA reels on DVD. Now they can be prepared as clips and easily dragged and dropped
into the schedule. Our channel is now full of PSAs!
There are 2 other areas where the new software offers big opportunities, but I
have not learned how to use them yet. It is possible to export the schedule in various
forms [website, information teases, press releases], and it is possible to do webcasting. I
will report back when I have learned more about these features.
• Notable Educational Access News
Ithaca College is back on line, including a full season of live football games.
Cornell’s current episode of East Hill Notes featured the AOC’s own Jennifer
Dotson promoting Ithaca Carshare.
New York Network [NYN] has announced that it will discontinue broadcasting at
the end of September. NYN has been the default signal for channel 16 for the past 7
years, a source of taxpayer-funded educational support programming created for
educational access channels. We have contacted IC and Cooperative Extension staff
asking them their preferences for a new default signal. IC is prepared to run its
lakecam with VIC radio.
• Notable Public Access Productions
At least 4-5 Grassroots programs have appeared so far from the fleet that went to
cover the event.
One producer is delivering her program series via a “thumb drive” – no tape, no
DVD.
• Repair
The camcorder with a damaged pinch roller has been repaired and will be
returned from Syracuse shortly.
One playback DVD player has been sent out for repair after it had a problem
playing back parts of the audio tracks of several DVDs.
We are having recurring problems with the Firewire connection jacks of most of
the camcorders. The mini [4-pin] Firewire jack seems to be a weak link with every device
that has one. We have found an analog to digital conversion box with a full-size [6-pin]
Firewire connector which should help keep some equipment operational.
• Outreach
2 feature articles on PEGASYS appeared in local papers this month. One was in
Tompkins Weekly [Sept 1]. http://www.tompkinsweekly.com/
The other was in the Ithaca Times [8/27/08]
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20093788&BRD=1395&PAG=461&dep
t_id=566140&rfi=6
Both included photos of producers and both reporters promised to consider
producer features in the future. One reporter has already delivered: Tompkins Weekly
will be having a feature coming out featuring PEGASYS producer Mike Brutvan
sometime soon.
Light in Winter is interested in having PEGASYS volunteers collaborate on
videotaping parts of the event. A sign-up and organizing meeting will be held later this
fall.
• Capital
I met with Mike Levy about his capital needs, which he revised somewhat from earlier in
the year. Good news is that the school district has committed to purchase him a fleet of
new editing computers to restart his video program.
-=-=-=-
Oct. 12, 2008
Cong. Maurice Hinchey
123 S Cayuga St.
Ithaca NY 14850
Dear Congressman Hinchey,
We are writing as members of the Access Oversight Committee, the body--
appointed by the City of Ithaca--that watches over public access TV in
Tompkins County. We were delighted to learn about the Sept. 17 hearing of
the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government
Subcommittee, which considered public, educational and government access
TV channels. From what we understand, most of the Subcommittee members
attended and took part in the hearing, including yourself. We would like to
commend you all for calling on PEG system operators, users, and supporters
to testify, and for pressing the FCC to recognize their concerns under the
provisions of the present law (the Cable Act). We particularly appreciated it
that you and the other members wrote to the FCC and called for full
observance of this law. A question you asked, as reported to us, showed your
awareness of the situation in this region, marked by inadequate funding for
PEG TV in Binghamton and elsewhere.
We thank you and all your colleagues who participated. We want you to know
that the video from the hearing is going to be shown on Tompkins County
PEG TV.
Yours sincerely,
Wayles Browne, secretary
for the AOC: Will Burbank, chair; Wayles Browne, Jennifer Dotson, Trish
O'Rourke, Wies van Leuken.
Cable Access Oversight Committee minutes (approved Jan. 13, 2009)
The Cable Access Oversight Committee (AOC) met at the PEG Studio on Monday, Dec.
15, 2008, at 5:15 pm.
Present: AOC members Will Burbank (chair), Wayles Browne, Jennifer Dotson, Trish
O'Rourke, Wies van Leuken; studio manager Lauren Stefanelli; Rich DePaolo, resident
of the Town of Ithaca (and member of the Town Board).
0. Notes by W. Browne as AOC secretary.
1. The minutes of the Nov. 11, 2008 meeting were approved with some changes.
2. No comments from the public.
3. Member reports.
W. Burbank posted the agenda for this meeting at City Hall.
L. Stefanelli posted it at the PEG studio.
Burbank will get in touch with Gary Stewart of Cornell (requesting him to refer to
Channel 16 explicitly as Educational Access channel 16, see previous minutes). [Stewart
did so in his subsequent newspaper columns.]
W. van Leuken will draft a similar letter to Cooperative Extension for Burbank to sign
and send.
J. Dotson: city departments are not comfortable with letting AOC use their City of Ithaca
letterheads for AOC's letters.
Burbank: we'll have to create our own, mentioning the Chair's address.
Van Leuken: the default signal on channel 16 is Ithaca College's view of the lake--which
is somewhat monotonous.
Stefanelli: In fact, no user of 16 agreed to provide a default signal. The lake view is the
only continuous signal we have. IC could provide other signals from satellite dishes it
has: I'll discuss this with IC representatives at our meeting Dec. 16. They could provide
Classic Arts Showcase or the Free Speech Network, or perhaps the NASA space
exploration signal.
Moved by Van Leuken, seconded by Dotson, adopted unanimously: the AOC Secretary
should write to Stefanelli, asking her to state to Ithaca College TV our interest in CAS or
FSN or NASA being the default on Channel 16. [The letter was sent the same evening,
and Stefanelli undertook to discuss it with ICTV director Peter Johanns. See appendix.]
Burbank asked Stefanelli about the reports of possible change from local to statewide
franchise of public access in California.
Stefanelli: If this is passed in CA, it would supersede local franchises. This is a danger in
New York State too, though no legislation is pending in Albany.
Van Leuken: one city in California has asked for PEG channels back for its own use.
4. Studio manager's report. Stefanelli: will provide a written report.
Cris McConkey wants to get information to producers on how to webcast their programs.
2 or 3 producers are doing this now, each one in a different manner. One IC student who
knew a way to do it is now in Taiwan. Cris has sent an e-mail to several producers on the
topic (which Stefanelli will forward to AOC members).
Capital Budget: some items have arrived, and some others are being shipped! Lehman
Alternatives Community School (LACS) will thus get the equipment it needs.
Stefanelli reminded members of the Holiday Party on Wednesday Dec. 17.
Concerning a replacement for her while she is on vacation: one of the city videographers
will be hired. (AOC members greeted this news with enthusiasm.) She will be training
him in January. She plans to be here all the time until May. She finds she can prepare
almost everything in advance for absences, so that the replacement would need to be on
the job only 1 hour per week. Ideally there would be a second person being trained too.
She meets Dec. 16 with the ICTV director, as mentioned; also perhaps with the Ithaca
City School District board. The issue that the ICSD feels concern about is that County
Legislature meetings and School Board meetings shouldn't collide with each other on
Government Access channel 15. One possible resolution is for School Board meetings to
be broadcast on Educational Access channel 16 on Tuesday nights.
To a question about how School Board meetings are broadcast: the same videographer
does it as does City meetings, even though the City uses several cameras and varies the
shots, whereas the ICSD seems to use 2 cameras without moving them.
Rich DePaolo asks why we supply equipment to other locations than the studio.
Stefanelli: TWC provides equipment to schools under agreement. It's consumer-grade
equipment and exhausts its life quickly. The video teacher from LACS comes to request
equipment for making programs which are to be shown on PEG channels.
5. New business:
Trish O'Rourke cannot continue as an AOC member, though she can give us legal
explanations when needed. There will thus be a vacancy among the 3 seats that are held
by City residents. Members and the Studio Manager will consider possible candidates.
6. Next meeting: Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009, 4:30 in the PEG Studio.
7. Adjourned 6:30.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Subject: AOC letter--for meeting with IC
From: "E Wayles Browne" <ewb2@cornell.edu>
Date: Mon, December 15, 2008 8:20 pm
To: "Stefanelli, Lauren" <lauren.stefanelli@twcable.com>
ACCESS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
Will Burbank, Chair <willburbank@twcny.rr.com>,
132 Glenside Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850
Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>
Jennifer Dotson <jdotson@cityofithaca.org>
Trish O'Rourke <trish@ithacalaw.com>
Wies van Leuken <pmv4@cornell.edu> and <WIESVL@cityofithaca.org>
December 15, 2008
Ms. Lauren Stefanelli, Time Warner Cable access studio manager
Dear Lauren:
The Access Oversight Committee has noticed that the default picture shown on
Educational Channel 16 is the Ithaca College camera offering a continuous view of the
lake. It is there at all times when there is no other program. However we understand that
IC could easily supply a signal received by one of its dish antennas.
We discussed this at our meeting today, Dec. 15, and voted to let you know that we
would be delighted if the default signal on Channel 16 could be the Free Speech
Network, or else the Classic Arts Showcase, or even the NASA space missions program,
all of which we have seen and which IC could easily provide to the access studio on a
continuous basis.
The more value to viewers the PEG channels have, the more likely they are to be
maintained in their present position on the cable service, i.e., Channels 13, 15, and 16.
Yours sincerely,
Wayles Browne, secretary
for the Access Oversight Committee
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Contact information for AOC members:
Will Burbank, chair <willburbank@twcny.rr.com>
Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>
Jennifer Dotson, Common Council liaison <jdotson@cityofithaca.org>
Trish O'Rourke <trish@ithacalaw.com>
Wies van Leuken <pmv4@cornell.edu> and <WIESVL@cityofithaca.org>
Web site for the PEGASYS studio, with program schedules:
http://www.pegasysaccess.org/
studio location: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York
mailing address: 519 West State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
phone (607) 272-7272
fax (607) 277-5404
PEGASYS staff:
Lauren Stefanelli
lauren.stefanelli@twcable.com