The WCCA TV13 Board of Directors invites you to please attend a WCCA TV13 community members meeting/forum.

Purpose of this meeting is to discuss the future of WCCA TV. To this date, we have no contract with the City, and no real assurances for the continuity of WCCA's future .

The meeting will be cable and webcast live.

Wednesday May 21, 2008 at 6:00PM to about 7:30PM
at WCCA TV 415 Main Street.

If you believe in the value of Community Media, Grass Roots Media, Participatory Media, FREE SPEECH this invitation is for you.

I understand many people were happy to hear the shouts of city council members order to "file" the report.

The subject of WCCA TV funding and pending contract is a subject that matters to a great many. Jeff the Taxi Guy shares a very clear sentiment.

Thanks for your support and attention.

There has been some worrying on this website about the latest Research Bureau budget report which, among other things, recommends severe cuts to WCCA's funding.

So readers may want to note that, according to Worcester Magazine, the City Council did not show the report much respect this week:

Very symbolic move here.

The Research Bureau report that has been panned by councilors in the past week was scheduled to be sent to Finance Committee just now; immediately, three councilors shouted out “FILE” when it came up.

It’s the circular file vote, the equivalent of ignoring an incoming call or blocking an IM: It means the report won’t be discussed at all, and is buried.

Worcester residents and politicians held a press conference today at City Hall to express support for 3 items of legislation being considered at the state level to deal with the foreclosure crisis.

Essentially Worcester's entire state delegation supports the three bills: Senate Bill 2664, "An Act Requiring Just Cause for Eviction in Foreclosed Properties"; Senate Bill 2663, "An Act Relative To A Temporary Moratorium On Foreclosures"; and Senate Bill 2662, "An Act To Require Judicial Foreclosures."

Download the mp4 video (5MB) or see more formats.

For more information, see the Mass Alliance Against Predatory Lending.

A much longer piece on this event will air this weekend on WCCA TV13's Community Vision: Saturday at 1am, 9:30am, 5:00pm, 9:00pm; Sunday at 3:30am, 9:30am, 5:00pm, 11:30pm; Monday 11:00am.

John informs us of the following:

Charter High-Speed Internet service customers in the greater Worcester area, and other parts of the country, recently got a letter from Joe Stackhouse, Senior Vice President, Customer Operations. It announces an "enhancement" coming soon to customers' web browsing experience. This "enhancement" will change the ads displayed on web sites to "better reflect the interests you express through your web-surfing activities". This means that Charter will monitor and record all your web surfing activity. After tracking you, Charter will replace the ads on web sites you visit with ads Charter wants you to see.

You can't stop Charter from monitoring and recording all your web surfing. They do offer an opt out to this service "enhancement" - all that will do is tell Charter you don't want them replace the ads on web sites you visit. To opt out you need to visit a Charter web page and provide Charter with your name and address - yet another way for Charter to watch you and your internet activities. The opt out web page states "... if you delete your cookies or cache files, use a different computer, buy a new computer, or use a different web browser from the one you are using at this time, you will have to opt-out again. It is also important to remember that opting out does not mean that you will no longer receive Internet advertisements, it simply means you will no longer receive ads that are tailored to your Web preferences, usage patterns and commercial interests."

The letter closes out by saying "Charter is committed to offering the highest quality service to our customers". Is tracking customers internet activity and providing ads Charter want customers to see "the highest quality service" Charter has to offer?

Just what we need, less privacy and more ads thrown at us.Thanks John.

[Editor's notes: A reader sends in this December article from the Wall Street Journal about CenturyTel, "Watching What You See on the Web." Also relevant Slashdot threads from last June and this February. And here's Worcester's cable contract (PDF).]]

Masha shares a great story about the Worcester Tornadoes taking 3 out 4 games with the Quebec Capitales.

Download the mp4 video (14MB) or see other formats. You can subscribe via Miro and see all WCCA videos as they are posted.

Nothing better than walking into WCCA in the morning and being handed a free Quan Yin tote bag.

Adherents of the Quan Yin Method and Supreme Master Ching Hai present the program "Supreme Master" on WCCA, Mondays at 1:30pm. They also run two vegan restaurants in the city, Quan Yin and Buddha Hut.

I'm not a follower of their philosophy, but I like the cheerfulness of their materials, and I like their food.

Above: Some of the Supreme Master stuff I keep in my office. Thanks to Tracy Foley for loaning her copy of "The Noble Wilds" for this photo.

A letter submitted to local papers this week.

To whom it may concern:

When I started as an ESL teacher at Worcester State College, teaching Listening & Speaking, I contacted a number of local TV and radio stations to give my students access to their stations for experiential learning purposes.

No one opened their doors for me, except the community channel WCCA TV 13. Each semester, my students visit the station where we are met with enthusiasm and dedication. Mr. DePasquale devotes his time to meet with my students, to take them on a tour around the station explaining to them the details of the operations and encourages them to be part of the station in any way they wish.

The station hosts very interesting programs representing our communities and their views. It is our voice and presence in the face of other TV channels that are tarnished with commercialism and propaganda. Channel 13 is vital for Worcester as a media technology resource for all, and a vent for our youth and young adults.

It saddens me to read any suggestion to place WCCA's funding at risk. We need WCCA TV. Its funding does not come from tax or city money but rather comes from a percentage of cable companies' gross annual revenues, by law, so people can have public access such as WCCA TV.

I hope the city manager will consider the request of the many of us, the people, who benefit from this channel instead of offering us an alternative commercialized TV channel that nobody needs.

Faithfully

Bayda Asbridge (ESL teacher)
Institute of Intensive English Language
Department of Continuing Education
Worcester State College

For most of my life, I never have thought that young people wouldn't care about how tobacco impacts their health since they smoke for whatever reason.  I had believed that they are indifferent.  As a non-smoker, that was always the case for me until one day when I was on the Internet.  That day, I discovered a group called The 84, a teen-led movement in Massachusetts that is speaking out against the tobacco industry. 

They show statistics of how many young people smoke every year, how many adult smokers become addicted to tobacco before age 19, and how much money the cigarette companies spend on marketing.  They also hold Youth Advocacy Events to increase their numbers and maybe also increase awareness of the dangers of tobacco.  If you are against smoking and you want to speak out, or just for more information, you can check out their website at www.the84.org.

Below are some of the letters to newspapers and politicians in support of WCCA TV13 that have come to our attention in recent weeks. Thanks for supporting WCCA!

Dear Editor:

WCCA TV is so valued from my perspective, from shows like Worcester here and Now with Sibyl Farson, and Video Jams with Tracy Foley, that I just want to extend my appreciation to the City of Worcester and Charter for their part in keeping alive local, informative, entertaining interests in our wonderful assets here in Worcester. Please do all you an to keep WCCA TV on the air, as it is like having a wonderful neighbor at your door.

Sincerely,
Ameena Jabbour