By Ari Natalya Wuthrich
Dave Johnson and Samuel Glanzer campaigned their way into the BYUSA presidency on the platform promise of bringing a student-run radio station to campus.
Now students wait to tune into the student radio station promised to them. But how soon will they be able to tune in and what tunes will they be listening to?
“We want to avoid the Kurt Bestor and Janice Kapp Perry stereotype that has been given to the station,” Johnson said.
Johnson and Glanzer said they are very supportive of what the students want to hear on the radio station. But upon hearing Johnson”s description of what the station will carry and the stereotype they are trying to avoid some students were offended. Johnson and Glanzer are focused on the legalities of bringing the station to campus and trying to create a “cool” station. Some students, however, said they are failing to listen to what their fellow students have to say.
“What do they consider popular?” said Marissa Crandell, 20, a graduate student in school counseling psychology. “What if I consider Janice Kapp Perry popular?”
The feasibility of the station coming to campus at all is under review, and the station will have to undergo an approval process through administration, as well as getting licensed through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Johnson said they are looking at three different options for the station: a milliwatt station, which is the least expensive; a 1-Watt AM; a designated AM station; and a carrier current, which is run through wires. They are looking at the difference in cost versus coverage area.
FCC analyst Allen Myers said that unless the station is set up as a carrier current, which runs on electricity through the buildings, then the chances of a station coming to campus soon is highly unlikely. The FCC is not accepting new applications and has not decided when they will open up the option, and even then BYU might not be able to find a frequency available in the Provo market.
The carrier current system, the easiest option to make available to students, uses electrical current, which can be connected to every building on campus. This option does not require FCC licensing, but the station could only be heard within 50 feet of the buildings and would be unavailable off campus.
Carlos Bassett, information technology specialist, said although the carrier current system would be less expensive, the process of running a wire system that complex would cost a lot of money.
“It is not going to be accessible enough to the students,” Bassett said. “It would mean spending a lot of money to reach very few students overall.”
Other students expressed sentiments that campus is where they went to study, not to be entertained, and their homes would be where they would try to catch up on the latest campus news.
“I thought the whole point was to spread the news of campus activities to students, but it doesn”t sound like it will happen for students who live off campus,” said Veronica Ayala, 22, a senior from Phoenix, Arizona, majoring in Spanish. “And I never hear the radio playing on campus.”
Before students can set their dial to the new station, the idea must pass the proposal stage.
Johnson and Glanzer sent an initial proposal to Vernon Heperi, associate dean of students, who reviewed the initial proposal and gave it back with suggestions. They are currently rewriting the proposal to resubmit.
Johnson said the biggest challenge they are facing is to show administration that the radio station has academic merit comparable to the cost. According to Johnson and Glanzer, the station would teach students how a radio station works, and give them hands-on experience in broadcasting. Johnson said the station has the potential to consistently reach a large number of students.
Heperi said he is looking at the financial feasibility and the reach to students among other things in the proposal.
“If it costs a half a million dollars we obviously won”t be able to start it,” Heperi said.
He is not the only one concerned about the possible cost. Students are concerned what the cost might mean for their own checking accounts, and are suspicious about where the finances for the project will come from.
“Where is the funding going to come from?” said Seth Whitaker, 23, a junior majoring in political science from Las Vegas. “I don”t want a radio station enough to let them raise my tuition.”
Johnson”s goal is to get the proposal approved by BYU in order to apply at the next open window with the FCC, indication that they do not plan on pursuing the carrier current system, and instead will try to forge through a difficult process. Johnson said that developmentally the station would be great because it would be student managed and run with faculty overseeing the whole process.
“Money can”t buy the ability to positively affect students” lives,” Johnson said. “The radio would connect the campus community.”
Aside from the obvious educational opportunities the radio station would provide for students, Johnson and Glanzer said they want to make the station fun for everyone. A student board would decide on the music that would be played.
The station would promote student on-campus activities and distribute administration information such as tuition deadlines. Johnson and Glanzer want the majority of advertising to be “Zion-based,” meaning the primary advertising will come from campus venues. Depending on the type of station chosen, commercial advertising may not be allowed.
Some students have said they are uninformed about what is going on and they doubt the radio idea will actually come to fruition.
“I think he”s a classic case of promising more than he has power to fulfill,” said Peter Robison, 22, a junior majoring in political science, from Ohio. “It”s not his fault for not being able to do it. That”s part of the office. But no one should make promises they can”t keep unless they want to get branded as a real politician.”
