Radio Station Field Trip 44 - KRRC at Reed College

KRRC at Reed College (photo: J. Waits)

During my visit to Oregon at the end of April for the What is Radio? conference I visited five non-commercial radio stations in Portland. My most hectic day of station tours was on Thursday, April 25th. After stopping at KBOO and KLC in the morning, I made my way to Reed College to KRRC. I was particularly interested in visiting the station after following its recent license travails. Although the station used to hold a class D FM license, it had been off the air since the end of November, 2011. For many years the station struggled to be heard on campus and that challenge grew even larger after a commercial Clear Channel station made plans to utilize its 97.9 FM signal. By early 2012, Reed opted to donate the KRRC license to Common Frequency.

Radio Station Field Trip 43 - KLC at Lewis and Clark College

KLC Radio at Lewis and Clark College (photo: J. Waits)

I was recently in Portland, Oregon for the What is Radio? conference. While there, I decided to set some extra time aside so that I could visit a bunch of non-commercial radio stations. Upon my arrival on April 25, my first stop was KBOO (more on that in a future post). Following that impromptu visit, the next stop on my whirlwind day of station visits was KLC at Lewis and Clark College. After leaving KBOO, I traversed over bridges and found my way to the beautiful wooded campus in southwest Portland. Thanks to some very detailed directions provided by KLC General Manager Shannon Boerner, I easily found the station.

 

KLC Entrance (photo: J. Waits)

Located in the Templeton Campus Center at Lewis and Clark, KLC is just past the entrance to the building near a student lounge area. Windows in the on-air studio and a windowed door to the lobby face the hallways of the building, so passersby can see into the station. The station has been in its current location since 1995 (it was in the basement of the building prior to that).   

Radio Station Field Trip 42 - WZRD at Northeastern Illinois University

Brand new WZRD T-shirt, featuring the original WZRD logo (all photos: J. Waits)

I was really thrilled to finally get the opportunity to visit college radio station WZRD 88.3 FM at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) in Chicago. Embroiled in controversy last year, WZRD was in the news for the dramatic lock-out of student DJs for more than five months.

WZRD record library

As I reported on Radio Survivor, on June 29, 2012, staff from WZRD were called into a meeting and told that student DJs were being suspended. The station was put on automation and the administration issued a statement that, "The WZRD student organization is currently under university review and on inactive status." In the days following the shut-down, a university spokesperson indicated that the station was still being operated by students (albeit, students selected by the university rather than by the WZRD club) and that there were hopes that student radio would continue at NEIU.  

Radio Station Field Trip 41 - WMRE at Emory University

Office window at WMRE (photo: J. Waits)

My final radio station field trip during my trip to Atlanta for the College Broadcasters Inc. (CBI) conference in October, 2012 was a visit to Emory University's student radio station WMRE. Since it was a bit more off the beaten path, I ended up taking a cab to Emory. Located in the Druid Hills section of Atlanta, the campus is nestled in a lush, suburban setting. WMRE General Manager Adam Valeiras offered to meet me at one of the entrances to the school and as we walked into campus and passed by all of the beautiful old buildings, I was reminded of my own college experience.

Radio Station Field Trip 40 - WREK at Georgia Tech

Near the entrance to WREK (photo: J. Waits)

The third radio station visit during my whirlwind tour of Atlanta in October, 2012 was a journey to WREK 91.1 FM at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Unlike the other tours (WRAS, SCAD Atlanta Radio and WMRE), which I arranged myself, the visit to WREK was an official activity at the College Broadcasters Inc. (CBI) conference.

CBI attendees on the field trip to WREK (photo: J. Waits)

On Thursday, October 25, 2012, a bus arrived at the conference hotel and picked up around 25 CBI attendees for a group tour of WREK. Cody Turner, the Operations Manager at WREK, met us at the hotel and was our official tour guide. When we got to the station, we broke into groups and toured through various parts of the station, including the spacious lobby, large on-air studio, and record library.

Radio Station Field Trip 39 - SCAD Atlanta Radio

Another sighting of the mysterious "Leo" sign at SCAD Atlanta Radio (Photo: J. Waits)

Last October I visited Atlanta in order to attend the national College Broadcasters Inc. (CBI) conference. I had a great time at the event and also spent a lot of time exploring Atlanta. Luckily there are a number of amazing college radio stations in town, so I made a point to visit 4 of them. I've already written about my trip to WRAS-FM at Georgia State University and on the same day of that visit (October 25, 2012), I also visited the station at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Atlanta.    

Radio Station Field Trip 38 - WRAS at Georgia State University

(Entrance to WRAS. All photos by Jennifer Waits)

Last month I journeyed to Atlanta, Georgia in order to attend the College Broadcasters Inc. (CBI) conference. In addition to mingling with college radio DJs and learning the latest broadcasting news, I was eager to visit as many college radio stations as I could. First on my list was WRAS 88.5 FM at Georgia State University in Atlanta. I walked over to the station from my hotel on the morning of Thursday, October 25 and met up with WRAS General Manager Anastasia Zimitravich. She toured me around the station and gave me some insight into the inner workings of WRAS.