Well they ain't teachin' compliance....

[Cameron]

Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of )
Alderson-Broaddus College, Inc. ) File No. EB-06-CF-269
Licensee of Radio Station WQAB )
Facility ID #908 ) NOV No. V20073234001
Philippi, WV )

NOTICE OF VIOLATION

Released: February 6, 2007

By the District Director, Columbia Field Office, Northeast Region,
Enforcement Bureau:

1. This is a Notice of Violation ("Notice") issued pursuant to Section
1.89 of the Commission's Rules to Alderson Broaddus College, Inc.,
licensee of radio station WQAB(FM) in Philippi, West Virginia.

2. On December 6, 2006, agents of the Commission's Columbia Field Office
inspected radio station WQAB, located at Philippi, West Virginia and
observed the following violations:

a. 47 C.F.R. S 11.15: "A copy of the [EAS Operating] Handbook must be
located at normal duty positions or EAS equipment locations when an
operator is required to be on duty, and immediately available to
staff responsible for authenticating messages and initiating
actions." During the inspection, the EAS Handbook was not available.

b. 47 C.F.R. S 11.61(b): EAS "entries must be made in broadcast station
records as specified in S 11.54(b)(12)." At the time of the
inspection, agents found that the station was not maintaining EAS
records.

c. 47 C.F.R. S 73.1870(b)(3): "The designation of the chief operator
must be in writing with a copy of the designation posted with the
station license." During the inspection, the agents observed that
there was no written designation of the chief operator.

d. 47 C.F.R. S 73.1870(c)(3): "The chief operator is responsible
for...review of the station records at least once each week to
determine if required entries are being made correctly..." At the
time of the inspection the chief operator could not produce any of
the station records to indicate that they had been reviewed.

3. Pursuant to Section 308(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as
amended, and Section 1.89 of the Commission's Rules, Alderson Broaddus
College, Inc., must submit a written statement concerning this matter
within twenty (20) days of release of this Notice. The response must
fully explain each violation, must contain a statement of the specific
action(s) taken to correct each violation and preclude recurrence, and
should include a time line for completion of pending corrective
action(s). The response must be complete in itself and signed by a
principal or officer of the licensee. All replies and documentation
sent in response to this Notice should be marked with the File No. and
NOV No. specified above, and mailed to the following address:

Federal Communications Commission
Columbia Field Office
9200 Farm House Lane
Columbia, MD 21046

4. This Notice shall be sent to Alderson Broaddus College, Inc., at its
address of record.

5. The Privacy Act of 1974 requires that we advise you that the
Commission will use all relevant material information before it,
including any information disclosed in your reply, to determine what,
if any, enforcement action is required to ensure compliance. Any false
statement made knowingly and willfully in reply to this Notice is
punishable by fine or imprisonment under Title 18 of the U.S. Code.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
James T. Higgins
District Director
Columbia Field Office
Northeast Region
Enforcement Bureau

Can't a call to a senator get them off-the-hook and an STA for 50kw?


EAS Encoder/Decoder is at the bottom of the rack, kiddies.

[engineer]

Two weeks ago I went through my seventh inspection in 21 years. The FCC was stuck in a Morgantown hotel because of the snow storm. The inspector was a nice fellow. He spent about 20 minutes with the public file, and about an hour with the EAS records. I just happened to be working there that day when he showed up. I remember being taught how to do proofs back in the mid to late 80's. Today, they seem to care less about the technical compliance of a station. The inspectors used to want to get out to the tower site. Now the first words are "where is the EAS stuff." I guess public safety is more important than the station down the street that is running 130% mod and 17% pilot injection! Does anyone care anymore about the technical parameters of a station? I guess we passed inspection. No NOV yet!

[Cameron]

Today, they seem to care less about the technical compliance of a station. The inspectors used to want to get out to the tower site. Now the first words are "where is the EAS stuff." I guess public safety is more important than the station down the street that is running 130% mod and 17% pilot injection! Does anyone care anymore about the technical parameters of a station?

I think it has little to do with public saftey an more to do with areas that can be easily inspected and have the most latitude for mistakes.
A field office can train an inspector to "shotgun" areas like EAS and the public file because all you need is a checklist and a little information about the area plan. The Commission can maximize their potential for fine-revenue with personnel trained in these areas.

We'll see what happens with the XM/Sirius merger to get a gauge on the FCC's concept of, "publics', interest, convenience, and necessity."

[Tom Taggart]

"public interest, convenience and necessity"

Real FCC mission statement:

The PUBLIC be dammed. We operate at our own CONVENIENCE, its up to business to pay our friends enough before we will take any INTEREST in taking care of things they think are NECESSITIES.

[genlock]

Luckily, the new generation of transmitters is so stable and adjustment free that technical problems are rare. Sadly, there are a lot of the older types still in service. Anyway, we are protected from calamity thru the Public File.

[Hoosier Daddy]

"The PUBLIC be dammed. We operate at our own CONVENIENCE, its up to business to pay our friends enough before we will take any INTEREST in taking care of things they think are NECESSITIES.

True 'dat.