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Campus
Life
WECB, 99.9 FM, aims
for bigger and better
By Liz
Raftery
2/11/04
In
the basement of 180 Tremont St., behind glass
windows, passersby can see a professional radio
station in progress--live deejays on the air,
guest musicians, and even external audio that
provides musical accompaniment to one's walk
around the city. They are experiencins 88.9
WERS, Emerson College's radio station that is
broadcast to greater New England and one of the
oldest almost completely student-run radio
station in the country.
Behind WERS, also
in the basement (but invisible to outside
pedestrians), is the office and studio of 99.9
FM WECB, the other Emerson College radio station
that is for on-campus listening only.
Figuratively and literally, WECB has stood in
the shadow of WERS ever since its
beginning.
Poor equipment, management,
and awareness among the students are just a few
of the problems that WECB has had to face in
recent years. However, the 2003-04 WECB board
members are looking to change all
that.
As opposed to the lofty goals set
by prior WECB management (last year there was
talk of a music festival to be held on Boston
Common), this year's goals were simple enough,
according to Nathaniel Boda, a junior
audio/radio major and program director for
WECB.
"My goal as program director is to
make things run smoother," Boda said. "I've done
that. I've set up a comprehensive WebCT site for
the DJs. [Another goal is] more communication
with DJs and management and more community in
the organization. [General manager Joe Kay] has
been very good about contacting the
administration and getting things
done."
Kay could not be reached for
comment.
Another important step for WECB
was new equipment. Towards the end of last
semester, the station was run from a member's
portable boom box, because the studio's four CD
players and computer were broken. Former deejay
Meredith Mercandetti, a junior
marketing/advertising/ public relations major,
said that equipment problems were the most
prominent setback for the station.
"After 3 semesters, I had to quit
because constant equipment problems made it
impossible to do a reasonable show," Mercandetti
said. "We had a new computer, but with no
working CD decks, we could only cue up one song
at a time. Also, without a way to put callers on
air, and still no
Internet broadcasting,
there was just no point in putting in the effort
anymore."
This semester, money has been
granted to order two new computers and four new
state-of-the-art CD players, all of which have
either arrived or are on their way.
The
new improvements seem to be working. This
semester, WECB has nearly 100 student deejays on
deck, a jump from the 80 student deejays of last
semester.
Boda believes that things are
looking up for the station in spite of others'
perceptions.
"I don't know if people
respect us," he said. "I think that we have a
[negative] reputation at WECB, and most of it is
from prior managers. The station, as it is now,
is well organized and efficient. If we continue
on the path we're on now we will earn more
respect."
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