Sorry, jazz lovers

I'm learning a whole new way to argue, or as I prefer to put it, make up stuff. A recent letter to the editor in the Post-Gazette about the sale of WDUQ states that "jazz [is] inarguably the most influential cultural innovation of the 20th century." Hum. Inarguably. Well, that pretty much ends the conversation.

But I'll argue it anyway. I think the crown of cultural innovation should go to the civil rights movement, or rock and roll, or penicillin or Pee Wee Herman. What about Prince, or the Hula Hoop? What about Shirley Temple, or the Wizard of Oz? What about Elvis? I think we need an all-Elvis radio station here, and I also think it is my God-given right to have one. Porky Chedwick, where are you?

Jazz radio in Western Pennsylvania is unsustainable. Duquesne University was subsidizing WDUQ with hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. How can jazz listeners actually believe they are entitled to that level of subsidy from a private university?

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