I am the general manager of Buckeye TV, the student television station here at Ohio State. I would like to express my dismay at the Undergraduate Student Government and its Electoral Governance Board this spring in their handling of the student government debates that will be held later this month.

We expressed an interest in holding a televised debate in April to the Electoral Governance Board and contacted them in early March regarding this. The station had been working with WOSU.TV, OSU’s public television station, to air the debates both on the on campus cable channel Buckeye TV as well as the digital cable channel WOSU.Plus, available throughout the city of Columbus.

WOSU.TV was receptive to the idea. I did not receive a response from my initial inquiry from any member of the Electoral Governance Board or USG itself.

Earlier this week the station’s vice president of programming and director of news operations contacted the entire electoral governance board again, asking if a debate could be held at the station’s studios and aired on our on campus cable channel as well as streamed via The Lantern’s Web site. This was to be the first major collaboration between OSU’s student media outlets.

The Electoral Governance Board responded, stating that it was not interested in moving the debate from the Ohio Union.

This surprised me for a number of reasons. First and foremost, there are three separate debates, two of which could have been held at the Ohio Union, with the third being held at Fawcett Center in the WOSU.TV studios. Secondly, the Electoral Governance Board turned down an amazing opportunity to reach out to the students and generate publicity for the elections by holding a televised debate both on Buckeye TV and WOSU.TV’s digital channels, all of which are available on digital cable throughout the Columbus area.

Time and time again we see and hear of USG being unresponsive and unable to effectively communicate with the students it represents. This was, in my opinion, a golden opportunity to get the word out to students both on and off campus about the elections and where the candidates stand on various campus issues. To see Electoral Governance Board and the USG organization turn down this opportunity was surprising and disheartening to all involved here at the station.

Buckeye TV has been striving to connect with as many campus organizations as possible in the past few weeks, including academic departments and colleges and student organizations. The station is working to build its reputation as a major source of news and information for today’s OSU student, as well as the place to turn for OSU sports, entertainment and other specialty programming.

Buckeye TV is speaking with several area cable providers about having the station’s cable signal carried on digital cable systems throughout the Columbus area, enabling the station to both generate revenue to fund its operations, as well as allowing the station to become a true resource for ALL students and the entire Columbus community.

I have no doubt the station will continue to grow in the next year, and I am always willing to meet with student organizations and other campus leaders to discuss ways to work together and to reach out to our student body. We hope to work with USG and all aspects of OSU to engage and connect with our students, faculty, and staff, while continuing to reach out to the Columbus community.

Paul C. ForsgrenPresident and General ManagerBuckeye TV, Ohio State Student Television