From: Geoffrey Haines-Stiles <ghaines@mail.arc.nasa.gov>
Subject: CORRECTING SOME MIS-STATEMENTS ABOUT PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE AND
Date: Thu, 06 Nov 1997 13:20:41 -0500
Dear Mr. Stanley: One of the participants in our LIVE FROM MARS project forwarded your response to her inquiry about why your station is not carrying LIVE FROM MARS. I just wanted to correct some mis-impressions you have, which got published to our national audience. I have interwoven them with your original note, in caps. to provide emphasis, not to appear to be shouting impolitely. >>Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 08:57:59 -0800 >>From: Bill Stanley <BillSt@sd81.k12.wa.us> >>To: wongtong@connect.ab.ca >>Subject: comments (Forms submission) -Reply >>Content-Disposition: inline >> >>LIVE FROM MARS is a broadcast that is meant for middle school and high >>school students. Because our cable system in Spokane takes care of >>these kinds of programs for the schools, we, KSPS TV, don't get >>involved. WHILE IT IS TRUE THAT THE VARIOUS PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE/LIVE FROM PROGRAMS ARE DESIGNED FOR SCHOOL USE, WE HAVE RECEIVED MANY POSITIVE COMMENTS FROM GENERAL AUDIENCES, ESPECIALLY FOR THE MARS AND ANTARCTICA MINI-SERIES. WE HAVE ALSO FOUND THAT STATIONS SUCH AS WNET IN NEW YORK CARRY THEM AS PART OF THEIR MAIN BROADCAST SCHEDULE AND HAVE BEEN VERY HAPPY WITH THEM. PBS STATIONS IN SAN FRANCISCO, LOS ANGELES, AUSTIN, TX, AND MANY OTHER MAJOR MARKETS HAVE ALSO BEEN SATISFIED AND REPEAT PARTICIPANTS. TEACHERS TELL US THAT WHILE IT'S GREAT TO BE LIVE, IT'S EVEN MORE IMPORTANT TO HAVE SOME SECURE LOCAL PBS ACCESS, SO THAT EVEN TAPE DELAY PROVIDES A USEFUL RESOURCE. BASED UPON MY COMMENTS BELOW, I HOPE YOU MIGHT CONSIDER THIS IN THE FUTURE, WHETHER OR NOT KSPS IS INVOLVED. Also, the feeds have been plagued with technical problems. UNTIL LAST WEEK WHEN AN UNFORTUNATE SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES MEAN PBS OPERATIONS PROVIDED AN INCORRECT SLATE FOR LFM 104, I AM UNAWARE OF ANY TECHNICAL PROBLEMS WHICH MADE ANY LIVE FROM... PROGRAM UNABLE TO BE AIRED AS SCHEDULED. AND EVEN LFM 104 WAS CLEARED TO AIR AS A TEACHER RESOURCE BROADCAST. THIS SUCCESSFUL TRACK RECORD INCLUDES THE FIRST EVER BROADCAST FROM THE SOUTH POLE, THE FIRST EVER BROADCAST FROM A NASA RESEARCH AIRCRAFT IN FLIGHT (INCLUDING A 5 HOUR LIVE "NIGHT FLIGHT"), AND A NUMBER OF OTHER TECHNICALLY CHALLENGING BROADCASTS. OTHER FIELD TRIPS APPEARING ON PUBLIC TELEVISION MAY HAVE HAD PROBLEMS AND PERHAPS YOU ARE MISTAKING PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE/LIVE FROM... WITH THEM? >>Consequently scheduled dates have been changed several times. PBS HAS PROVIDED FIRM DATES FOR OUR BROADCASTS FOR THE PAST 3 YEARS, MONTHS IN ADVANCE OF CARRIAGE. THE ONLY TIME THIS HAS CHANGED HAS BEEN WHEN THE LOSS OF TELSTAR 401 PRODUCED INEVITABLE MODIFICATIONS TO THE ANNOUNCED SCHEDULE. AND THEN PBS TRS CIRCULATED REPEATED DACS CONFIRMING NEW TIMES AND INVITING PBS STATION PARTICIPATION. >>We don't have any carriage plans in the future. WE ARE SORRY TO HEAR THIS, AND WILL FOLLOW UP DIRECTLY TO YOU WITH EVALUATION DATA SHOWING OBJECTIVE EVIDENCE OF THE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY PTK/LIVE FROM... IN THE PAST. WHILE WE ARE DISTRESSED TO READ YOUR COMMENTS, PERHAPS WE CAN TURN THIS CHALLENGE -- SINCE WE'RE NOW "ON YOUR RADAR" -- INTO AN OPPORTUNITY WHICH MIGHT SERVE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS IN YOUR MARKET? WE SINCERELY HOPE SO. YOURS, GHS Geoff Haines-Stiles Project Director, PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE & the LIVE FROM... specials "electronic field trips to scientific frontiers" Real Science, Real Scientists, Real Locations, Real Time vox: 973.656.9403 * fax: 973.656.9813 * mobile: 908.305.7061 alt. e-mail: ptkghs@aol.com http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/interactive http://passport.ivv.nasa.gov Antarctica... Stratosphere... Hubble... Mars... Rainforest... the Arctic, and more