KUT is favored choice to revive campus music venue

The University of Texas is looking for a new entity to manage the Cactus Cafe, a campus music venue and bar, and KUT-FM is the hands-down favorite among student leaders, the Austin American-Statesman reports. The public radio station has offered to work with student organizations to program music events, but it doesn't want to manage the bar. "I don't want a line item in KUT's budget for alcohol," says Stewart Vanderwilt, g.m., during a public forum on options for the cafe. Early this year the university announced plans to shut down the money-losing venue, but, after an outcry from students and Austinites, it's now looking for ways to make it self-supporting. Vanderwilt suggested a combination of ticket sales and philanthropic support. "There are KUT donors who might give an extra $100 a year to be part of the 'Cactus Producers Club' or something," he says.

Youth bring home RFK Journalism Awards for radio

Two of public radio's youth media training units received 2010 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards for radio reporting. Youth Radio won in the international category with Rachel Krantz's investigation of hidden abuses of homosexuals in the military. Her story aired on NPR's All Things Considered. WNYC's Radio Rookies earned top recognition for domestic reporting with "This is the South Bronx," first-person narratives of teens living in poverty, by Miguelina Diaz, Keith Tingman and Amon Frazier.