Are you someone who has ever been informed by the in-depth reporting on National Public Radio? Have you or your children ever benefitted from the vast array of educational programs on PBS? Well, the funding cuts proposed by the new leaders of Congress may jeopardize the future of quality programs such as "All Things Considered" (on WPSU-FM) and "Sesame Street" (on WPSX-TV).

Public broadcasting offers programming that privately owned, commercial television and radio won't carry. Commercial broadcasting won't carry these programs because they lack the money-making potential of current programming. However, lack of money-making potential does not mean that a show is without some redeeming value. In fact, sometimes the opposite is true. Where commercial broadcasting offers children the violence of programs like "The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," public broadcasting offers the educating potential of "Sesame Street." Where commercial broadcasting offers the short-attention span sound bites of big network news, public broadcasting offers the in-depth reporting (i.e. more than 15 seconds per story) of "Morning Edition."

All of the benefits offered by public broadcasting come to us at a ridiculously low price. This year the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will receive $285.6 million from federal funding. This may sound like a large sum, but it really isn't. This works out to about only 80 cents per U.S. citizen this year. Eighty cents for literally thousands of hours of high-quality broadcasting. Sounds like a bargain to me.

Congress will be voting on this issue very soon. I urge you to contact your representatives in Congress and ask them to vote to continue funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.