April 15, 2011

Nia Mack
1515 Broadway, 20th Floor
New York, NY
10036
(212) 846-7600
vh1savethemusic.com

Dear Nia Mack,

My name is Ben Shaw and I am a senior at the University of Rhode Island. I am

about to graduate with a degree in Music Composition with a focus in Jazz. I have been
playing saxophone for just about ten years, and have been performing all over Rhode
Island with various groups and ensembles. I am writing this letter for my Public Writing
course, as instructed by Frederick deBoer. I have always had a great deal of passion for
music and have always wanted to be a musician since I was two years old and I told my
parents I wanted to be a “rock and roll scientist.” Music is one of the most powerful arts
in our culture, and one the best ways for people to express themselves emotionally. It is
because of the power and beauty of music that we cannot allow it to be taken away from
those who might most value from it.
As I am sure you are well aware, our country is facing a grave financial and
economic crisis. Money is tight in these times, and there are sacrifices that must be made
in order to deal with the growing issue. Our schools especially are in dire need of
financial assistance, as a great deal of these institutions face budget cuts. In Rhode
Island, my home state, the problems have made their way to several schools across
several districts, and in order to deal with the budget issues these schools face, of the cuts
being made, the arts and music have been consistently some of the first programs to be
significantly reduced or ended entirely. As your organization is fully aware, we cannot
let this travesty continue, we must not let the arts leave public education. Music is an
essential part of a standardized public education, and therefore we must do all we can to
preserve the arts in schools.
Right now there are several music programs in Rhode Island facing this fate.
Some, like my hometown of Portsmouth Rhode Island, have had a great deal of their
allocated budget reduced, making it hard for them to afford new instruments,
transportation to different events, sheet music to play, and various other items needed to
run an effective music program. I have talked to my former band instructor Edward
Rausch, a man who has helped many including myself realize their potential for music,
several times about this subject, and the situation in Portsmouth seems to be growing
consistently worse over time. However, Portsmouth’s situation is not nearly as dire as
the city of Cranston. Recently, when the new budget for the Cranston school district was
announced, school superintendent Peter Nero declared that many extracurricular
activities, included music, would be eliminated. Cranston has already seen elimination of
their kindergarten through sixth grade music programs, but now the middle school’s
band, chorus, and strings programs will be cut completely for a savings of around
$134,000. If this happens, it will surely be a travesty for families in Cranston.
 There was a time though in Rhode Island where arts programs were protected
under state law from being completely eliminated. The state had passed legislation that
barred schools from completely eliminating arts programs and courses. They were Rhode
Island Code Chapter 16-46 Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and 16-46.1 Rhode
Island Cultural Arts Commission. However, they have since been repealed, now offering
no protection to arts and music programs across the state, making both easy targets for
budget reduction. As stated above, without this protection, our school programs are
being shrunken or cut completely, a trend we cannot allow continue. One way that
advocates such as myself have aimed to combat this is by questioning the standard “math,
science, and english” educational plan, by showing that music is just as important as
these core subjects, and in many cases, actually aids in the education of these necessary
courses.
Music education is a financially viable, efficient, and effective way for schools to
raise their standardized test scores. Several different experts in various fields have
proved this through countless hours of research. The Rhode Island Music Educators
Association released a study in 2007 that showed the percentage of proficiency in math
and reading, via NECAP (New England Common Assessment Program) standardized test
scores, in both band and non-band students. What they found was that in both math and
reading, band students had a higher proficiency than non –band students, and as the grade
level increased, the gap between the two percentages widened. These figures may be due
to the fact that music uses all parts of the brain, although not all at the same time, music
nonetheless requires every process. For instance, Charles Limb of the Johns Hopkins
University’s Peabody Institute used a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
machine to scan several jazz musicians’ brains as they improvised both alone and with
another improviser. What they found was that parts of brain that inhibit certain actions,
self-monitor, shut off and lower inhibitions during improvisation, and that co-improvising
with another person activates the inferior frontal gyrus, which hold the language centers
of the brain. Further studies from other scientists have also revealed such findings with
other parts of the brain. Young musicians have even shown to have a five percent
increase in cerebellum size.
It would stand to reason that with these facts and the innumerable amount of data
to support them, that music would be recognized as an essential part of every child’s
education. Even the “No Child Left Behind” act mentions the arts under the definition of
core academic subjects (part A – sec. 9101. definitions). However, this is not the case
throughout the country, and many Rhode Island schools are seeing their arts programs
dissolve. The passion for music is there, but the funds are not. The only way to combat
this issue is to raise funds, or at the very least bring this growing issue to the foreground.
This is where you’re organization can be of great assistance to my efforts.
My plan is to setup a concert in the state of Rhode Island that would be used to
raise funds for school music programs and gain support to reinstate Rhode Island Code
Chapter 16-46 and 16-46.1. I am not proposing that your organization make a donation
of funds or instruments for Rhode Island schools, simply that you help my cause with
your influence and resources. With your support, we would be able to advertise
throughout the state, rally local schools to attend and perform, possibly gain the support
of some larger musical acts, and bring overall awareness to this problem. While it may
require some form of funding, I assure that all monetary loss will surely be worth it to
preserve the states’ arts programs. Performing at this event would be local area talent
such as school marching bands, orchestras, big bands, and other ensembles to showcase
the musical talent that Rhode Island has, from all ages ranging from middle school to
college level. Along side these school performances, I hope to recruit, using your
organization’s contacts and influence, larger known performing acts that would be more
likely to draw a larger crowd. Tickets sales could be used recoup losses and also raise
money to aid school music programs.
The “Vh1 Save The Music Foundation” has done a great deal to aid music
programs throughout the country. The instruments and funds you have donated have
made huge changes in the lives they have helped. You all have made a significant impact
in helping music stay in the hands of those who might value most from it. These
programs do not have to end, and they can be saved. Thank you for your continued
support of the arts. I look forward to future correspondence with you, and thank you very
much for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Shaw