As a founding member of Delmarva Public Radio, I am dismayed to find that the Salisbury University Foundation apparently intends to ignore my and my late husband's investment in the cultural enrichment of the Eastern Shore.
Many members of the community have written lately about the value of locally targeted classical music and locally oriented news and commentary. Less often we hear of the role of WSCL/WSDL as a cultural crossroads, much like the ancient Roman agora, the market place that functioned as a meeting place for all factions of the city.
The organizations that nurture our native musicians, painters, dramatists and other artists have long relied on Delmarva Public Radio to showcase and promote their efforts. A syndicated and automated operation such as that envisioned by the foundation could hardly play such a role, and it is unlikely or impossible that WAMU and/or WHYY can take up the slack.
Similarly, businesses whose market is primarily Delmarva will no longer have direct, exclusive, and economical access to the homes of that markets consumers. And those consumers will no longer have this window on the culture and politics that contextualize and shape the local economy.
At 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 15, Friends of Delmarva Public Radio will host a public informational meeting at the Lewes Public Library, 111 Adams Ave. off Kings Highway. It should be attended by all who support the preservation of the fruits of my and so many other families investment.
Caroline Molenda
Salisbury, Md.