Of Interest: Dalai Lama Broadcast

KCSB 91.9 FM to Air Exclusive Live Radio Broadcasts of Dalai Lama’s UC Santa Barbara Speeches


SANTA BARBARA—On Friday, April 24th, KCSB 91.9 FM, Santa Barbara’s only non-commercial community radio station, will air exclusive live broadcasts of two speeches by the Dalai Lama from the Events Center at the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara. The 14th Dalai Lama’s public lectures have been sold out for months, but listeners can tune into KCSB 91.9 FM or to KCSB’s live webstream (www.kcsb.org) to hear his lecture, “The Nature of Mind,” from 9:30-11:30am, PDT, and his follow-up talk, “Ethics for Our Time,” from 2-4pm.

This visit will mark the Dalai Lama’s fourth appearance in Santa Barbara. The special broadcasts are the result of collaboration between KCSB-FM, UCSB’s Department of Religious Studies, the Buddhist Studies program, and UCSB Arts & Lectures. KCSB General Manager Erin Fleming says, “We at KCSB are very excited to make this historic occasion accessible to a wider audience.”

In anticipation of the event, KCSB 91.9 FM is also participating (for the third year) in the UCSB Reads common reading experience: each weekday at noon through April 23rd, KCSB will air live half-hour readings from the Dalai Lama’s book, “Ethics for a New Millennium.”

On a related note for KCSB, today, Wednesday, April 8th, Religious Studies instructor Dr. Gregory Hillis (host of “Aqui Se Puede,” a Latin music show on KCSB), will be presenting the free public lecture, “An Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism,” 7:30pm at the Unity Church of Santa Barbara (227 E. Arrellaga St.). Broadcast information for this talk will be announced at a later date.

KCSB Broadcast of Two Dalai Lama Speeches
Friday, April 24, 2009: “The Nature of Mind,” 930am, and “Ethics for Our Time,” 2pm
Live from UCSB’s Event Center on KCSB 91.9 FM (kcsb.org); Rebroadcast Days/Times To Be Announced.

Indy/KCSB Form Partnership for IndyAlert

Have a few posts today! Here's a press release that is important considering the Gap Fire. -- Sara

For Immediate Release
August 18, 2008

KCSB 91.9 FM and Santa Barbara Independent Form Partnership
To Better Serve the Public During Emergencies

SANTA BARBARA--Radio station KCSB 91.9 FM has partnered with The Santa Barbara Independent to help inform the community during emergencies and public safety threats. This new emergency information service offers email and text-message notifications (IndyAlert), as well as radio broadcasts utilizing the combined news departments of The Independent and KCSB.

“Radio has proven to be the only stable medium during significant public emergencies,” said KCSB’s Chief Engineer Bryan Brown. “KCSB is the only local station with trained staff on-hand 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, who are able to pass on important information during times of crisis.”

Independent publisher Randy Campbell stated: “We’re happy to find a dynamic partner like KCSB that brings passion for community service, reporters on the ground covering news as it happens, and a staff broadcasting live 24 hours a day -- a rarity in modern day radio.

“In the past two years we’ve been on the literal front lines of many of Santa Barbara’s disasters and emergencies, with our website providing timely coverage we couldn’t achieve with the weekly newspaper. But we sometimes found the immediacy of our website was inconvenient or unavailable,” Campbell continued. “By adding text messaging and email alerts, we can use the wide availability of cell phones to keep our subscribers informed. Add radio to the mix and we’ve got particularly valuable tools for communication during a power outage or on the go.”

The two-way exchange of resources and information between The Independent and KCSB 91.9 FM will provide a broader, more portable, up-to-the minute source for news and information during an emergency or disaster. Both organizations hope to maximize their service to the public, local governments, and emergency service agencies.

Representatives from the radio station and the weekly newspaper will speak publicly during the public comment period of government meetings on Tuesday, August 19. These include meetings of the County Board of Supervisors, Santa Barbara City Council, and the Goleta City Council. The Carpinteria City Council meets August 25.

More About the IndyAlert system:
Using the Independent.com website as the hub, IndyAlert will provide email, text message, and radio announcements to subscribers to this free service.

In the event of an emergency, a brief message will be sent to subscriber’s cell phone or computer. This could be a natural disaster (fire, earthquake, floods), an event with the potential to cause general public harm such as a toxic spill, or a Highway 101 or major traffic artery closure. Any of these problems would prompt an IndyAlert to your phone or inbox (or both). Alerts will also be broadcast by radio.


###