KSCL Manager Speaks Out

The following is an edited version of an article in Feb 29th's Conglomerate, Centenary College's student-run newspaper. The original is available on their website.

KSCL 91.3 FM, Centenary's radio station, has seen tremendous growth in the past year. Late last summer, we launched a blog and podcast. We've cleaned up our program schedule and posted this online as a Google Calendar. We've produced several interviews and posted them online. We've dramatically increased our education in broadcasting content and presentation. I'm extremely excited to be part of our growth. I'm happy to have influenced it.

While KSCL has become one of the "hippest" radio stations in northwest Louisiana, we have run into many brick walls. One problem has been the lack of support we receive on campus. Student media are often quickly forgotten on campus. SGA* forgets we exist. First-year students barely know anything about us. We're not on the priority list of many areas at Centenary. For the radio station, students pass up opportunities out of apathy or lack of interest, or both. Any student can apply to have a radio show. Any student can check out equipment to record interviews or present their research. We have an international reach with our website and a large physical reach with our FM transmitter. Still, students pass up these opportunities. While this is disheartening, we have other issues.

The largest problem that KSCL faces is a financial one. KSCL received the same amount of money from SGA as it did three years ago, before the upgrade. The upgrade expanded our listener base to the highest number in over 30 years. That's student-run media reaching a potential half-million people. Imagine the possibilities. Yet, receiving the same nominal budget isn't catching us up to our growth.

Running off the same budget has created many internal problems. For instance, we haven't been paying our staff reasonable wages. Our music director regularly clocks forty hours a week reviewing CDs, updating charts, reporting to record companies and promoters, and informing DJs of updates and news. Is it right for us to only pay the music director for eight hours a week (at minimum wage)? KSCL cannot afford to pay the music director more than eight hours a week, even though it's a raise from previous years. We've had to make serious cutbacks, all at the expense of our listeners and our college.

Another example is our ability to stream over the Internet. The chips have fallen into place. The financial resources have not.

After spending a year with these problems hanging over my head, I'm done. I cannot see how the station can grow if the college, and namely student fees, aren't "tuned into ninety-one-point-three." If policies are not amended, expect my resignation. There is no point in running a student radio station for the college if our student-fee percentage isn't allowed to grow when we grow. It is impossible to ask so much of the station's staff while giving so little in return.

The fiscally responsible move for KSCL is to shut down in May and reopen in the fall as school resumes. Shutting down KSCL will hurt the radio station's reputation in the community. This is Centenary's reputation, too. Shutting down the station could also grab the eyes of the FCC, which could mean fines to the college. However, it seems impossible to run the station if there's no hope from the school for the future. I vowed to never close the station, but I see little alternative.

The one alternative I do see is a commitment from SGA to reorganize student fees and distribute them fairly, justifying every penny. This is the only assurance I need to run the station throughout the summer. I understand SGA cannot do anything 'serious' to the student fees this semester, but there is next year. Commitments for the future can be made.

I propose that SGA review student allocations to Homecoming, CAB, the Media Committee, and all other areas receiving student fees. I propose that SGA pay media heads fair wages, as opposed to the sixty-seven cents an hour I currently receive. Student Fees should be justified! As a student, I put blind faith into the hands of SGA to promote this campus and encourage growth at our college.

I'm extremely hopeful for the future. I've put countless hours into KSCL making the best possible radio station for the students, college, and Louisiana. I now leave the future up to my fellow students.

*SGA is the Student Government Assocation on Campus. SGA regulates the majority of student activity fees totally about $115,000 a semester.

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