LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: UTV13 Responds to 'Entertainment India'

To the Editor: Sarah Giulian College '97 News Director and Board Member for UTV13 n To the Editor: As Vice-President of Production and Programming at UTV13, I feel compelled to respond to the biased, accusatory article ("Students Accuse UTV13 of Misconduct," DP 4/10/95). I find it reprehensible that the article was ever published as much for lack of journalistic ethic as for the content. At the very least, page six is where this so-called article should have appeared as it was greatly editorialized and only one side was represented. I am responsible for the major part of communication to the producers, and I have been called at home on more than one occasion because of problems that Toral Mehta and Entertainment India has caused for many other people who are affiliated with UTV13. There is no controversy here, as the DP would like people to believe, merely a blatant lack of responsibility on the part of the producers of this show. The issue at hand is not one of likability of Entertainment India, or of its popular demand; rather it is an issue of the producers' incompetence. We are dealing with equipment which costs thousands of dollars, and we do not take this responsibility lightly. Therefore, we have a strict training procedure as well as rules that must be followed in order to use equipment and produce any type of show. Among the long list of offenses that the reporter and Mehta failed to mention include: having a camera out for 2 days longer than it was signed out for because it was "too heavy to return" any sooner, leaving a $2,000 camera at the front desk of High Rise North for hours during the time in which another producer had reserved it, taking a camera to New Jersey for 4 days while it was already signed out to tape a Penn basketball game, recording over another producer's tapes and then removing the labels and conveniently "misplacing" them, leaving equipment out in the studio, and the list goes on which includes not properly training her staff. Sapna Sheth, her production manager, was quoted in the DP as saying, "they have these rules that they conveniently conjure up after we break them." First and foremost, no one at UTV13 has ever heard of this person, which means she was not trained and should not even touch the equipment, much less discuss our internal operations with the DP. It is amazing to me how no one else has had any trouble following these "mysterious" rules. We did not give Mehta a chance, we gave her many chances, and we were nice enough to give her yet another chance to make a fresh start in the fall which would have included a lot more training. We, at UTV13, would love to have a South Asian television show, but only one that follows the exact same rules as every other show. Or, according to Mehta, "those stupid shows on there." I would also ask The Daily Pennsylvanian to get both sides of the story next time, instead of trying to incite a controversy. Lisa Raphaeli College '97 UTV13 Vice-President of Production & Programming n To the Editor: At UTV, we run a very efficient and cohesive organization. For such a large group, we have a high degree of synergy and enjoy working with each other. That is because each person working at the station exercises the most wonderful trait of all: Common courtesy. Just in case someone suffers a courtesy lapse, we do have certain concrete rules. For producers of the shows, we are made well aware that we must return video equipment by the time we specify when we sign the equipment out on our computerized system (not several days later, as in Ms. Mehta's case). In addition, we do not take videotapes that are not ours. All of us are made aware of these rules and follow them. UTV13's rules for use of the equipment are well-stated, fair and not arbitrary. All of us except for Ms. Mehta abide by these regulations and it makes for one big, happy family. In regard to the article about the matter which appeared in Monday's DP ("Students Accuse UTV13 of Misconduct," DP 4/10/95), I find it to be unprofessional and one-sided simply because Heather Dorf was out of town and could not comment. I was told to comment or "it would look very bad for you" on a matter in which I had very little involvement. I'm not sure how you see that, but in my book, that is unprofessional. The DP's behavior in regard to this story was, shall we say, amateurish. Better luck next time. Jared Minsk College '97 Director of Sales and Professional Video Services UTV Avoid Sensationalism To the Editor: Sensationalistic journalism creates the need for victims. I am sure that you are following the lead of major newspapers around the country, but does that necessarily make it right? The answer is no. Sensationalistic journalism and the victimization of our society is tearing it apart by inviting tensions through an overstatement and an over-eagerness for divisiveness. People are too eager to over-interpret what is said and done. I'm not saying that we should just "Don't worry and be happy," but we should be able, as rational human beings, to decide what truly is relevant and what is peripheral in its "newsworthiness." As those responsible for creating the appropriate forum for the discussion of issues in this community, you should question the very nature of what is "news" each and everyday. You should ask yourselves, "Did we have an agenda with this article/headline?" "Were we as objective as we possibly could have been?" "Will the unknowing reader be able to conclude on his or her own the implications of this article?" "Am I mature enough to let members of the Penn community decide for themselves, without my influence, what certain statements might or might not mean?" As I stated above, I do not want to read a paper that has only "good news;" that would be unproductive and a waste of everyone's time because it would not further educate members of the community on issues/problems which they may desire to solve through solutions via intelligent discussion. But reading about worthless things is also a waste of time, and reading someone's opinion on the front page is the most damaging of all. Please always keep this in mind when you send the DP to print. Just remember why newspapers were invented in the first place: to inform and educate a community and not to seek out victims and divide us all. I know you all work long into the night for many people's benefit; we appreciate the hard work (over 97 percent of us!) which you perform at no cost to us. I just want to ask you to do even better, because I know you are capable of it. After all, you're at an Ivy League institution and we all know how we got here: good is not good where better is expected. Let's not forget it! Carter Bell College '97