MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2000 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Senator(s) Bryan, Chaney

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING AND CONGRATULATING MISSISSIPPI EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION UPON THE OCCASION OF ITS 30TH ANNIVERSARY.

WHEREAS, The Mississippi Authority for Educational Television (MAET) celebrates its thirtieth anniversary of broadcasting on February 1, 2000; and

WHEREAS, During the years MAET has grown from one television station to a network comprised of eight public television stations (ETV) and a nine-station public radio network (Public Radio in Mississippi and the Radio Reading Service of Mississippi); MAET serves all eighty-two counties of Mississippi with top quality educational and cultural programming; and

WHEREAS, MAET is Mississippi's most powerful statewide educational vehicle, reaching almost 200,000 television households each week with a half million viewers tuning in to Mississippi ETV during the day. Over 100,000 people listen to PRM each week; and

WHEREAS, ETV serves Mississippi classrooms with teaching and learning resources through varied technology ranging from broadcast to satellite to an interactive video network. TV courses include K-12 classes, college credit, GED, and professional development for teachers. Thirty-five hours of instructional programming are available each week by the same broadcast technology used in 1970. In addition, two hundred series are available through duplication services. ETV also has produced over fifty instructional series to fill specific needs of Mississippi teachers and students; all have been distributed nationally. A pioneer in interactive instructional television, ETV now has over a hundred sites on its interactive video network with 4,500 students enrolled in interactive courses. More than ninety high school courses and over 200 hours of staff development are available; and

WHEREAS, MAET serves special segments of the Mississippi audience through the Radio Reading Service (RRSM) and the Caption Center. RRSM broadcasts readings from newspapers, books, magazines, etc. twenty-four hours a day to special receivers provided to blind and print-handicapped listeners. The Caption Center provides television captions for hearing-impaired Mississippians on all programs originating at ETV, including real-time captioning for live broadcasts, and continues to caption older ETV productions as time allows. Captioning has also been recognized as an invaluable tool in teaching reading; and

WHEREAS, With its 24-hour-a-day broadcasts, PRM keeps Mississippians up-to-date with coverage of local events, state and world news and weather information, and announcements of various events within the state. It provides the best in music for listeners and promotes Mississippi performing artists through broadcasts of local concerts. PRM, in cooperation with MEMA and MDOT, is the official source of information during emergencies such as hurricanes; and

WHEREAS, ETV participates in the national Ready to Learn (RTL) program, a service designed to help parents, teachers, and other care givers use public television to help children love learning, thus advancing the goal that all children start school "ready to learn." ETV's RTL offered sixty-seven workshops during the past year, directly reaching over a thousand people; and

WHEREAS, ETV's general audience programming furnishes lifelong learning for Mississippi citizens; and

WHEREAS, complementing its strong commitment to instructional broadcasting, ETV offers a wide range of popular general audience programming, including nine continuing locally produced series, and highly acclaimed programs purchased from PBS and other sources; and

WHEREAS, In its thirty years of service to Mississippi, ETV has won more than 400 awards for instructional and general audience productions. These include the prestigious Peabody Award "for enhancing the educational system of the State of Mississippi through the innovative use of television," and a 1999 national Emmy for Ticktock Minutes, the first national Emmy ever won in Mississippi; and

WHEREAS, It is with great pride that we recognize this state agency which combines its strong commitment to public education with its general audience productions, bringing honor to its staff and to the State of Mississippi:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend and congratulate the Mississippi Authority for Educational Television (MAET) upon the occasion of its 30th anniversary of broadcasting, and wish it continued success in its mission.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to the Executive Director of MAET and its board of trustees, and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.