Fund Rainy Dawg Radio

To: asuwpres@u.washington.edu

Dear ASUW President Madeline McKenna,

My name is Phil Neff, 2007 alumnus of the University of Washington. During my time as an undergraduate and graduate student at the UW, I served as a volunteer DJ with Rainy Dawg Radio for more than four years, and served as Music Director for the station during 2005-2007. I can state without exaggeration that my experience at Rainy Dawg provided some of the most memorable and enriching experiences of my time at the UW. I came to be close friends with knowledgeable and dedicated volunteers and staff members, worked with exciting upcoming and internationally-recognized artists, and had the opportunity to vastly expand and share my own knowledge of music, especially local music produced in the Pacific Northwest, to which I dedicated my long-running show Cascadia Now!

Although I do not currently work in the music industry, my experience as Music Director provided me with skills that have translated directly to my current work in Guatemala supporting local human rights organizations as part of the Network in Solidarity with People in Guatemala, including coordination of volunteers, facilitation of organizational meetings and strategy, and writing on a deadline. Many colleagues of mine from Rainy Dawg, however, have found their calling as artists and as members of the music community, including as radio DJs for KEXP and The End, as concert and band promoters, as writers and critics, and as locally and nationally renowned performers and producers. I have no doubt that many of them found their path into a career in music greatly facilitated by the contacts and direct experience provided by their association with Rainy Dawg.

University radio stations are a crucial part of the music community's life-cycle and ecosystem, training generations of students in the skills that make it possible for the rest of us to enjoy new, exciting, creative art every day. I urge you to continue to fund Rainy Dawg Radio and to reject cuts which would eliminate staff positions at the student-run station. These positions, in addition to nurturing individuals who are interested in careers in music, help support students' tuition and living costs, and are particularly critical during a time of rising tuition costs, economic difficulties, and skyrocketing student debt.

Thank you,

Phil Neff

B.A. English and Human Rights, University of Washington 2007

Music Director, Rainy Dawg Radio, 2005-2007

P.S. You can't kill rock!