State College has always had a solid music scene, but no radio station has ever given local bands a chance to show off their talent or fulfilled the desires of the town's college listeners.

WPSU-FM is the only station that tried to go beyond the dusty old classic-rock or top-40 formats, giving public radio listeners a variety of programming from jazz to rap. But the station has tried to be all things to all people and ended up making no one happy. Now with a chance to branch off and try something new, students can make a radio station all their own.

WPSU will split into two stations this year, with the new station catering to the varied musical desires of Penn State students. It will be run by the administrative staff of WPSX-TV (TCI channel 3) and WPSU's student organization.

WPSU2, or maybe WCRK (as in college rock), or whatever the new station is called, will expand on the few hours of air time a night that students can tune in for enjoyment. Public radio listeners and students can both get fulfillment without any sort of time-share agreement.

College radio can be a real experience -- for both the listeners and the producers. Students will get a chance for some hands-on work producing not just two-hour segments, but the entire programming of a station. And listeners can hear the programs no one else (outside of WEHR-FM) would dare to play.

Imagine if you spun Muddy Waters next to the latest Gin Blossoms record, or pitched the Avengers alongside Janis Joplin. Here's the chance to find out -- pure free-form radio.

And a good station can always improve the music scene, giving local bands a chance to break out of the bars and onto the air waves.

Listeners should support the new station, giving the students working there input on what to play and how they are doing. And the producers must live up to the promise of college radio -- blasting away the confines of the mundane.

It's a lot to lay on a fledgling station, but all we ask is that the new WPSU explores the possibilities. Just don't get boring. There's too much of the same old thing cluttering up the airwaves around here already.