PRINTER'S NO. 2012
No. 187 Session of 2000
INTRODUCED BY ROBBINS, HART, JUBELIRER, LOEPER, BRIGHTBILL,
EARLL, LAVALLE, WAGNER, WHITE, SALVATORE, MURPHY, BELL,
COSTA, KASUNIC, WENGER, STOUT, TARTAGLIONE, CORMAN, BOSCOLA,
GREENLEAF, SCHWARTZ, HUGHES, THOMPSON, O'PAKE AND MELLOW,
JUNE 6, 2000
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, JUNE 6, 2000
A RESOLUTION
1 Expressing condolences on the passing of Yolanda G. Barco.
2 WHEREAS, Yolanda G. Barco, cable television industry pioneer
3 and Pennsylvania Cable Network chairman emeritus, died at her
4 Meadville, Pennsylvania, home on Saturday May 27, 2000, at 74
5 years of age; and
6 WHEREAS, Yolanda Barco was the first woman nationally
7 recognized for advancing the cable television industry; and
8 WHEREAS, Along with her father, George J. Barco, Yolanda
9 Barco served as a principal attorney for cable television
10 interests during the industry's formative years, beginning with
11 the successful legal challenge of the Federal excise tax case in
12 the 1950's and extending to municipal franchise, pole
13 attachment, regulatory and copyright matters; and
14 WHEREAS, In 1972 Miss Barco was one of four cable industry
15 representatives on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
16 advisory committee on the development of regulatory policy; her
1 position against municipal regulation of cable television was
2 later adopted in deregulatory actions taken by the FCC; and
3 WHEREAS, Miss Barco was graduated as Meadville High School
4 valedictorian and Allegheny College salutatorian and earned a
5 doctor of jurisprudence degree from the University of Pittsburgh
6 School of Law; and
7 WHEREAS, Miss Barco was general manager of Meadville Master
8 Antenna, then one of the largest cable television systems in the
9 country, from the start of operations in 1953 to 1959, when she
10 became executive vice president and treasurer of the company;
11 and
12 WHEREAS, Miss Barco held the offices of executive vice
13 president and treasurer until 1987, when Meadville Master
14 Antenna was merged with Armstrong Communications, Inc.; and
15 WHEREAS, Miss Barco also helped found what is now the
16 Pennsylvania Cable & Telecommunications Association, serving on
17 its board of directors from 1957 to 1979, including an
18 unprecedented three terms as president; and
19 WHEREAS, During this time she was elected as a member of
20 Cable Television Pioneers and received the National Cable
21 Television Association's first Idell Kaitz Memorial Award for
22 the woman who "made the most significant contribution to the
23 advancement of the cable television industry"; and
24 WHEREAS, In 1979, Yolanda Barco joined the efforts of her
25 father and other cable operators in this Commonwealth in
26 organizing Pennsylvania Educational Communications Systems,
27 doing business as Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN), the first
28 educational cable television service in the United States; and
29 WHEREAS, Miss Barco became chief executive officer of PCN in
30 1982 and added the title of president in 1989; and
20000S0187R2012 - 2 -
1 WHEREAS, In 1999, with PCN firmly established as the
2 preeminent State public affairs network in the nation, Miss
3 Barco reduced her daily operational role in the service,
4 becoming PCN chairman and then PCN chairman emeritus; and
5 WHEREAS, Yolanda Barco was a member of the board of directors
6 and executive committee of the National Cable Television Center
7 and Museum; a member of the Board of Trustees of the University
8 of Pittsburgh and president of the Barco-Duratz Foundation, a
9 private charitable foundation established for the advancement of
10 continuing education; and
11 WHEREAS, The Barco Law Library at the University of
12 Pittsburgh is named in honor of Yolanda Barco and her father, as
13 is the Barco Library at the National Cable Television Center and
14 Museum in Colorado; therefore be it
15 RESOLVED, That the Senate note with deep sadness the passing
16 of Yolanda G. Barco, a remarkable and successful woman whose
17 extensive contributions to the cable television industry and
18 promotion of the use of communications technology for the public
19 benefit are recognized with admiration and respect; and be it
20 further
21 RESOLVED, That the Senate express its heartfelt condolences
22 to Miss Barco's sister, Helene Barco Duratz.
F6L82BIL/20000S0187R2012 - 3 -