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[ Friday, Feb. 5, 1999 ]
PHOTO: Dan Saelinger
Catherine D’Ambrosio (junior-telecommunications) uses a reel-to-reel tape machine in James Building for a telecommunications assignment.
The ongoing saga of WKPS
With little support or guidance from Penn State, dedicated students deal with construction hassles to keep the campus radio station humming
By MELISSA DUGAN
Collegian Staff Writer
The guys at Rockview knit doilies for them. Not just any radio station can claim such a privilege without providing conjugal visits. But WKPS-FM (90.7), Penn State's entirely student-run radio station, has attracted a diverse audience (platonically) with the wide variety of music its dedicated staff plays 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "We think about it in our sleep, we carry pagers around 24 hours a day -- it's all we are and all we do," said Sean Sedam (senior-journalism and political science), vice president of WKPS. But WKPS faced difficulties in laying its foundation at Penn State. At times, advisers have been scarce, and, most recently, the station has been forced to relocate some of its offices and equipment.
PHOTO: Dan Saelinger
WKPS-FM (90.7) station manager Laurie Roth (senior-broadcast journalism) sits in a room once filled with equipment. Construction in James Building, 123 Burrowes St., has forced the station to relocate some offices.
The station currently resides in James Building, where about six classes for the College of Communications are held during the day. Originally, WKPS operated in the lobby as well as a few of the classrooms, but now the college uses that space for classes. The college wants to re-design the building to maximize the room available for both the communications students and WKPS.
"The old configuration wasn't conducive to what the college had in mind," said Stan Latta, director of Unions and Student Activities and a liaison between WKPS and the college. "The construction is supposed to increase space for both WKPS and the communications classes."
Though the changes in the building promise to provide benefits, some of the WKPS staff said they were happy with their original situation.
"They told us the construction will give us all more room, but the space we had before was actually the ideal space," said Laurie Roth (senior-journalism), WKPS station manager.
Like most university departments, the College of Communications experienced a space crunch during the past few years and has to hold lab classes in the lobby previously used by WKPS.
Both the faculty and the staffers at the station have worked to accommodate each other, but the close quarters have prompted the college to free up funds for renovations.
The renovations, which will involve the construction of an additional office and another lab, plus the removal of a few walls to maximize space, will begin April 28 with the hope of avoiding any interference with the station's broadcasts.
"We're going to try and make it as smooth as possible," Latta said, "but there will be inconveniences."
The construction should be completed in about a month if all goes as planned, he said. The renovations will include a switch from analog to digital equipment for the labs and an increased number of outlets.
In an attempt to manage space and prepare for the changes, equipment used by WKPS has been moved from a small room loaned to them by the college to the HUB. The students at the station said the endeavor was suggested to them without enough notice because of the college's lack of familiarity with the station's setup.
"They (the College of Communications) haven't even been down here to understand the situation and the way things are," Roth said.
Lisa Richtscheit, the facilities coordinator for the college, said the students were given plenty of time to move their supplies out of the space, which is the college's property.
Though they share space, the college and WKPS have no official affiliation -- the radio station's recently appointed adviser, John Hurst, is also the assistant director of Student Activities.
PHOTO: Dan Saelinger
Chris Macaluso (junior-broadcast journalism) operates the board in James Building during a WKPS broadcast.
WKPS falls under the umbrella of Student Activities, and is financed by the Office of Student Affairs. The lack of the college's official involvement with the station has been a sore spot for some students at WKPS.
"There's only so much students can do with limited knowledge," Roth said. "A little guidance would make it so much better."
Bob Zimmerman, the station's professional adviser with 40 years' experience, has guided the station since its beginning in 1995. Zimmerman said he feels the college's relationship with WKPS faded out after many members of the original advising board left a few years ago.
The relationship recently rekindled with the formation of a new board of directors. The board wants to incorporate all kinds of advisers for WKPS, including professionals, students, staff from the Office of Student Affairs and faculty from the College of Communications.
"I'd be very happy to ask the faculty to work with them," said Jeremy Cohen, the interim dean of the College of Communications.
The staff at WKPS said they would appreciate the assistance, and with the opportunities they offer students in the College of Communications, they said a link seems a natural association.
"What I'm not learning in class, I'm learning at the radio station," Roth said. "At an internship I had over the summer, they had just switched over to digital equipment, and because that's what we use at WKPS, I actually taught them how to use it."
Zimmerman said he felt the beneficial effects of having broadcast experience in college. He worked at Penn State's original radio station, WDSM, when he was a student in the '50s, and that, more than his transcript, helped him get a job.
"It's a wonderful way for students to get experience, and it's the only radio market in the area with such a high level of diversity," Zimmerman said.
The radio station airs a large selection of music, from acid jazz to indie rock, plus sports, news and talk radio programs.
"The stuff you will never hear on commercial radio," Sedam said, "we will play."
The varied programming and dedicated staff helped WKPS survive all of the roadblocks. The path ahead for the student-run radio station, according to Zimmerman, should be much smoother.
"I'm usually a pretty cynical person," he said, "but in this case, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel."
