• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1990-03-26_Vol55_No16_03

Voices The Western Carolinian Page 3 Monday, March 26. 1990 Letters to the Editor Christine Faris Editor-in-Chief New radio format not in best interest of students WCTZ, formerly, and soon to be again, WWCU has made changes lately that have been on everyone's mind within listening distance. I'm sure most people know what I am referring to, the playing of The Year of the Cat" tor 36 hours, and then a change in format that consisted of cutting specialty shows, and going to format that is supposed to be Top 40. None of this disturbed me very much in the begining, it seemed like the same old station. Yes, I admit that I miss the classic rock shows on Tuesday and Thursday nights, (as I'm sure several of you do) but I can always listen to tapes. What irritated me the most were the comments made on the Public Affairs Show on Thursday, March 22nd. This show was supposed to be about student apathy on campus. From what I understand this topic was discussed for about 20 minutes and the issue turned to, why the radio station made these changes? It was at this time that I tuned in to hear the comments made by Michael Jones. These comments forced me to write this editorial. What comments am I refering to? Such generalizations as, all of the students like the changes that have been made, and the ones who don't cannot adapt to change. To me, this reduces me, as well as the others who disagree, to people who are incapable of existing in the real world. I beg to differ. Although this is not the real point I am trying to make. So, I'll cut through the bull sh— and get down to basics. Mr. Jones says he is serving the needs of this campus with his format change. If Mr. Jones had payed attention to his RTV classes he would have learned otherwise. It is WELL known that CHR or Top 40 serves the age groups of 12-18 among both sexes, and women 18- 24. What about the men 18-24? What is commonly known as AOR or Album Oriented Rock is top in thier catagory. Therefore, this demonstrates the need for the Rock shows on Tuesday and Thursday nights. He says he is serving the campus when more than half of the campus consists of men. "Among full time students, 50.3% are men, and 49.7% are women," according to Cecil Brooks of the Department of Institutional Studies and Planning. Well, I'm sure Mr. Jones would reply with, these statistics are na tionwide, not in the Cullowhee area. That's reasonable. Any good broadcaster knows that before you make changes to a format you see what your audience wants. Was a survey taken? No! Was anyone asked about this, or a random sample taken? Maybe. From what I understand a lot of this was based on word of mouth and phone calls. This is not a listeners' survey. It is also well known to programmers that the person that does make the effort, the ones who make the phone calls and write the letters, are usually in the minority! So, this excuse should not be used if you are trying to be professional as you seem so desperately to want to be. Mr. Jones also complained that the administration made him return to the old call letters. Did it ever occur to him that maybe part of their reasoning behind this enforcement was due to the blatant student and faculty dislike of what was going on, as well as the obvious disregard for their authority. As someone once said to me "Don't bite the hand that feeds you." That can be taken from an administration viewpoint, as well as a student one, since the radio stations funding comes partially from student tuition. Now FCC laws, Mr. Jones says, "We didn't break any FCC laws." Technically, no, but after speaking with people who have been in the business for a long time, yes you did What is in question is the change of the call letters from WWCU to WCTZ. They still played the regulation station identification at the top of the hour, but what was overlooked was the confusion of what the call letters were. You see all radio stations are supposed to serve their community, WWCU most of all, because they are, non-commercial. The FCC doesn't always go strickly by the book, they use their better judgement about circumstances such as this. If a tape were sent to the FCC and they called the administration they would have discovered what was going on and probably taken away the license, based on the fact that WWCU was not serving the needs of the public, by confusing them. Therefore, they put the only station that most of us can pick up in jeopardy. I ask you, does that sound like they are really trying serve our needs by getting themselves kicked off the aii? Now, I am sure the fact that I used to work at the radio station will be revealed sooner or later. So, I will say that the occurances when I worked there had very little to do with what I am writing here, except for the anticipation of Mr. Jones reply. I am genuinly concerned about this station because I spent three and half years there. I will always love that station and hold it dear in my heart. Maybe this is why I became so angry when I heard Mr. Jones comments over WWCU, and why I am writing this now. Overall, I feel that what has happened is bad! Things were done that probably should not have been. Mr. Jones, next time instead of taking it upon yourself to decide what you think the people want, ask! It may not be what you want to hear, but that is part of the real world that you seem to believe you live in. Instead of condemning other people to live a life of fantasy, check your own life first, you may find youv'e been living it yourself! Aletha Hyatt "Z 91" station manager speaks for campus radio station It is obvious that the campus radio has made a number of changes since spring break. We are sporting a new logo; our musical programming has been brought into line with current contemporary hit radio formats. Our news and informational programming has been reformatted to stick with what is pertinent to our audience, and we are now on the air 24 hours per day. Unfortunately, the Leukemia Society did not follow through on its commitment of materials that were necessary to take donations, and the Leukemia Society representative could not be here for the Radio-Thon. We hope that we will be able to reschedule the Radio-Thon for April. The Leukemia situation forced us to sign on the unprepared, thus the Year of the Cat was our only way to stall for time. In the process of making these changes, I can honestly say that the majority of the listening audience seems to be pleased with the "New Z-91." this is based on phone callers "and personal feedback form WCU students and members of local community. We plan to develop a survey from an independent source in the near future to eliminate any doubt which may be present about the widespread acceptance of our new "Z" format. However, there is not total "Joy in Mudville." There are five major groups who feel put-out by our actions. The administration, a select few members of the department of speech and theatre arts, present disillusioned staff members, past dist- gruntled staff members, and students who are concerned that certain segments of our specialty programming have been eliminated. The administration is MAD! The station requested about five weeks ago that our call letters be legally changed to WCTZ. The administration refused our request, citing that the WCTZ call letters would not properly reflect our affiliation with the university. Our contention is that WCTZ does two things for the station. From a radio programming standpoint, it gives us a lot more flexibility than WWCU does. WWCU is cumbersome and does not allow us to be as "creative." Form the standpoint of our University affiliation, it is our belief that WCTZ brings us closer to the "spirit" of the school. The "CATZ" is to a big degree what makes Western fun. It is trendy and even a bit flashy. It is what gives people pride. As an example, when someone asks about Western, people don't think about "the community of scholarship" concept. They think...Western Carolina...the Catamounts. This is not to say that either is any more significant where university* image is concerned, however, the CATZ concept has more light-hearted and less stuffy sound. And that is the image which we want to convey. Some of the station positioning statements right now include..."Better than running through the UC lawn naked," "The best damn college radio station around...including Appalachian...not to mention anyone in particular," and our best one is what is to become of the station mascot..."Puss theZ-Cat." We don't see what more we can do to affiliate ourselves with the school. When we were WWCU, from the programming viewpoint, we hardly mentioned the call letters of the University. It is safe to say that we have mentioned more about Western Carolina University and the CATZ since the change, than we have since the station signed on for the spring semester. Being stubborn people who believe in the CATZ concept, we decided to use the WCTZ as a logo. The station' s legal call letters are still WWCU, and at the top of every hour, we legally identify the station as that. According to attorneys from the National Associations of Broadcasters and the Federal Communications Commission, we are legally correct in calling ourselves WCTZ so long as for the station identification purposes we still use WWCU. Let me make that point one more time, since there are a number of people who were not smart enough to ask either the NAB, the FCC or me for literature on the subject, we are legal! I'd even say that I'm a bit offendedjhjit, the people who question this (they know me) would think thatojl wouldn't cover the station's &$#. I would like, before I start in on the speech and theatre arts Department, to say that a large part of what I believe to be true is not documented, nor do I have any access to any documentation...however, word from the grapevine is that the department has shown unusual interest in our station's activities these days (note: I received an irate phone call from the STA department head Friday afternoon concerning comments that I made during our public affairs show this past Thursday night and he was angry over a statement I made concerning the department's desire to use this station as another radio lab. All I can say is that the information comes from as close to the top as I have ever talked to and I consider that source far more reliable. As matter of fact, our department head who did not even know our call letters two months ago (I have a memo in which he refers to us as WCCU instead of WWCU), seems to be concerned.. .nay, outraged over what we have done. It seems, again I have this information from a staff member who was recently grilled by a couple of the STA faculty, tht he is outraged over our supposedly criminal activities. It seems, according to the administration, that the department of STA feels that the current station management is not responsible enough to continue operation of the station. Never mind the fact that listeners are happy with the move and the FCC has no problem. I would only suggest that the department of STA get it's own problems solved before becoming concerning over a problem that rests with the Office of Student Development Our disillusioned station staff members are the next item on the hit list—basically comprised of the people who live in their own little world. This is where I come into the "personal stereo" concept. The "personal stereo" concept simply put is when people, in radio treat the medium as an outlet for personal egos. They like to talk, just for the sake of hearing their rattle, with little or no regard for the audience whom they are imposing. They walk into the control studio and they are in their on little world. Typically, listeners know when these people are on the air, because the normal reaction is to tune them out, call them up and cuss them out or turn them off. Their motivation is the sheer joy of talking. The thing that the station management is most thankful for is that these people are few and far between. I want you to think about it, you will probably know exactly who I am talking about. An off chute of the disillusioned staff members group is a handful (literally) of people who just plain don't share the current station management's views on the direction of the station. They say that we are too serious. It can only be said that with as little choice as listeners have in this area, where a variety of stations are concerned, that it is a good thing that we don't fall into the disillusioned staff and friends category, otherwise the Cullowhee listening audience would be pulling out its hair. Our philosophy is that the public wants entertainment, with GOOD information and professionally compatible sound (ie. the majority wants for the campus station to sound like super stations from back home) since there is no station that is consistently accessible in this area like that. (Contrary to what some may say, KISS-FM is not available everywhere in this community, much less everywhere on campus). We promise, that for every song that a listener doesn' t like, there is at least one management staff member that doesn't like it either. But that is not the point...even if a particular individual doesn't like a song played, we know that there are many others who do like it. Enough of the lecture on the virtues of radio programming. If you would like further information, I can talk about the subject for days, and can be reached at the station all afternoon most afternoons. Digruntled former staff members are probably the most difficult to deal with. The radio station operates as a republican form of government (if I am wrong about my basic defi nition of republic, all you poly-sci types, please get in touch!). Our virtual bible of Cullowhee radio is called the Policy and Procedural Manual of the Western Carolina University Radio Service and no person who works for the station is above it's rules, regulations, and guidelines. The station is comprised of general manager who is appointed by the campus communications committee (CCC). The CCC is comprised of the outgoing general manager, station advisor, the station staff member at large, the vice Chancellor for student development and the president, vice- president, and the senator pro tern of SGA. Yes, the general manager is a bureaucrat appointed by the CCC as a trustee of the communities' interests in the operation of the station and chief adminsitrator for the station. The buck, ideally, stops there. The general manager appoints a program director, a news director, an operations manager and technical director. The general manager is also responsible for acquiring secis- tarial services. In turn the program director appoints an assistant program irector, a music director and an assistant music director. The news director appoints an assistant news director and a public service director. The technical director and operations manager do not appoint anyone since their areas are pretty well contained, and by design have to be. Some of you may be asking... where does the "republic" fit in here? The station staff elects three people from three different areas to voice their concern about station business to the proper bureaucrat or appointee, as the case may be. One person is elected from programming, one from news and one from the station staff at large. The staff member at-large serves as chair person of this three person "advisory council." All of the persons who are on the advisory council are also on the station appeals committee with the general manager and station advisor and no changes may be made in the Policy and Procedural Manual without the advisory council's consent. The advisory council, in short, holds all the cards (as a group) since the only person that can overturn an advisory council decision is the Vice Chancellor for Student Development The disgruntled staff is a remnant of the old, really old, WWCU. These people started here in 1986 or 1987. This was a time when the station was hated by all. The people who were involved with the station, by today's standards, would be considered disillusioned staff members. They were not believers but disciples of "personal stereo" concept. When the current management started coming into the station hierarchy, in the spring of 1987, it was blatantly obvious to us that something was wrong. Most people HATED the station. There was not consistency in format, the announcing staff was nothing short of a joke. By fall of 1988, we had an almost new management staff in place. See "Z 91", page 4 (P ^ Student On The Street "What do you think of the campus radio station's recent format change? ?? Name: Bill Anderson Hometown: Shelby, NC Rank: Senior Vlajor: History "I like it a lot better than .he old format. They're playing Better music with the straighter format. I commend the staff for its fforts." ^ Name: Ronny Whitaker Hometown: Asheville, NC Rank: Junior Major: Criminal Justice "Ilikeit;it'sgreat! They're playing a lot more newer music and seem to be more into the times. I feel positive about the increase in more Top 40 hits, and I really enjoy listening now." Name: Marty Humphrey Hometown: Jacksonville, NC Rank: Freshman Major: Undeclared "I enjoy listening because of the large variety in music. My favorite time to listen is when Dino is on the air. He's great!" Name: Channelle James Hometown: Asheville, NC Rank: Sophomore Major: Psychology "I think the change is effective. Before, I was not as pleased because basically one type of music was played. Now, they play more diversified music, the type I enjoy. The change has made the station into a more professional one, similar to those larger stations I can pick up at home." Name: Sabrina Davis Hometown: Stockton, California Rank: Junior Major: Psychology "I like the extended hours and the different music being played, but I want the progressive rock show back. Also, I don't like the fact that the same songs are now played over and over again. I'm getting tired of them." Name: Claire Farzanegan Hometown: Asheville, NC Rank: Sophomore Major: RTV "I think the format is now too specific. It would be more effective if they appealed to a broader audience, maybe more rock, jazz, and various types of music rather than all Top 40." 4>

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University's student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 1990-03-26
  • Date digitized: 2019-09-24
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22.75" x 14.25"
  • Pages: 14 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1990-03-26_Vol55_No16
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library