The week of mourning the FM broadcast of KTRU 91.7 is coming to a close, leaving the unhappy Owls and college radio devotees facing the realization that KUHC, the new all-classical radio station, is happening.

While much of the debate has covered issues of Rice selling out its students, the loss of experimental music and the slick move by the University of Houston, it's yet to have been asked: If college radio is now extinct, what is the best option for a publicly broadcast music station in Houston?

The answer is not an all-classical station. As with any music genre (other than the neutered-rock of Nickelback), the merits of classical music are inarguable and audiences will always have shifting, subjective tastes. But by entirely usurping the underground programming of KTRU and replacing it with a homogenous program of classical music is not in the best interest of furthering the city's cultural milieu.

Los Angeles' KCRW should serve as a model for what innovative programming can come from a public all-music station. Their Eclectic 24 channel draws upon talented DJs who bring an appealing mix of indie, jazz, world music and associated programing to the airwaves. A recent morning broadcast included songs by The Roots, Tegan and Sara, Fruit Bats, Fleet Foxes, Ra Ra Riot and an interview and live performance with Rufus Wainwright.

Houston has an audience for such programming, and it's not an unattainable goal. Like KUHF 88.7, KCRW has an iPhone application, but goes further to make its brand relevant (and economically viable) via smart partnerships with last.fm, iTunes, Amazon, Subaru and PBR. If KUHC were to follow such a format, it could place Houston on the map as a national tastemaker.

What is unrealistic, however, is the notion that an all-classical station is representative of Houston's tastes. Today, scanning the FM dial, one hears the sound of a vibrantly diverse yet ethnically stratified city. What is a chance to bring together multilingual listeners from a broad range of ages is being diverted to a small audience of what is an assumedly majority affluent, white and geriatric group. In its proposed state, KUHC will not accurately represent the city it aims to serve.

To date, KUHF's prominence has not reached beyond its Houston audiences. Other major cities' public radio stations have a respectable roster of locally-produced, nationally distributed programming: Philadelphia's WHYY produces Fresh Air, Chicago can claim Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and This American Life, and LA's Marketplace is picked up by NPR stations across the country. Each time one hears Ira Glass say, "From WBEZ Chicago," it cements the city's identity in the national audience's mind as a place of forward thinking and smart discourse.

KUHF's Engines of Our Ingenuity somehow misses the boat when it comes to that sort of inspiration. Why has KUHF, with its $8.76 million budget and major university minds, failed to produce a quality show, both news or music-based, that is syndicated to national markets?

Houston is poised to provide such intriguing conversations to a national audience on topics of progressive healthcare and green energy. Instead, audiences are subjected to John Lienhard's diehard middle-brow lectures. While the show is picked up by 35 public radio stations, the list reveals that most are in miniscule towns (over half of which are in North Dakota). As it unfolds its all-music format on 91.7, the broadcasting station at the University of Houston should take the time to reconsider its own programming on 88.7.

Most NPR affiliates that offer indie, jazz and world music also include quality classical programming. Such current successes suggest that KUHC's entire model shouldn't be eliminated. Instead, 88.7 should launch fresh news programs with the potential of national syndication, along with a revised vision for KUHC to capitalize on KTRU's vocal audience and celebrate the city's pluralistic tastes.