Warning Sign at KSFS (Photo by J. Waits)
It’s the start of a new semester on many college campuses, so it’s a good time to do another college radio news round-up. The semi-annual call for DJs, volunteers, and staffers is happening at college radio stations all over the country. Some stations are getting fresh profiles in their college newspapers and others are renewing their efforts to fight off proposed station sales by their administrations. Here’s a quick look at some of the college radio-related stories from the past few weeks.
Calling all Prospective DJs! WIUX Wants You
WIUX (Indiana University in Bloomington) is holding an informational meeting on Tuesday, January 18th. They are looking for news reporters, producers, hosts and bloggers.
WRVU Renews its Call for Help to Save its Station from a Potential Sale
It’s been pretty quiet on the WRVU-front lately after last fall’s announcement that the group that oversees the station is considering selling off its license, but with the start of a new semester, the Vanderbilt University college radio station is renewing its efforts to rally people in support of maintaining a terrestrial student-run radio station on campus. Save WRVU outlines a number of ways that listeners and fans of college radio can help. Tomorrow there will even be a brunch benefit at the Hotel Indigo in Nashville.
Cancellation of “Great Canadian Talk Show” at Canadian Campus-Community Station Draws Ire
Marty Gold, host of the recently canceled talk show, “The Great Canadian Talk Show,” that aired on Red River College’s campus radio station CKIC (aka Kick-FM) in Winnipeg, Canada is arguing that protests from local print journalists may have booted him off the air. On his blog this week he posted copies of email communication between the Editor of the Winnipeg Free Press and the President of Red River College. He also uncovered internal emails from Red River College which delve into details about the radio show host and go on to suggest ways that the college may be able to encourage the station to dismiss him. To listen to episodes of the show prior to its cancellation, take a look at the November 2010 show archives.
Spinning Indie Field Trip Series Makes a Stop at WZBC at Boston College
I continue my radio station field trip series (this trip marks station #25) by visiting the amazing WZBC. Devoted to music with “no commercial potential,” the student-run station at Boston College is college radio nirvana.
Profile of CLC Radio in Grayslake, Illinois
Often it’s challenging to get the back story about a college radio station from its website alone, so I’m always pleased when someone takes the time to interview the folks behind a station. This week a piece ran in the Grayslake Patch which profiles the General Manager of CLC radio. The GM actually was on the air at the station when he was a student at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois back in 1979. In the interview he provides insight into the day-to-day routine of the station, as well as some tidbits from its history.
Pomona College station KSPC is “Last of a Dying Breed”
I only DJ’d there for a year, but I will forever have a great deal of fondness for Pomona College’s student radio station KSPC. They are devoted to independent music and have a stellar crew of both student (from all of the Claremont Colleges) and community-member DJs. This great piece about the 50+ year-old station, explains that, “The station is the last of a dying breed” of independently-run college radio stations. Accompanying articles cover the range of shows on KSPC and the role of student DJs.
Ruling Finds that Radio Stations are the Owners of Promotional CDs and are free to Sell them
Big news for college radio stations this week, as the 9th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that promotional CDs are the property of the recipient and may be sold. This flies in the face of warnings from record labels who have forever cautioned that music sent to stations is being lent for promotional purposes. The full ruling can be found here (PDF).
College Radio ‘Zinester Lew Houston
In case you missed it, last week I profiled Lew Houston, who is the author of an incredible history of college radio at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. His ‘zine, “Finding WRKU” is a fascinating glimpse into the ups and downs of a student-run station. Coincidentally, Lew’s ‘zine was also recently reviewed for the One-Minute ‘Zine Review series.
Technical Snafus Take Union College station WRUC off the Air
Although the station should be up and running again within a few months, for the moment Union College radio station WRUC is off the air both online and terrestrially while station staffers try to remedy various technical issues with their computer systems. According to the piece in the Union College student newspaper, “While WRUC abruptly went off the air during the winter break, past station management and leadership was a major factor in the equipment failures. ‘Over the past fifteen years the lack of communication, documentation, and general miscommunication slowly caused things [at the station] to be disorganized, making everything a lot more difficult,’ [Technical Director Jacob] LaRocca said.”
