WKPS-FM (90.7), The Lion, isn't the only student-run radio station on campus and it isn't the only one that has found itself in hard financial times lately.

WEHR, East Halls Radio, is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after more than a year of trials and tribulations that kept it off the air and out of students' dorm rooms.

Unlike most stations, WEHR's transmission doesn't appear on the FM band, but on on-campus cable channel 21.

After 32 years on the air, it has become a bit of a staple in college radio, broadcasting a variety of shows that have ranged from comedy hours to hip-hop to Christian rock.

In the 2002-03 academic year, the station had as many as 60 disc jockeys on the air almost around the clock.

The day the music died was in the spring of 2003, when the station was informed that its constitution needed to undergo some retooling.

"Some things were outdated and needed to be updated," promotions manager Amy Schuster (senior-journalism) said. "There were some clauses that needed to be amended."

Until the constitution was updated, WEHR was to be taken off the airwaves. The task of facing the bureaucracy was left up to then-newly elected general manager Jessica Burke (senior-English), who admitted not knowing the exact process to follow.

"It was hard for us to figure out what to do," she said. "[Our adviser] was hella busy. She just didn't know what to do with us."

Burke described how much of the 2003-04 year was spent cutting through "a lot of red tape."

The year was spent going back and forth with officials to get the constitution in proper working order.

All along the way, the music booth in Findlay Commons sat dark.

"Being the music director, I'd get all these e-mails and voicemails from bands and independent labels asking for feedback with what we were playing on rotation," Rebecca Teran (junior-telecommunications) said.

"I had to tell them we weren't on the air," she said.

The Undergraduate Student Government Supreme Court ratified the new constitution at the end of last year -- too late for the dozen or so remaining DJs and officers to start anew.

A year lost, members jumped back into the game this fall and were on air again a few weeks into the semester.

A recent recruitment meeting yielded almost a dozen interested students.

"We just want people who are interested in having a good time," Burke said. "They don't need to know much."

Dustin Pangonis (freshman-journalism), who attended the meeting, said he was interested in joining as soon as he discovered WEHR's existence.

"I'm interested in the idea of East Halls having their own radio network," he said. "I'm an avid music fan ... and I'd love to get some experience on-air and help the station regain some notoriety."

The next challenge on WEHR's platter will be the issue of fundraising.

"We need new equipment," Burke said. "We're working with a board from maybe the '70s. The microphones don't work well and the broadcasting signal is weak. We just want a decent studio in there."

The station is currently planning fund-raisers but decided not to go to the University Park Allocation Committee for funding -- yet.

"Since we've been off the air we have to show them that their money is going to go someplace," Teran said.

"We have to prove to them that we'll have a full schedule of DJs and have a club that is actually running," she added.

Schuster, who has DJed at WEHR since her freshman year, said making the trek to East Halls has always been worth it, frustrations aside.

"[Students] ... always find something to enjoy and people who they have a common interest with," she said. "WEHR is a student alternative, some place you can listen to things out of mainstream. It's a very laid-back system and it's a cool way to get into something at PSU that isn't a huge commitment."

Despite the hardships that the station has endured in the last 18 months, Burke plans to finish her last year with WEHR on as high a note as possible.

"Even though it's been sort of this ridiculous goose chase, I'm really optimistic about this year," she said. "Getting back on air and all, we're feeling really energized. I'm looking forward to the whole thing."

Students interested in DJing at WEHR can find more information at www.clubs.psu.edu/up/wehr/join.
html.